Czechmatediary

The second part of the history of Czechs in Ohio is here (you can read the first part here) and even though I do not live in Ohio myself, I was engrossed in reading (and translating!) it:

‘So Gustav Adam, the first Czech immigrant to Ohio, was dead and what happened then? The Czech immigrant torch overtook Jindrich Hladik from Prague and a few Czech Jewish men such as Leopold Levy from Smetanova Lhota u Pisku, Bernard Weidenthal from Vestice u Tabora and Zikmund Stein from Prague. Levy had a fabric store  and Stein opened up a little pub on  Seneca Street, while Hladik owned a food market. In 1849 inhabited Cleveland also a 22-year-old Abraham Weindenthal whose offspring became excellent journalists.

In 1852 arrived to Cleveland 16 new Czech families and their beginnings were not pretty. Since the women were accustomed going to the town bare-foot and with scarfs tied around their heads, the locals thought of them as Gypsies. (more…)

Everyone has heard of Cleveland, the second most industrial city in the USA. But not everyone knows that all of its machinery was built  by the Eastern European immigrants, including the Czechs.

Ohio in the 18th century was inhabited only by Indians, while the land itself was fought over by the French and the English. While those two nationalities were fearlessly fighting for the land, the Moravian christian missionaries (Moravian Brethren) were fighting for the Indian souls. Besides Christianity the missionaries taught the Indians about hygiene, various useful crafts and farming. About 100 years later the main Indian colony located on the Tuscarawas river was visited by a famous Moravian missionary, David Zeisberger. David befriended the Indian chief of the Netawatweese clan who adviced him to ride down the local river to find a new home for himself. (more…)

Tomorrow is the Three Kings day, which is celebrated all over Europe. The Czechs do not celebrate it too much (at least we didn’t when we were kids) but I just found out from my Czech friend - who is married to a Spanish guy - that this holiday is even more prevalent in Spain than Christmas. In fact, the Spanish don’t even celebrate Christmas! Crazy, huh?

Anyhow, this is what Wikipedia says about how is this holiday celebrated in Central Europe:

‘A tradition in most of Central Europe involves writing the initials of the three kings’ names above the main door of the home to confer blessings on the occupants for the New Year. For example, 20 + C + M + B + 08. The initials may also represent “Christus mansionem benedicat” (Christ bless this house). In Catholic parts of Germany and in Austria, this is done by so called Sternsinger (star singers), children, dressed up as the Magi, carrying the star and singing Christmas carols. In exchange for writing the initials, they collect money for charity projects in the third world.’ (Read more about this holiday here).

What probably all of the Czech/Slovak kids know is the Three Kings song (My tri kralove jdeme k vam), which is sang usually together with other Christmas carols during Christmas time. Below is the video as well as the words of the song (translation of the words was done by me so it may not be perfect). Let us reminisce about the times of our childhood!

CZ: Zitra je tu svatek Tri Kralu, tak vam preji to nej, nej, nejlepsi. Je na case si zavzpominat na tu nasi pisnicku o Trech kralich  a tady je k tomu take pekne detske video: (more…)

I meet a bunch of very interesting people through this blog. Just the other day I was contacted by Jan Hanzal who lives in the Czech Republic. Does that name sound familiar? No? How about if I mention the names of some great Czech movies like “Tri veterani“, “Slavnosti snezenek“, or “Prazska petka“??? Do those ring the bell? Well, Jan Hanzal was one of the camera men who shot those movies! Isn’t that cool??

Anyhow, ever since 1991 Jan has been working on his own projects, one of which is also an exciting multimedia historical project called “The Dark Star Quest“. Please read this introduction and make sure that you send it to other people who you think would be interested in it!

‘ The preparations for multimedia project “The Dark Star Quest” begun in May 2008, following the steps of the historical messengers sent out by Czech king Jiri of Podebrady in 1465. Roughly forty quest members, lead by Sir Lev of Rozmital and of Blatna, had the task to visit and gain the approval of the European Christian monarchs and rulers to begin the creation of the European Community. The proposed concept of this remarkable and futuristic idea can be considered as the image model of our current European Union.

On November 25, 1465 the Quest began its journey from part of Prague and from part of Blatna castle, across Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Austria to return to Czech the spring of 1467. (more…)

A Czech newspaper called Idnes.cz wrote a nice overview article about the Czech St. Nicholas and how does his character varies in other European countries. Bellow are also some nice pictures from this year’s St. Nicholas Day (in the Czech Republic).

ST. NICHOLAS TRADITIONS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

In Netherlands St. Nicholas comes visit various cities and villages on a white horse. He and his helper Zwart Piet are then welcomed by the city mayor. The children are taught to leave their shoes in front of the door and leave their wish letters tucked in the shoes. Very often they also put in few carrots or hay for Nicholas’s horse. For these good deeds they hope St. Nicholas will leave them candy and not coal or a sack of salt.

