History | Topic Archive

Public broadcaster Czech Radio has backed in initiative for a Vickers Wellington bomber undergoing restoration work in Great Britain to feature the markings of the Czechoslovak 311th squadron which flew with that type of RAF bomber in World War II. Czech Radio’s correspondent in London, Jiří Hošek, first learned of the reconstruction project last autumn, and came forward with the idea. What are the chances the plane could feature the colours of the 311th? And what is the aircraft’s place in Czechoslovak military history? Find out in today’s

One is so used to black-and-white photographs depicting Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the founder of Czechoslovakia, as stern, dignified, even iconic looking that a video posted on YouTube in which he playfully speaks to camera is almost startling.

The name Jan Valeška will be familiar to very long-term listeners of Radio Prague. After a stint at the station’s African service that began in the early 1970s, he returned to head the English department in the initial years after the Velvet Revolution. Valeška subsequently worked as a translator and two years ago published a huge dictionary of English phrasal verbs, as in act on, act up, act out, etc. Before we discussed the book, which was three decades in the making, I first asked him what language Radio Prague’s erstwhile African section broadcast

Later this month the Czech Republic will hold commemorative events over two days to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz at the end of World War II. The initiative, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza suggested, has Polish representatives seeing red, not least over fears the Czech ceremonies could overshadow Poland’s own. According to the daily, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka was contacted by his Polish counterpart over the matter.

Prague Castle, which is said to be the largest ancient castle in the world, covering an area of nearly 70,000 square metres, is set to undergo some significant restoration work this year. The reconstruction, which concerns for instance the Old Royal Palace and Saint Vitus Cathedral, is expected to cost some 290 million crowns. I spoke to František Kadlec of the Prague Castle Administration, who says the restoration of the castle buildings is a never-ending process:

Czech archeologists have chalked up a new remarkable discovery at Abusir, southwest of Cairo: the tomb of a previously unknown queen. Chentkaus III is believed to have been the wife of the pharaoh Neferefre who ruled some 4,500 years ago.

Prague Castle is considered one of the symbols of the Czech state. Once the seat of Bohemian kings, it now houses the Office of the Czech President, and its museums and galleries annually attract millions of visitors. But for over a hundred years, Prague Castle was half-forgotten. With the imperial court residing in Vienna throughout the 19th century, the castle only served as a luxurious hotel for the royal family and their relatives and friends. A recently published book of memoirs entitled A Greeting from the Castle Hill now offers an insider’s

25 years ago today, the dissident playwright Václav Havel became the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948. Back then, Edvard Beneš had resigned from office in the midst of a communist putsch led by Klement Gottwald. 41 years later, the communists would vote to destroy their own monopoly on power.

Newly released documents from Australia's top spy agency have revealed details of Czechoslovakian espionage down under, during the early years of the Cold War. The previously top-secret records outline how Czechoslovakians spied on behalf of the Soviets, and how they managed to recruit an Australian diplomat who eventually fled to Prague. Andrew Greene reports from Australia's capital, Canberra.

The name Jolyon Naegele is familiar to many who lived through the final years of communism in Czechoslovakia and other countries in the then Soviet Bloc. At that time Naegele was a roving Eastern European correspondent for the U.S. radio station Voice of America. In a special interview, he discusses his first impressions of Czechoslovakia in 1978, his experiences with the StB, meeting Václav Havel, the Velvet Revolution, and developments since then.