On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský received the seal and stamp symbolizing the termination of the Warsaw Pact from Hana Hlaváčková, President of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, which has been their custodian until now. The handover took place at the opening of the Foreign Ministry's traditional year-end event, held to thank partners, in…

On Thursday, Czech Radio Vltava will premiere the documentary Postscriptum of Bedřich Smetana. Created by Tomáš Dufka, head of the radio archive, the project examines pivotal political and social events, such as the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, through the lens of Smetana's music, which left a powerful legacy after the composer's death. The d…

A unique racing car from the early 1900s, built by Laurin & Klement—the company that later became Škoda—is set to be auctioned off in Miami next year. The Type S2 Sportswagen, with its groundbreaking design, has been preserved in its original, unrestored condition, making it a rare find for collectors.…

Antonín Dvořák, one of the most celebrated composers of the 19th century, is not only associated with his birthplace Nelahozeves but also with Vysoká u Příbrami, where he spent many summers. During these stays, he was a regular visitor to the nearby church in Třebsko, attending morning mass. In 1894, Dvořák donated a set of organ pipes to the churc…

With less than a year to go before the general elections, President Petr Pavel is calling on Czechs to listen more to one another.

On Sunday November 17th, within the splendour of the National Theatre in Prague, five individuals were honoured as this year’s recipients of the Memory of Nations Awards. President Pavel was also in attendance at the gala event.

In October, the team at Charles Games, the creators of such games as Playing Kafka and Attentat 1942, released Velvet 89, an immersive and educational experience that invites players to turn investigator in five cities across Czechoslovakia. Ahead of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Velvet Revolution on November 17th, Danny Bate spoke to designe…

Eighty years ago, U.S. pilot William L. Kiggins was killed during a combat mission over Brno, becoming the only American soldier to die in the Moravian capital during World War II. On Wednesday, the American Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Bijan Sabet received the skeletal remains found at the crash site a few years ago, believed to belong to the…

Archaeologists from the Moravian city of Brno have reported an unprecedented discovery. During a rescue excavation in the broader city center, they unearthed the bones of at least three mammoths, alongside remains from other animals. They also discovered tools from prehistoric people who hunted these animals approximately 15,000 years ago.…

Czechia approaches the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and end of Communism in 1989. To commemotrate the historic milestone, Freedom Week kicks off in Prague.

November 11th is Armistice Day, the international commemoration of the end of the First World War, which offers us today an opportunity to remember and honour those who have given their lives in combat. In the United Kingdom, the day is accompanied by Remembrance Sunday, and its distinctly British acts of remembrance will be taking place in Prague …

This October marks 80 years since the Battle of the Dukla Pass, a fierce World War II clash on the Polish-Slovak border, where Nazi Germany and Soviet forces fought for control of the Dukla Pass. Nearly 2,000 Czechoslovak soldiers, fighting alongside the Soviets, died in the battle, but over 600 of them remain unlisted on any memorial.…

On October 28th, Czechia celebrates 106 years since the declaration of Czechoslovakia as an independent state. Historian and political scientist Jan Adamec walked us through the history of the new country's heads of state, from its first to its last.

Archaeologists at the Comenius Museum in Přerov have revealed to the public an ancient sword from the Bronze Age, found by accident in a field close to the city. The sword was a star exhibit at the museum’s recent exhibition about metal detecting.

Archaeologists from the Olomouc Archaeological Centre have announced a unique discovery. While conducting a rescue excavation along the future route of the D35 motorway, they unearthed the largest Early Bronze Age burial site of the so-called Nitra culture unearthed to date in Central Moravia.

In the German state of Brandenburg, a mighty circular fortress, a replica of a Slavic castle from the ninth or tenth century, has been acquired by a Czech owner. Care of the historical attraction has passed into the hands of David Chmelík, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia in the 1990s.

