Portal:Czech Republic

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Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate. The capital and largest city is Prague; other major cities and urban areas include Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň and Liberec.

The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia. It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy. Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire.

In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized; further, in 1918, most of the country became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy. On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia was peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced, high-income social market economy. It is a welfare state with a European social model, universal health care and free-tuition university education. It ranks 32nd in the Human Development Index. The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the OECD, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. (Full article...)

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Prague residents putting up a barricade, 6 May. In the background, a German-language sign has been painted over.

The Prague uprising (Czech: Pražské povstání) was a partially successful attempt by the Czech resistance movement to liberate the city of Prague from German occupation in May 1945, during the end of World War II. The preceding six years of occupation had fuelled anti-German sentiment and the rapid advance of Allied forces from the Red Army and the United States Army offered the resistance a chance of success.

On 5 May 1945, during the end of World War II in Europe, occupying German forces in Bohemia and Moravia were spontaneously attacked by civilians in an uprising, with Czech resistance leaders emerging from hiding to join them. The Russian Liberation Army (ROA), a collaborationist formation of ethnic Russians, defected and supported the insurgents. German forces counter-attacked, but their progress was slowed by barricades constructed by the insurgents. On 8 May, the Czech and German leaders signed a ceasefire allowing all German forces to withdraw from the city, but some Waffen-SS troops refused to obey. Fighting continued until 9 May, when the Red Army entered the nearly liberated city. (Full article...)

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Panoramic view of Prague Castle

Photographer: Stefan Bauer; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

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In this month

11 December 1949 – The Číhošť miracle takes place: during a church service of Josef Toufar in the village of Číhošť, the crucifix moves several times over the pulpit, prompting an intervention by the StB
15 December 1230 – Wenceslaus I succeeds Ottokar I as King of Bohemia
16 December 1992 – The Czech National Council adopts the Constitution of the Czech Republic
18 December 1935 – Edvard Beneš is elected second President of Czechoslovakia
22 December 1966 – Construction begins on the Stalin Monument (pictured), the largest representation of Stalin in the world

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Vlastimil Koubek (March 17, 1927 – February 15, 2003) was an American architect who designed more than 100 buildings, most of them in the Washington metropolitan area, and whose total value topped $2 billion. Most of his work is Modernist in style, although he developed a few structures in other vernaculars. He created the site plan for the redevelopment of Rosslyn, Virginia, and his Ames Center anchored the area's economic recovery. He designed the World Building in Silver Spring, Maryland, which sparked redevelopment of that town's downtown; and the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, D.C. In 1985, Washingtonian magazine called him one of 20 people "who in the past 20 years had the greatest impact on the way we live and who forever altered the look of Washington." In 1988, The Washington Post newspaper said his Willard Hotel renovation was one of 28 projects in the area that made a signal contribution to the "feel" and look of Washington, D.C. (Full article...)

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John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Emanuel Moravec Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vratislav Lokvenc Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

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Did you know?

...that the Sedlec Ossuary is a chapel decorated with the bones of 40,000 people?
... that the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic is the highest award presented by the Czech Minister of Defence?
... that Czech international footballer Jan Suchopárek dislocated his shoulder while attempting a bicycle kick?
... that Czech Karel Robětín was not only an Olympian and national tennis champion but also an international paper industry tycoon?

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General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 2Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 3Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 5Semi-detached villa in Brno by Otto Eisler, according to MoMA's Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, is a defining building of the International style. (from Czech architecture)
Image 6Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 7Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 8The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618). (from Bohemia)
Image 9Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 10The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 11A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 12Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 13An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 14Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 15Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 16Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 17Svíčková na smetaně (Marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 18Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 19Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 20The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 21Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 22Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)
Image 23Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 24Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 25Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 26Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 27Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 28Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918-1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 29Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 30House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 31Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 32A "traditional Bohemian platter" at a restaurant in central Prague, consisting of roast duck, roast pork, beer sausage, smoked meat, red and white cabbage, bread, bacon and potato dumplings. (from Czech cuisine)
Image 33Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 34Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 35Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 36Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 37Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 38Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 39Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 40Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 41Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 42Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 43Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 44Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 45Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 46Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 47Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 48The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 49John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 50Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 51Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 52A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 53The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 55Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 56Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 57Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 58Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 59Map of protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (grey) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 60The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center (from Bohemia)
Image 61King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 62The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 63Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 65Řežabinec a Řežabinecké tůně National Nature Reserve (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 66Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 67Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 68Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 69Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 70St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 71Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 72Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 73Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 74Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)

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Topics

Czech lands: Bohemia • Moravia • Czech Silesia

History: Únětice culture • Boii • Marcomanni • Samo • Great Moravia • Přemyslid dynasty • Lands of the Bohemian Crown • Czech lands (1526–1648) • 1648–1867 • 1867–1918) • Czechoslovakia • Czech Republic

Geography: Lakes • Protected areas • Regions • Rivers

Law: Judiciary • Law enforcement • Supreme Court of the Czech Republic

Politics: Administrative divisions • Government • Constitution • Elections • Foreign relations • Army • Parliament • Political parties • President • Prime Minister

Economy: Banks • Czech koruna • Energy • Oil and gas deposits • Stock Exchange • Tourism • Transport

Culture: Architecture • Art • Cinema • Cuisine • Demographics • Education • Language • Literature • Media • Music • Philosophy • Prostitution • Public holidays • Religion • Sport • Television • Video games

Symbols: Flag • Coat of arms • National anthem (Kde domov můj)

Lists: Outline of the Czech Republic • List of Czech Republic–related topics

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WikiProjects

WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

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Featured and good content

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