In Poland, on the other hand, the St. Nicholas (Mikolaj) character is similar to our ‘little Jesus’ (Jezisek). Mikolaj comes to the Polish children one day earlier than to the Czech children. He then re-visits them on Christmas Eve and gives them even more presents. (more…)

One of you guys discovered this great video presentation on the transformation of Czechoslovakia since the end of the Cold War and its impact on international business. The presentation is done by a professor (Peter Petrik) who was born and raised in Czechoslovakia (today Slovakia) and who not only knows his history very well but can also give you some personal insight on it.

CZ: Jeden z vas, ctenaru, objevil vyborne video zabyvajici se transformaci byvaleho Ceskoslovenska od konce studene valky a jaky tato transformace mela efekt na mezinarodni obchod.

From Behind the Iron Curtain to Membership in the European Union from Slovak on Vimeo.

Karen’s blog Empty Nest Expat led me today to a very nice article commemorating today’s date - November 17th. On this date - exactly 20 years ago - Velvet Revolution broke us free of communism. I was there, on my dad’s shoulders, but besides the shouting crowds and people shaking their keys, I don’t remember much. Tomas Etzler on the other hand, the CNN producer now based in Benjing, remembers  this historical event very well and narrates it to his readers  in a very entertaining tone. Enjoy (click here for the article)!

CZ: Karenin blog zvany Empty Nest Expat me dnes privedl k velmi zajimavemu clanku o vyroci sametove revoulce (17. listopadu 1989). Ja jsem na Vaclavaku v ten den sice byla, ale  jeste jako docela maly prcek, bazlive sedici na tatovych ramenou. Nic moc si z demonstrace nepamatuji, jen ten zastup napumpovanych lidi a zvoneni klicu. Tomas Etzler, ktery v soucasne dobe pracuje pro CNN, si toho pamatuje mnohem vic. V jeho clanku ctenarum shrnuje historii teto doby a to ve velmi zabavne podobe (clanek si prectete zde).

With the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution the local research agency conducted a poll on Czech pride. The results are quite uplifting:

• 78% of Czechs are proud of their nationality
• 17% of Czechs are not too proud of their nationality
• 5% of Czechs are not proud of their nationality at all

(Total of 1,270 voters)

More such prideful Czechs can be found among the student population and among the elders. The least prideful Czechs are among the those people who belong to the communist party (KSCM) and among those who did not vote and do not associate themselves with any kind of political party at all.

The STEM research agency have been conducting the same poll ever since the 1990’s.

CZ: Pri prilezitosti 20ti leteho vyroci sametove revoluce se pruzkumni agentura STEM zeptala 1 270 Cechu, jestli jsou hrdi na to, ze jsou Cesi. Vysledy jsou velmi optimisticke:

• 78% dotazanych tuto hrdost pocituje
• 17% spise na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou
• 5% na sve obcanstvi hrdi nejsou vubec

(more…)

This is a special month for Czechs and Slovaks because it marks a 20-year anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. That’s right, although Czechoslovakia does not exist anymore both countries have been enjoying 20 years of freedom! Most of the events bellow commemorate just that:

CZ: Tento mesic je pro Cechy a Slovaky velmi vyznamny, nebot 17. listopadu obe zeme slavi 20. vyroci (!!) sametove revoluce!! Ceskoslovensko sice jiz neexistuje, ale obe zeme si jiz 20 let uzivaji nadherne svobody. Vetsina zde zminenych akci si pripomina prave toto datum:

1. Baltimore, MD

What: Slavic food festival

When: Nov. 21 (more…)

I have seen these dogs around but I just thought they were Chihuahuas.Well,  I was wrong! As one of you guys informed me (thank you Lydia!) they are called the Prague Ratters and as you might have guessed correctly according to the name, this breed was originated in Czech sometime before the 10th century. Today it is one of  the smallest dog breeds in the world ( 7 t0 9 inches tall and 6 to 9 lbs) and it can also be trained to use a litter box! Check out this cutie-pie’s history:

CZ: Kdyz jsem jeste zila v Cechach, tito pejsci behali vsude. Vzdycky jsem si myslela, ze jsou to cuvavy nebo miniaturni dobrmanci, ale diky jednomu z vas ted vim, ze jsem se mylila! Toto roztomile plemeno se jmenuje Prazsky krysarik a jak si jiz z jmena muzete domyslet, pochazi z Cech. Je to take jeden z nejmensich psich plemen na svete (vazi 6-9 poundu a meri 7-10 inchu), ktere chodi bezne na zachod na pisek pro kocky (litter box).

Prague Ratter History

As the breed is really so old, it is practically impossible to trace its early beginnings. However, Polish chronicler Galla Anonym wrote that Polish King Boleslav II The Brave (1058 -1080) became fond of the Ratter. He had two that came from Bohemia (the Czech lands). The chronicle says: “Not only Polish blood but also purely Slavonic blood, donated blood, circulates in the veins of our dogs”. As the king of Poland valued this gift, we can presume that it was a royal gift from prince Vladislav II. The French historian Jules Michelet mentioned in his work “Histoire de France” three ratting dogs came from the Czech lands. (more…)