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A North Nubian giraffe named Johanka is now undergoing veterinary training. She is the first giraffe at Prague Zoo that the keepers train daily. They use the so-called target, treats in the form of giraffe biscuits, and the youthful nature of...

The ceremonial outfits prepared for Czech athletes for the Winter Olympics in Milan–Cortina, featuring shorts and brightly coloured sweaters, faced criticism at home ahead of the Games. But at the opening ceremony last Friday, they drew...

The Czech Republic has sent a record number of athletes to the Winter Olympics in Milan and the country has a good track record of participation in winter Olympic sports. To find the very first Czech medal from the Winter Games, we would have...

Why did ice hockey take such deep roots in Czechia – a country far from Scandinavia and Canada? In a special episode of Czechast, Vít Pohanka looks at the history, culture and lasting appeal of Czech ice hockey, from frozen ponds to Olympic...

One of the three most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Berlinale, opens this Thursday in Berlin. Among the Czech films presented this year is Věra Chytilová’s 1979 satirical film PanelStory, or How a Housing Development Is Born. The...

TV journalist Darja Stomatová has been reporting from Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Last week Stomatová received the Ferdinand Peroutka Prize, perhaps the most prestigious honour in Czech journalism, for her coverage...

With a willingness to tackle international challenges and some of the world’s most difficult molecules, Štěpánka Nedvědová’s profile sheds light on the slow, often invisible work behind scientific progress, where persistence matters as much as...

Czechia has scored 59 points in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, equalling its best result to date but still lagging behind the EU average. According to Transparency International analyst Marek Chromý, the country has made clear...

Have you heard of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church? What inspires someone to become a priest? Why are pastors prone to burnout? And can a priest dance on live television? Radio Prague International spoke with Martina Viktorie Voborníková...

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has announced that his government is seriously considering banning social media for children under the age of 15, following the example of France. While flash polls suggest that most parents would approve, many...

One hundred years ago, on February 8, 1926, the Liberated Theatre (Osvobozené divadlo) was founded in Prague – an avant-garde scene that profoundly influenced Czech culture and laid the foundations of modern political satire. It was here that...

The video of a man stealing a swan on the Vltava River in the centre of Prague made news headlines this week. The incident was captured on video by a passerby, who later handed the footage over to the police. Animal welfare groups have also...

Russia, security, and uncertainty have returned to the centre of European politics. But security, says analyst Filip Scherf, is not only about threats — it is also about self-confidence, responsibility, and partnerships. In this episode of...

This Friday, the 25th Winter Olympic Games officially get underway in Italy. Few people know, however, that Czechs played an important role in the very first Winter Olympics more than a century ago. The Krkonoše Museum in Jilemnice is now...

The Committee of Good Will – the Olga Havel Foundation will once again present the Olga Havel Award in May. The prestigious award is intended for individuals who, despite their health disabilities, actively help others and contribute to...

European bison from Prague Zoo and Olomouc Zoo have arrived in Azerbaijan. They will strengthen the reintroduced population in the Shahdag National Park. The original four females have now become five, while waiting for the transport, which was...

A new series of meetings “Women who move business” with the subtitle “Business on the move: New challenges and solutions” started at the premises of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The project was created in cooperation with the Chamber of...

TEDxUNYP returns to Prague on Saturday, March 7th, bringing international speakers to the Prague Congress Centre for a one day event focused on how we connect in a changing world. The 2026 edition introduces the theme “Currents of Connection”...

In a special episode of Czechast, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks openly about the war with Russia, peace talks, and the role Czechia plays in supporting Ukraine. In an exclusive interview for Czech Radio, conducted by Josef...

Stanislav Přibyl, the current bishop of Litoměřice, has been appointed the new Archbishop of Prague. The 54-year-old bishop, who chose the episcopal motto Pax vobis –has said he wants to bring people together in an increasingly troubled world...

After two decades in Czech public media and years spent in Brussels, Filip Nerad, now working at Globsec Policy Institute, offers a long-term view of Czechia’s position inside the EU and NATO. In an interview for Czechast, he discusses the...

After nearly two and a half centuries, hard coal mining in the Czech Republic has come to an end. The final mining shift surfaced from the ČSM mine in the Ostrava–Karviná coal basin late on Sunday night. A symbolic last cart of coal will be...

