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 Auschwitz.

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 Prague and began by asking how he ended up in the Czech capital in September 1968.

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 events and the preceding Prague Spring period.

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 memories of that fateful night, reflecting on the shock, fear, and surreal experiences.

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 have been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, with the head of the research team Petr Neruda:

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.