Portal:Czech Republic

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Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it 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, and in 1918 most of it 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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Bedřich Fritta's drawing of the barracks

Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination camps. Its conditions were deliberately engineered to hasten the death of its prisoners, and the ghetto also served a propaganda role. Unlike other ghettos, the exploitation of forced labor was not economically significant.

The ghetto was established by the transportation of Czech Jews in November 1941. The first German and Austrian Jews arrived in June 1942; Dutch and Danish Jews came at the beginning in 1943, and prisoners of a wide variety of nationalities were sent to Theresienstadt in the last months of the war. About 33,000 people died at Theresienstadt, mostly from malnutrition and disease. More than 88,000 people were held there for months or years before being deported to extermination camps and other killing sites; the role of the Jewish Council (Judenrat) in choosing those to be deported has attracted significant controversy. The total number of survivors was around 23,000, including 4,000 deportees who survived. (Full article...)

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Dancing House in Prague

Photographer: Matteo Piotto; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

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In this month

1 May 2004 – The Czech Republic joins the European Union
9 May 1974 – The Prague Metro begins operation
14 May 1855 – The book The Grandmother by Božena Němcová is released
27 May 1942 – An assassination attempt (pictured) on acting Reichsprotektor Reinhardt Heydrich in Prague as part of Operation Anthropoid results in him dying on 4 June – the villages of Lidice and Ležáky are razed to the ground in response
29 May 1975 – Gustáv Husák becomes President of Czechoslovakia, remaining in office until 1989

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Bedřich Smetana (/ˌbɛdərʒɪx ˈsmɛtənə/ BED-ər-zhikh SMET-ə-nə, Czech: [ˈbɛdr̝ɪx ˈsmɛtana] ^ⓘ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his 1866 opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native Bohemia. It contains the famous symphonic poem "Vltava", also popularly known by its German name "Die Moldau" (in English, "The Moldau").

Smetana was naturally gifted as a composer, and gave his first public performance at the age of six. After conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden, where he set up as a teacher and choirmaster in Gothenburg, and began to write large-scale orchestral works. (Full article...)

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John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Emanuel Moravec Gustav Mahler Fredy Hirsch Antonín Kinský Vlastimil Koubek Petra Kvitová Martin Miller (actor) Vratislav Lokvenc Vladimír Remek Leoš Janáček Libor Michálek Vojtěch Jarník Markéta Vondroušová Zdeňka Wiedermannová-Motyčková

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Did you know?

...that, although Mozart never visited Kroměříž, much of the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus was filmed at the local episcopal residence?
... that the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic is the highest award presented by the Czech Minister of Defence?
... that, having played 465 league matches, Jaroslav Šilhavý holds the record for the most appearances in top-flight Czech football?
... that Czech actress Anna Letenská was killed by the Nazis for her alleged participation in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich?

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General images

The following are images from various Czech Republic-related articles on Wikipedia.

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

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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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Featured and good content

	Featured articles		Dominik Hašek • Earth-grazing meteoroid of 13 October 1990 • Franz Kafka • Gustav Mahler • Bedřich Smetana • The Bartered Bride
	Good articles		Patrik Berger • FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 • Reinhard Heydrich • Leoš Janáček • Vlastimil Koubek • Libor Michálek • Pavel Nedvěd • Panzer 35(t) • Polish minority in the Czech Republic • Prague Spring • Punch-up in Piestany • Randy Blythe manslaughter case • The Brothers Grimm (film) • Winton Train • Zaolzie