Czech interest in this year’s Academy Awards will centre on Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a Danish-Czech production nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category. The film contains footage shot surreptitiously by a teacher, Pavel “Pasha”...

The annual Ride of the Kings has a new king: ten-year-old Marek Dacík. Continuing a remarkable family legacy, Marek is the 100th historically documented king in the town of Vlčnov. The annual Ride of the Kings is one of the most celebrated folk...

The Nesyt salt marsh, covering almost seven hectares, lies on the edge of the Pálava Protected Landscape Area, established 50 years ago. It is home to many attractive bird species such as blue tits and Bohemian waxwings. See more here.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people gathered on Prague’s main squares to support President Petr Pavel amid his dispute with Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists’ Party) over his refusal to appoint Filip Turek environment minister. The...

Seventy years ago, a technical operation took place in Prague that had no precedent in Czechoslovakia at the time. The small Baroque Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene beneath Letná Hill was meant to be demolished to make way for an enormous Stalin...

Less than a year after the establishment of the regional Pilsen Radio station, a 32-member orchestra was founded in February 1946. It was named the Pilsen Radio Orchestra. The ensemble is one of the predecessors of today’s Pilsen Philharmonic...

Around one fifth of Czech children and adolescents aged nine to fifteen spend more than five hours online every single day. This is according to a new survey conducted by the Czech Statistics Office (ČSÚ). The survey, which included nearly...

The Prague Castle Guard is looking to take on new recruits and has relaxed its long-standing selection criteria. For many years, only candidates between 178 and 188 centimeters tall were eligible to serve. The new height range is more tolerant...

The Good Will Committee – Olga Havel Foundation has launched a public collection Light and Heat for Kiev, which responds to the dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine during this winter. The goal of the collection...

A summary of the key points from the recent address by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.  In his remarks, President Tokayev presented a package of constitutional and institutional reforms aimed at modernizing...

The Prague Zoo has prepared a special event for schoolchildren for the autumn holidays. Every child under 15 who hands in their old mobile phone for recycling at the main entrance will receive entry to the zoo on Friday, January 30 for just one...

Radio Prague International is celebrating 90 years since the launch of international broadcasting this year. To mark the anniversary, it has prepared a new series of QSL cards, which are among the most distinctive visual artefacts linked to the...

Over the past five years, total fertility rate in Czechia has fallen from 1.83 to below 1.3 children per woman. While declining fertility is a trend shared by most countries of comparable wealth, the drop in Czechia is among the steepest –...

With the Winter Olympics in Milan just around the corner, we’re taking a closer look at some of Czechia’s biggest medal hopefuls. One of the brightest new stars is speed skater Metoděj Jílek, just nineteen years old and already a newly crowned...

The 1990s were a period of optimism following the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. The country underwent a rapid crash course in capitalism, and its sudden shift was also reflected in its architecture. Today, 1990s buildings are often...

The Prague Philharmonia performed at Carnegie Hall, one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, marking its return to the United States after several years. Conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, the concert offered not only a showcase of...

In January 2006, the Škoda 14T tram, nicknamed the “Porsche” because of its design by Porsche Design, made its debut in Prague. Today, two decades later, these controversial vehicles are an unmistakable part of the streets of Prague. When the...

Conductor Jakub Hrůša has become a pop star of Czech classical music. In this episode of Sunday Music, he takes us on a journey through Richard Strauss’s Lieder, spanning nearly seventy years of the composer’s creative life. Hrůša – here not...

Peasants have long been sidelined in history books. Jakub Beneš, Associate Professor at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, seeks to restore them to the historical narrative, focusing on the area of the former Austro...

In a new episode of Czechast, the podcast in English about all things Czech, former Czech NATO ambassador Jakub Landovský reflects on Ukraine, NATO and Europe’s hard lessons. Drawing on his own experience inside the Alliance, he speaks openly...

Miloš Forman Square in central Prague is set for a major transformation. This week, city officials announced the winner of an international architectural competition for the site at the end of Pařížská, Czechia’s most expensive street, near the...

Scientists from the Faculty of Technology and the Centre of Polymer Systems at Tomas Bata University in Zlín are developing an advanced model of the human small intestine. The main goal behind this effort is to replace animal testing in...