To mark the 600th anniversary of the death of the famous Czech warrior Jan Žižka of Trocnov, an international scientific team led by Brazilian 3D expert Cícer Moraes has created a digital model of his face. As a basis, experts used the so-called Čáslav calva, part of a skull considered to be an authentic relic of the Hussite warlord.…

A unique songbook marking the upcoming anniversary of the Velvet Revolution has just been released in Czechia. Initiated by the NGO Díky, že můžem or Thanks, that we can, it contains 17 tracks that capture the spirit of their time, from underground and protest songs to communist-era mainstream hits.

Czechia has given the world many notable figures. However, no Czech has garnered as much respect worldwide in recent history as Prague-born Václav Havel.

A Plzeň building partly designed by the modernist architect Adolf Loos, in which the surrender of the German garrison occurred on May 6th 1945, is set to be renovated and repurposed. The dilapidated building is set to become a new museum all about the events of that fateful year in Plzeň.

Her life story is a story of courage and survival. Jaroslava Skleničková was just 16 when she was sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp by the Nazis with her mother and older sister. Her father was executed, along with the other men from Lidice. Despite this terrible experience, which haunted her for the rest of her life, she found the strengt…

September 30 marks eighty-six years since the signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, by which Czechoslovakia was compelled to surrender the large region of the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. To commemorate the event, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared official documents and private correspondence from the week leading up to the infamous agreeme…

Father Adolf Kajpr spent 13 years of his life in concentration camps and prisons. He was persecuted by both the Nazis and the Communists for his journalism and opposition to the regimes. He dedicated his life to faith, the Church, and civil truth. He did not live to see the presidential amnesty in 1960 and died in Leopoldov prison.…

One of the winners of this year’s Most Beautiful Czech Books of the Year Award is Birds of Prague 1800-2020, published by the Czech Ornithological Society and Revolver Revue. It follows up on the work of the pioneering Czechoslovak ornithologist Veleslav Wahl, who was executed in 1951 by the Communist regime for alleged treason. The impressive volu…

The Crown of St. Wenceslas made for the coronation of Charles IV has a magic attraction. It is rarely put on display and people cue up for hours to see it. Few people know that there is a replica of it at Barrandov film studios that anyone can borrow.

Today marks the centenary of the birth of Rudolf Vrba, a Czechoslovak and Jewish biochemist, who escaped from the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1942 together with fellow prisoner Alfréd Wetzler. Together they published the Vrba–Wetzler report. This eyewitness description is credited with waking the world up to the full horrors happening at Auschw…

Beaver tail, bear paws or squirrel meat - these are just some of the ingredients from historic recipes currently on display at the Olomouc Research Library . The exhibition presenting unique cookbooks from the Middle Ages until the 1930s will run in the Moravian city until November.

Built to protect Czechoslovakia against Nazi Germany and later repurposed as a nuclear shelter by the Communist regime, Fort Hanička served neither purpose. Today it is a museum that attracts thousands of military enthusiasts.

David Bradbury is a former director general of the British Library. In 1968, the foreign language student found himself in Czechoslovakia right after the Soviet-led invasion. Despite the unusual times, he formed lifelong friendships with a number of Czechs, and an ongoing affinity for the country. I caught up with David during a recent visit to Pra…

The first days of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia were closely tied to the Czechoslovak Radio building in front of which bloody clashes took place and at least 15 civilians were killed. The newly released film Waves, inspired by the true story of a group of journalists from the radio’s foreign service section, focuses on these traumatic e…

On August 21, 1968 Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring and ushering in a long period of political and moral decline. More than 130 people died during the invasion and thousands fled the country in the years that followed. The late Czech filmmakers Jiří Menzel and Miloš Forman share their personal memorie…

Venus of Dolní Věstonice, a Stone-Age ceramic sculpture of a female figure considered one of the oldest pieces of art in the world, was made from fragments of rocks and tiny fossils, not mammoth bones as previously believed. The discovery was made by experts from the Moravian Museum in Brno using micro-CT scanning. I discussed the findings, which h…

The Cistercian monastery in Vyšší Brod is the final resting place of the Rožmberk clan, one of the richest and mightiest noble families in Bohemia. Thanks to cutting-edge technology experts have been able to view its interior and even produce replicas of the twin wedding rings of Petr Vok and his wife Kateřina.…

Anton Raphael Mengs, one of the most prominent artists in 18th century Europe was born in Ústí nad Labem. We take a closer look at his connection to this region.

