Portal:Czech Republic

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Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it 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 State of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Crown lands of Bohemia 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, and in 1918 most of it 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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The Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections was one of the names for a travelling exhibition of Czech Jewish art and ritual objects that opened at The Whitworth in Manchester, in 1980. It subsequently toured the United States and Canada from 1983 to 1986. In 1990, part of the show was brought to Israel for a joint exhibition with the permanent collection of the Israel Museum. The travelling exhibition was relaunched in 1998 for a two-year tour of Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia.

The objects, dating from the early 17th to mid-20th centuries, included silverwork, pottery, textiles, paintings, drawings, and ritual and household items. The exhibition was noted for being a mixture of fine art, folk art, and anthropological study; for the irony by which fascists and communists had preserved the merits of the culture; and for showing a continuity of culture across multiple social upheavals. (Full article...)

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Slender mongoose at Prague Zoo

Photographer: Karelj; License: Dual (GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA)

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In this month

5 April 1937 – Prague Václav Havel Airport (pictured) opens as Prague Ruzyně Airport
7 April 1348 – Charles University in Prague is founded
17 April 1969 – First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubček, is replaced by Gustáv Husák
18 April 1920 – The first parliamentary elections are held in Czechoslovakia
26 April 1945 – The Red Army liberates the city of Brno at the end of World War II

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John Amos Comenius (/kəˈmiːniəs/; Czech: Jan Amos Komenský; Polish: Jan Amos Komeński; German: Johann Amos Comenius; Latinized: Ioannes Amos Comenius; 28 March 1592 – 15 November 1670) was a Moravian philosopher, pedagogue and theologian who is considered the father of modern education. He served as the last bishop of the Unity of the Brethren before becoming a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. As an educator and theologian, he led schools and advised governments across Protestant Europe through the middle of the seventeenth century.

Comenius introduced a number of educational concepts and innovations including pictorial textbooks written in native languages instead of Latin, teaching based in gradual development from simple to more comprehensive concepts, lifelong learning with a focus on logical thinking over dull memorization, equal opportunity for impoverished children, education for women, and universal and practical instruction. He also believed heavily in the connection between nature, religion, and knowledge, in which he stated that knowledge is born from nature and nature from God. Besides his native Moravia, he lived and worked in other regions of the Holy Roman Empire, and other countries: Sweden, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Transylvania, England, the Netherlands and Hungary. (Full article...)

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Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Emanuel Moravec Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Vlastimil Koubek 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, although Mozart never visited Kroměříž, much of the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus was filmed at the local episcopal residence?
... that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?
... that Czech international footballer Patrik Gedeon went to play club football in Liechtenstein in the middle of his career?
... that Miroslav Tyrš, the founder of Czech national sport movement Sokol, was born into a German family?

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General images

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

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

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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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WikiProject Czech Republic

WikiProject Europe

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Featured and good content

	Featured articles		Dominik Hašek • Earth-grazing meteoroid of 13 October 1990 • Franz Kafka • Gustav Mahler • Bedřich Smetana • The Bartered Bride
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