Portal:Czech Republic

Welcome to the Czech Portal!
Vítejte na Českém portálu!

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country 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 Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown 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.

During the 19th century, the Czech lands underwent significant industrialization. Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I, most of the region became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic in 1918. 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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Moravia (Czech: Morava [ˈmorava] ^ⓘ; German: Mähren [ˈmɛːʁən] ^ⓘ) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.

The medieval and early modern Margraviate of Moravia was a crown land of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown from 1348 to 1918, an imperial state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1004 to 1806, a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804 to 1867, and a part of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. Moravia was one of the five lands of Czechoslovakia founded in 1918. In 1928 it was merged with Czech Silesia, and then dissolved in 1948 during the abolition of the land system following the communist coup d'état. (Full article...)

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Panoramic view of Prague Castle

Photographer: Stefan Bauer; License: Creative Commons CC-BY-SA

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In this month

5 October 1842 – The first batch of Pilsner Urquell beer is produced
6 October 1923 – Foundation of Czechoslovak Airlines, now known as Czech Airlines
9 October 1410 – First mention of the Prague astronomical clock (pictured)
24 October 1526 – Ferdinand I becomes King of Bohemia, starting a period of nearly 400 years of Habsburg rule over Czech lands
28 October 1918 – The independent state of Czechoslovakia is founded in Prague

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Martin Miller (born Johann Rudolph Müller; 2 September 1899 – 26 August 1969), was a Czech-Austrian character actor. He played many small roles in British films and television series from the early 1940s until his death. He was best known for playing eccentric doctors, scientists and professors, although he played a wide range of small, obscure roles—including photographers, waiters, a pet store dealer, rabbis, a Dutch sailor and a Swiss tailor. On stage he was noted in particular for his parodies of Adolf Hitler and roles as Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace and Mr. Paravicini in The Mousetrap.

Miller appeared in several notable films, including Squadron Leader X (1943), English Without Tears (1944), The Third Man (1949), The Gamma People (1956), Peeping Tom (1960), ‘’Exodus,’’ 55 Days at Peking (1963), The V.I.P.s (1963), The Pink Panther (1963), and The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964). His most substantial roles include George II of Great Britain in Bonnie Prince Charlie (1948) and Kublai Khan in the Doctor Who serial Marco Polo. In the 1960s, he appeared in several ITC Entertainment cult television programmes, including Ghost Squad, Danger Man, The Saint, The Avengers and The Prisoner. (Full article...)

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Did you know?

...that the Sedlec Ossuary is a chapel decorated with the bones of 40,000 people?
... that the World War II idea of Polish-Czechoslovakian confederation was eventually discarded by the Czechs, whose leader chose instead to believe in the Soviet Union promises of alliance?
... that Czech international footballer Jan Suchopárek dislocated his shoulder while attempting a bicycle kick?
... that a 1926 voyage to Java inspired Czech poet Konstantin Biebl for the remainder of his life?

