Radio Prague International - latest articles

Czech zoos have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus restrictions, leaving them without visitors and unable to pay for upkeep. Some zoo directors have said that this may lead to animals having to be put down or sent to other European zoos. Public support and inventiveness is helping alleviate the crisis, but the question remains whether it will be enough.

Marie Šupíková, one of the last survivors of the Lidice massacre, has died at the age of 88. Mrs Šupíková, who was ten at the time of the event, was one of the few children selected for re-education, escaping death in a concentration camp. In the course of her life she worked selflessly to help educate young people about the Holocaust.

A new online photo-database of Czechoslovak Legionaries who fought for the establishment of Czechoslovakia during World War One has recently been set up. The website not only gives viewers the chance to see the faces of thousands of legionaries, but also to check if an ancestor served in the force and upload their picture, or further information about them.

Historians have long known that members of the infamous communist-era Auxiliary Technical Battalions (PTP), army units comprised of “politically unreliable” persons, helped build the Stalin monument in Prague’s Letná Park. But only recently has a labour camp housing them been revealed. Archaeologists now have a unique opportunity to examine the remains.

The Czech community in Manhattan once numbered up to 40,000 people, served by Czech stores, newspapers and cultural organisations – and even cops who spoke their language. Historian Martin Nekola dives into the rich history of Czechs in the Big Apple in Český New York (Czech New York), a new book packed with fascinating facts and reproductions of wonderful period ads and other materials. Nekola discusses the first Czech immigrants to New York – and a whole lot more – in the first part of a two-part interview.

More than 200 children in the Czech Republic have been diagnosed with a rare condition that can occur several weeks after Covid-19, known as paediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome or PIMS-TS. If untreated,it can cause tissue damage, poor function of vital organs or potentially even death.

The biggest architectural competition in modern Czech history has advanced to the final stage. The Brno City Council this week chose four teams that will vie to design a new main train station for the Moravian capital. For this last leg of the competition, the city is preparing a detailed 3-D model of the transport hub.

In the fourth episode of our series Masters of Czech Animated Film we present Jan Švankmajer, a Czech Surrealist artist, puppeteer, animator, and filmmaker whose work transcends borders. His films, the most famous of which are Alice, Little Otik, or the shorts Food and Dimensions of Dialogue, have received dozens of awards.

As the coronavirus measures stretch into their second year, artists have been looking for various ways to boost the public morale and spread some good cheer. In the south Bohemian town of České Budějovice members of a local music ensemble climb onto the roof of the local town hall every Wednesday to treat passers-by to a bit of live culture.

The Czech Republic, along with five other European countries, has submitted a joint nomination for the timber rafting tradition to be inscribed on the UNESCO world intangible cultural heritage list. The tradition, dating back to the 14th century, is recognized as part of Czech traditional folk culture. The nomination was signed on Wednesday by Czech culture minister Lubomír Zaorálek.