Stunning & Unique Czech Inspired Embroidered Coat

Oh my goodness, have you ever seen anything so lovely? I am literally drooling over this one. My friend Lynette embroiders and she’s been playing with some Bohemian, Moravian and Slovak designs. Some of the items she creates are absolutely stunning… Like this beautiful coat. This coat is an eye-catcher. Have you ever seen anything...

Retro Chic, Shopping

July 2, 2019

The Folk Aprons of Czechoslovakia

Picture a tiny village in Eastern Europe, surrounded by forests and vineyards. Roses and daisies riot in front of small white-washed cottages. A tall-steepled church dominates the dusty village, and the road to the church is filled with blazing colors. It’s the matrons of Ratiskovice, Czechoslovakia, on their way to church in their richly embroidered...

Art and Design, Fashion, LIFESTYLE, Retro Chic

June 16, 2019

Zem Spieva or the Earth Sings – A Czech/Slovak Magnum Opus

Zem spieva (The Earth Sings) is a 1933 Czech documentary film written and directed by Karel Plicka (in Slovak: Karol Plicka) (1894 – 1987), a Czechoslovak photographer, film director, cinematographer, folklorist, and pedagogue. He is considered a founder of Slovak film education and film making. He helped establish the genre of ethnographic film in Czechoslovakia. Following Karel Plicka’s graduation...

History, Movies, PEOPLE

June 9, 2019

The Tragic Fate of the Vyšehrad Train Station

Located in a whimsical part of Prague that many tourists do not venture to, is the abandoned Vyšehrad Train Station. This Art Nouveau gem sits quietly in her old grandeur, a crumbling boarded up beauty laden with graffiti just waiting (like many other gorgeous structures in the city of Prague) for a new face-lift. Seeing...

Architecture, History, LIFESTYLE

June 6, 2019

Dr. Miroslav Tyrš Founder of the Czech Sokol Union

Let’s travel back in time, to 1920, and take a look at Dr. Miroslav Tyrš Founder of the Czech Sokol Union. Miroslav Tyrš was actually born as Friedrich Emanuel Tirsch on September 17, 1832 and died on August 8, 1884. He was a Czech art historian, sports organizer and as we’ll learn today, the founder of...

Bohemians, History, PEOPLE

May 28, 2019

Journalism in Czech Blood: The Rosický’s of Omaha

If you are a lover of Everything Czech and are especially fascinated with Czechs in America, then surely you have heard of the Rosický’s of Omaha or come across A History of Czechs (Bohemians) in Nebraska. Compiled by Rose Rosicky (Růžena Rosicka) in Omaha, Nebraska in 1929. This special historical book (documents all important Czech...

Books, History, Women

May 15, 2019

Wreath & Cap to Veil & Apron: American Modification of a Slavic Ritual

Introduction This paper explores a wedding custom practiced for more than one hundred years in the Chicago area by the descendants of Czech, Polish and Slovak immigrant women. Through the custom’s existence and perpetuation in America, the role of a transitional rite of passage is chronicled in both the process of assimilation and the preservation...

Fashion, LIFESTYLE, Retro Chic

April 16, 2019

Historical Depeche Mode Concert in the CSSR

The communist regime did not tolerate listening to Western music. They believed that the live concerts of imperialist artists were taboo. So how is it that on March 11, 1988 Depeche Mode was allowed to come to the Sports Hall in Prague of then-called Czechoslovakia? The Depeche Mode concert in the CSSR is one of...

ENTERTAINMENT, History, Music

March 14, 2019

Masaryk Square in Děčín Through the Ages

Děčín is a town located in the northern part of the Czech Republic. Decin (called Tetschen in German) was settled by the Slavic tribe of Decane in the 9th century, thus it’s believed this is how it got its name. Děčín it is located in the Ústí nad Labem Region in the north of the...

Czech Republic, NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

February 22, 2019

Altneuschul or Old New Synagogue of Prague

The Old-New Synagogue in Prague is the oldest and most historic Synagogue in Europe. Inaugurated in 1270, the Altneuschul or Old New Synagogue is the oldest continually active synagogue in all of Europe. Below is a circa 1900 Czech postcard showing a bird’s eye view of this famous Synagogue. All buildings in the complex are...

NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

January 9, 2019

The History Of Amati Instrument Production

In Kraslice, a city known as the cradle of musical instrument production in Bohemia, the records of the production of stringed instruments can be seen all the way back to the first half of the 17th century. By the 18th century, the music industry had made a leap from producing strictly violins to wind instruments. Before...

History, NOSTALGIA

January 8, 2019

Beautiful Handmade Czech Bottle Holder Necklaces

It’s true, we humans love surprises, secrets, the mystique of hidden treasure and sudden delights to the senses; it is little wonder, then, that the miniature and wearable Czech bottle holder necklaces of such thrill and fascination for their collectors. Jewelry has always been similar to clothing when it came to portraying rank and wealth....

LIFESTYLE, Retro Chic, Shopping

January 3, 2019

Moravian Maurice Grau and the Metropolitan Opera

“The family with Czech roots who popularized musical theatre, ran the Metropolitan Opera, and published insightful books on theatre were the Graus. Maurice Grau was the universally loved head of the Met, his brother toured North America producing repertory opera-musicals, and another brother wrote the books.” The quote came in the form of a comment...

History, LIFESTYLE, NOSTALGIA, PEOPLE

December 14, 2018

The Czech Duchess Who Murdered Her Mother-In-Law

Drahomíra is remembered today as the Duchess of Bohemia and the mother of the famous Saint Wenceslaus. She reigned as the Duchess of Bohemia from 915 to 921, after she married Vratislaus I, Duke of the Přemyslid dynasty. However, many people remember her for a much darker reason. In 906, young Drahomíra married Vratislaus who,...

History, NOSTALGIA

November 2, 2018

The Tale of the Headless Gingerbread Men

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the mysterious legend of The House at the Golden Well (Czech: Dům U Zlaté Studně), which follows the story of Ľubomíra, a housemaid who fell into the house’s well while looking for gold and died. According to the legend, her ghost continued to haunt the building for many years...

NOSTALGIA, Time Warp

October 28, 2018

Czech America in the Struggle for Independent Czechoslovakia

As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the independence of Czechs and Slovaks from the Austro-Hungarian oppression and the foundation of Czechoslovakia on October 28, 1918, we should also remember the role the Czech Americans played on behalf of their homeland. This is why we are thankful to guest author Miloslav Rechcígl, Jr. for his...

History, Holidays, NOSTALGIA