An image capturing a miner at work has won the main prize at this year’s Czech Press Photo competition. Photographer Lukáš Kaboň was awarded for documenting life underground as the country’s last operating hard coal mine approaches closure. The...

In just over two weeks, the 2026 Winter Olympic Games will get under way in northern Italy. The Czech Republic is pinning its hopes not only on its skiers, snowboarders and speed skaters, but also on its ice hockey team. Hockey fans will be...

This week, Prague Philharmonia embarks on a concert tour of the United States, performing in six cities across the American Southeast before culminating its journey at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall. Ahead of the opening concert in Florida...

Štvanice Winter Stadium, designed in 1932 by functionalist architect Josef Fuchs, was the first arena in Czechoslovakia with an artificial ice surface. It hosted the country’s first-ever ice hockey world championship win in 1947, as well...

Czech scientists have announced an extraordinary discovery in the Moravian Karst in South Moravia. Inside one of the region’s caves, they found a rare engraving of a horse — an image created around 15,000 years ago, at the very end of the last...

Malá Strana is one of Prague’s most visited neighbourhoods and very much part of the beaten track. But behind its busy streets lies a network of stairways that lead away from crowds and into calmer, more intimate spacesand take you suddenly off...

January and February are traditionally the months when universities across the Czech Republic hold open days. The University of Defence in Brno was no exception, offering prospective students the chance to explore courses and get hands-on...

Few Czech silent films are as renowned as Erotikon, directed by Gustav Machatý in 1929. The intimate romance, provocative for its time, has now been digitally restored and will receive a major new premiere on Tuesday. The screening will feature...

This Friday, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra celebrated a major international success in Paris, where it received the Diapason d’Or de l’Année award for its triple album of the complete symphonic works of Bedřich Smetana. The award...

Bet Orten studied fashion photography in London after a stint as an assistant to a well-known celebrity photographer in New York. But for the last decade and a half Orten, whose Instagram profile describes her as a “female photographer taking...

Exactly 120 years ago, in 1906, the Austro-Hungarian Empire began systematically registering motor vehicles, requiring the few car owners in the Czech lands — then still part of the Empire — to display a clearly visible registration plate. One...

One of Prague’s most picturesque squares – Námestí míru – was the selected site for a wedding scene in Netflix’s upcoming series The Age of Innocence, an adaptation of the famous novel by American writer Edith Wharton. Its shooting...

An image capturing a miner at work has won the main prize at this year’s Czech Press Photo competition. Photographer Lukáš Kaboň was awarded for documenting life underground as the country’s last operating hard coal mine approaches closure. The...

Czech type designers have become significant players in the field of global typography – the design of glyphs and letterforms, better known as fonts. As Dominik Jůn discovered, this field of artistic graphic design is also strongly linked to...

On Wednesday, January 14, 2026, the President of the Republic, Petr Pavel, received the credentials of the new ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary at Prague Castle: H.E. Mr. Ruslan Abashidze, new Ambassador Extraordinary and...

Snowfall on Friday transformed much of the Czech Republic into a winter wonderland. While the mountains are drawing visitors for winter sports, historic sites also take on a special charm at this time of year. And judging by last year’s...

One of the best ways to experience Prague off the Beaten Track is not on foot, but from a tram. Line 22 crosses the city from Bílá Hora to Hostivař, passing castles, squares, and residential districts along the way. Seen from street level and...

As of January 1, 2026, Czechia introduced a new amendment to its Criminal Code, placing communism on the same legal footing as Nazism. So, what does the law actually prohibit? Why was it adopted, and how does it reflect Czechia’s understanding...

Getting a tattoo may leave a lasting mark not only on your skin, but also on your immune system. This is the conclusion of a groundbreaking international study involving researchers from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The...

Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša has been named Artist of the Year for 2026 by the International Classical Music Awards. Often described as the “Oscar of classical music,” the honour recognises his exceptional international career and his work with...

Celebrations of regional folk music and dance take place around Bohemia, Silesia and Moravia each year, drawing hundreds of admirers. And while the tradition is only brought out on special occasions, the good news is that those charmed by their...

The Metoděj Vlach Aviation Museum in Mladá Boleslav has a new exhibit: a replica of the Kuňkadlo sport aircraft. It was built by designer Juraj Tinka and donated to the museum. The original aircraft was constructed 100 years ago by brothers...