Archaeologists have uncovered a Neolithic settlement in Dobren, near Kutná Hora. This site, inhabited by the region's earliest farmers during the early Stone Age, provides insight into life in the Czech lands seven thousand years ago.

The previously inaccessible underground of Prague Castle has been unveiled with the release of a new archaeological app. This application allows visitors to view the remains of buildings dating from the 9th and 10th centuries up to the 15th century, located beneath reinforced concrete structures spanning several thousand square meters.…

Czech archaeologists have discovered a Neolithic settlement near the central Bohemian town of Kutná Hora. Built approximately 7,000 years ago, it has been exceptionally well-preserved, including the floor plans of four long houses. I discussed the details of the discovery with Daniel Pilař from the Czech Academy of Sciences’ Department of Prehistor…

The American war veteran George Thompson, who helped liberate Plzeň in May 1945 with the 16th Armored Division, has died at the age of 99. He was the last of the surviving American veterans who liberated the city and returned repeatedly for the annual Liberation Festival. The West Bohemian capital held a memorial in his honour on Monday.…

Seventy years after the execution of Rudolf Slánský, a prominent Communist Party member convicted in an infamous 1952 show trial, a court in Prague has rehabilitated his wife and son in memoriam. The court found that they had been illegally deprived of their personal freedom by the communist regime.

The work of ancient Egyptian scribes left specific traces on their skeletons, suggests a new study by Czech scientists. It shows that certain degenerative changes to the spine and joints were much more common in scribes than in other men.

Saints Cyril and Methodius, often revered as the Apostles to the Slavs, are celebrated each year on the 5th of July. This day is also a public holiday in both Czechia and Slovakia.

Jiří Mádl's new film Vlny (Waves) premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Monday night to a several-minute standing ovation. The film, set against the backdrop of the Prague Spring and the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, tells the story of a group of journalists from Czechoslovak Radio’s foreign service section who…

Archaeologists from the Museum in Roudnice nad Labem have announced a rare discovery. While surveying a site in the small town of Budyně nad Ohří they came across a number of bronze artefacts, including pieces of jewellery, dating back over 3500 years.

A newly restored Jawa 750, which appeared at the start of the legendary 1930s race Thousand Miles of Czechoslovakia, was recently unveiled at the National Technical Museum in Prague. This Thursday, the fiery red sports car will take part in the race again, 90 years after its first appearance.

Czechs are paying tribute to the photographer Bohumil Dobrovolský, who died on Wednesday at the age of 89. He is best known for his photographs documenting the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

The 80th anniversary of D-Day, otherwise known as "Operation Overlord," will remember the Allied soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on 6 June, 1944. Czech President Petr Pavel will attend, along with 25 other world leaders, 43,000 officers, and more than a million visitors.

Have you ever wondered what a Baroque pharmacy looked like? The answer lies in a monastery called Zlatá Koruna, in southern Bohemia, which recently re-created such a pharmacy from authentic items dating back to the 18th century.

A new exhibition highlighting the Celtic history of South Bohemia is currently underway in the South Bohemian Museum in České Budějovice. It presents the latest archaeological findings, but also sheds light on the everyday life of people living in the region during the Iron Age.

If you’ve taken the metro to Prague’s Anděl station, you may have noticed a bronze sculpture that reads ‘Moskva-Praha’. Constructed in 1985, it was meant to symbolize friendship between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union. After the fall of the regime, it remained, stirring debate amongst the public. Recently, Prague City Hall decided to add a plaq…

Ferdinand Porsche was a Liberec-born genius engineer, who designed the first-ever hybrid car. He also contributed to the development of Volkswagen Beetle, which remained in production for 65 years.