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General images

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

Image 1Iconic brutalist Transgas building, demolished in 2019 (from Czech architecture)
Image 2Baroque St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, built between 1704 and 1755 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 3Emperor Francis Joseph I. (reigned 1848–1916) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 4Apple strudel with raisins (from Czech cuisine)
Image 5Emperor and King Charles IV. Luxembourg (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 6Writer Božena Němcová (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 7Detailed map of Bohemia, 1742 (from Bohemia)
Image 8Large-scale protected areas of the Czech Republic: national parks (brown) and protected landscape areas (green) (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 9Municipal House (from Czech architecture)
Image 10Beheading of 27 Bohemian nobles at the Old Town Square in Prague, 1621 (contemporary illustration) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 11Bohemia (westernmost area) in Czechoslovakia 1918–1938 (from Bohemia)
Image 12Empress Maria Theresa (reignet 1740–1780) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 13Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the oldest ceramic article in the world (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 14The National Theater from 1881 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 15House of the Black Madonna (from Czech architecture)
Image 16Christmas cookies (vánoční cukroví) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 17Adria Palace (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 18Hroby Nature Monument in Radenín (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 19Zelňačka (from Czech cuisine)
Image 20Linguistic map of interwar Czechoslovakia (c. 1930) (from Bohemia)
Image 21Vepřo-knedlo-zelo (roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 22John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), Czech philosopher and school reformer (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 23Entrance to Moravian Karst PLA (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 24Dacian Influence over Bohemia (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 25Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, philosopher, Czechoslovak president in the years 1918–1935 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 26Obložené chlebíčky, a type of snack or appetizer (from Czech cuisine)
Image 27Monument to the village of Lidice murdered by the Nazis (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 28Semi-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 29The radical Hussites became known as Taborites, after the town of Tábor that became their center. (from Bohemia)
Image 30Grand Café Orient in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 31Saint Wenceslas, Czech prince (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 32Rotunda of St. George from the beginning of the 12th century on Mount Říp (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 33The extent of the Protestant Reformation (1545–1620) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 34The Kingdom of Bohemia in 1618 with other Bohemian Crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire (1618) (from Bohemia)
Image 35Copper engraving of the Second Defenestration of Prague from Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian. (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 36Kačina Castle in Chotkov (from Czech architecture)
Image 37Korozluky Castle (from Czech architecture)
Image 38Library of Clementinum, a former Jesuit College, built in 1722 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 39Václav Havel, playwright, dissident and president from 1989 to 2003 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 40Russian occupation in 1968 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 41Cubist lamp by Emil Králíček, Jungmannovo náměstí, next to the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague) (from Czech architecture)
Image 42Stone sculpture of a Celtic man, found in Mšecké Žehrovice (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 43Pilsner Urquell in a branded mug (from Czech cuisine)
Image 44A panorama of Zittau (from Bohemia)
Image 45The coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty (until 1253–1262) (from Bohemia)
Image 46Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 47Prague-style beef goulash (from Czech cuisine)
Image 48St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, John of Luxembourg laid the foundation stone in 1344 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 49Duchy of Bohemia, around 1029 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 50Bohemia as the heart of Europa regina; Sebastian Münster, Basel, 1570 (from Bohemia)
Image 51Territories ruled by Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1273 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 52The First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938) (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 53Territory under the control of the Přemyslids, c. 1301 (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 54Vladislaus Hall at the Prague Castle, built from 1490 to 1502 by Benedikt Rejt (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 55Monument to Master Jan Hus, a religious reformer and philosopher in Prague (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 56Nakládaný hermelín (marinated cheese) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 57A panorama of Kłodzko, the capital city of Kłodzko Land, which is referred to as "Little Prague" (from Bohemia)
Image 58A "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 59Řežabinec National Nature Monument (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 60Bronze sword, Urnfield culture, c. 1200 BC (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 61Fried bramboráky (potato pancakes) (from Czech cuisine)
Image 62Church of Saint Agnes of Bohemia (Spořilov) (from Czech architecture)
Image 63Czech kings Ottokar II, Wenceslas II and Wenceslas III from the Přemyslid dynasty (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 64The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia (from Bohemia)
Image 65Frgál, a type of koláč baked in Moravian Wallachia (from Czech cuisine)
Image 66Great Moravia during the reign of Svatopluk I (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 67Buděticko Nature Park with Rabí Castle (from Protected areas of the Czech Republic)
Image 68An 1892 map showing Bohemia proper outlined in pink, Moravia in yellow, and Austrian Silesia in orange (from Bohemia)
Image 69King George of Podebrady, one of the first promoters of united Europe (from History of the Czech lands)
Image 70Svíčková na smetaně served with dumplings, whipped cream and cranberries (from Czech cuisine)
Image 71Fried cheese, served with tartar sauce and side salad (from Czech cuisine)
Image 72Cubist architecture in Prague (from Czech architecture)
Image 73Svíčková na smetaně (marinated tenderloin), served here with dumplings and cream (from Czech cuisine)
Image 74Bohemian city Karlovy Vary (from Bohemia)
Image 75Lands of the Bohemian Crown (until 1635), map by Josef Pekař, 1921 (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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