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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Gun laws in the Czech Republic adhere to the European Firearms Directive. Legal accessibility is comparable to those EU and EFTA countries which consider firearms to be primarily tools of individual or collective safety (i.e. Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Baltic states, Finland) and not just sporting instruments (see Gun laws in the European Union).

Right to keep and bear arms is considered to be an attribute of liberty in the country. It is explicitly recognized in the first Article of the Firearms Act. At the constitutional level, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms protects the "right to defend one's own life or life of another person also with arms under conditions stipulated by law". (Full article...)

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Raduň Castle near Opava

Photographer: Multimotyl; License: Dual (GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA)

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In this month

1 July 1991 – The Warsaw Pact is dissolved in Prague
6 July 1415 – Church reformer Jan Hus is burned at the stake, marked by a state holiday since 1925.
9 July 1357 – Charles IV reportedly lays the first stone at the Charles Bridge (pictured) in Prague
29 July 1817 – Foundation of Moravské zemské muzeum in Brno under the name Františkovo muzeum, the second-oldest museum in the country
30 July 1419 – The first of the Defenestrations of Prague: a group led by priest Jan Želivský go to Prague's New Town Hall, where they throw councillors out of the windows, starting the Hussite Wars

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Gustav Mahler (German: [ˈɡʊstaf ˈmaːlɐ] ^ⓘ; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

Born in Bohemia (then part of the Austrian Empire) to Jewish parents of humble origins, the German-speaking Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism to secure the post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. (Full article...)

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John Amos Comenius Petr Čech Dominik Hašek Jaromír Jágr Pavel Nedvěd Gregor Mendel Tomáš Rosický Franz Kafka Bedřich Smetana Emanuel Moravec 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 in 2005 UNESCO proclaimed the Moravian male recruit dance verbuňk as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mankind?
... that in 2013, the Czech Republic plans to directly elect its president for the first time in its history?
... that, having played 465 league matches, Jaroslav Šilhavý holds the record for the most appearances in top-flight Czech football?
... that Czech Karel Robětín was not only an Olympian and national tennis champion but also an international paper industry tycoon?

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General images

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

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

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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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WikiProject Czech Republic

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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
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