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 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; 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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Destroyed Soviet tank in Prague, 1968

The Prague Spring (Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), and continued until 21 August 1968, when the Soviet Union and most Warsaw Pact members invaded the country to suppress the reforms.

The Prague Spring reforms were a strong attempt by Dubček to grant additional rights to the citizens of Czechoslovakia in an act of partial decentralization of the economy and democratization. The freedoms granted included a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel. After national discussion of dividing the country into a federation of three republics, Bohemia, Moravia-Silesia and Slovakia, Dubček oversaw the decision to split into two, the Czech Socialist Republic and Slovak Socialist Republic. This dual federation was the only formal change that survived the invasion. (Full article...)

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Self Portrait by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1570. Collection of the National Gallery Prague.

Source: Národní Galerie v Praze, PD

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In this month

14 November 1960 – The deadliest rail disaster in Czech history takes place in Eastern Bohemia, resulting in 118 deaths
14 November 1918 – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (pictured) becomes the first President of Czechoslovakia
17 November 1939 – Nazi Germany storms Czech universities, executing nine students and professors, later commemorated as International Students' Day
17 November 1989 – The Velvet Revolution starts in Prague, culminating in the end of 41 years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia
24 November 1966 – The deadliest air disaster in Czechoslovakia takes place near Bratislava, killing all 82 on board

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Lokvenc in 2013

Vratislav Lokvenc (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvracɪslaf ˈlokvɛnts], born 27 September 1973) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a forward. After playing youth football for Náchod and Hradec Králové, he began his senior club career with the latter team. After moving to Sparta Prague he won five league titles and one cup, as well as the 1999–2000 league top scorer award. He subsequently played abroad, playing club football in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 1. FC Kaiserslautern, VfL Bochum, Red Bull Salzburg, FC Basel and FC Ingolstadt 04. He retired in 2009.

Lokvenc played international football for the Czech Republic. He played at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup before going on to take part in three major competitions. He made three substitute appearances at Euro 2000 and played in one game at Euro 2004. His last international tournament was the 2006 World Cup, where he played in two group matches before missing the third through suspension. The Czech Republic did not qualify for the next round of the competition and Lokvenc subsequently retired from international football in 2006. (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 Vlastimil Koubek Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

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Did you know?

...that in 1990, Czech and Slovak politicians "fought" the Hyphen War, a political battle over whether "Czechoslovakia" should be spelled with a hyphen?
... that in 2013, the Czech Republic plans to directly elect its president for the first time in its history?
... that footballer Petr Vrabec won six Czechoslovak league titles with Sparta Prague?
... 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 1The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618). (from Bohemia)
Image 2Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 3Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4Řežabinec a Řežabinecké tůně National Nature Reserve (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 5Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 6Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 7Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 8Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 9Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 10Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 11A "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 12Map of protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (grey) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 13The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 14Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 15Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 16Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 17Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 18Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 19Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 20The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center (from Bohemia)
Image 21Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 22Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 23Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 24Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (from Bohemia)
Image 25Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 26The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 27Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 28Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 29Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 30Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 31Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 32A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 33Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (Roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 34Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 35Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 36An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 37Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 38The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 39King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 40Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 41Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918-1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 42St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 43John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 44Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 45Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 46House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 47Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 48Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 49The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 50Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 51Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 52Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 53Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 54Semi-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 55Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 56A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 57Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 58Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 59Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 60Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 61The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 62Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 63Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)
Image 65Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 66Svíčková na smetaně (Marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 67Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 68Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 69Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 70Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 71Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 72Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 73Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 74Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)

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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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