Marie Provazníková ranks among the most outstanding figures of modern Czech history. As the head of Sokol, an Olympic coach, and a pioneer of women’s physical education, she managed to resist both Nazism and Communism. She was born in 1890 in...

A treasure trove of more than a thousand rare books has been returned to the monastery library of the Association for the Preservation of the Monastery of St. Francis of Assisi in Votice. The books were taken away 75 years ago, and for many...

Women in the South Moravian town of Lednice have created a new online collection documenting more than one hundred traditional woollen shawls known as vlňáky. Once a common part of winter folk costume in the Podluží region, these scarves...

In the deep forests of the Vysočina region, in the unassuming village of Tři Studně (Three Wells), Bohuslav Martinů composed one of his most lyrical works. Two small forest springs – Barborka and Vitulka – inspired the composer to create the...

Visitors to the Lipno Reservoir in South Bohemia witnessed something unusual at the end of last year. The ice on the lake turned green, a striking sight in the middle of winter. The cause was an unexpected build-up of cyanobacteria trapped...

In this episode of Prague off the Beaten Track, we head to Baba, a rocky plateau just north of Hanspaulka. Built in the 1930s as a model housing exhibition, the Baba villa colony combines functionalist architecture with sweeping views over...

TEDxUNYP returns to Prague on Saturday, March 7th, bringing international speakers to the Prague Congress Centre for a one day event focused on how we connect in a changing world. The 2026 edition introduces the theme “Currents of Connection”...

Visitor numbers at heritage sites managed by the Czech National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) rose year-on-year last year. See more here. Author: Hannah Vaughan

In 2025, sales of new passenger cars in the Czech Republic rose by 7. See more here. Author: Hannah Vaughan

Cynthia Paces is the author of Prague: The Heart of Europe, which traces the city’s fascinating history from the 10th century to the modern era. The US historian also has strong personal ties to the city, from which the Pačes family were forced...

Czechia is in for a musical onslaught in 2026 the likes of which it has not seen in a long time. Prague, Hradec Králové and Vizovice will welcome hard-rock legends, metal icons, pop-punk stars and unique projects linking music with gaming...

For this week’s Radio Prague Sunday music show, we are presenting one of the musical highlights of 2025: the 80th Prague Spring International Music Festival, featuring Smetana’s My Country—the pinnacle of the Czech classical music calendar and...

Winter coats roads and bridges with salt, and when mixed with moisture, it slowly and relentlessly eats away at metal structures. Scientists at the Institute of Physics of Materials of the Academy of Sciences are trying to combat this. In their...

Jiří Viktor Daneš is a name many Czechs may not recognize today. He was a geographer, explorer, and diplomat who set out for Australia in 1920 as Czechoslovakia’s very first consul on the continent. During his travels across Australia, and...

Florenc21 is Prague’s largest urban renewal project. It’s taking a neglected brownfield along a major road and transforming it into a green walkable neighborhood. Launched through an international urban design competition in 2021, the project...

Bohem Brewery is a London-based Czech brewery that does more than just brew authentic Czech lager. It also runs two pubs and a taproom, all with a wider mission in mind: to teach Britons what good lager can taste and look like. I visited one of...

Time magazine has named Tomáš Cihlář, a Czech virologist at the US biopharmaceutical company Gilead, among the 100 Most Influential People of 2025, alongside biochemist Wesley Sundquist of the University of Utah. Their work focuses on...

Thanks to freezing temperatures, Czechs are enjoying the winter season not only in the mountains. Ideal conditions for winter fun can also be found in Prague’s parks, for example in Stromovka. See more here.

When Antonín Dvořák conducted the Czech Philharmonic’s very first concert on January 4, 1896, few could have foreseen that it was an orchestra destined to become one of the symbols of Czech culture. Standing on the podium of Prague’s Rudolfinum...

Hanspaulka is the focus of a new episode of Prague off the Beaten Track, now part of the podcast Czechast. This quiet Prague 6 neighbourhood is known for its interwar villas, famous artists and intellectuals, and a strong sense of place. Today...

The Symphony No. 9 in E minor, “From the New World, popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 when he was director of the National Conservatory of Music of America. It premiered at New York’s...

The Wallachian Open-Air Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm marked the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2025 with a record-breaking celebration. A total of 1,449 people wearing traditional folk costumes gathered in Masaryk Square in late June...

An exhibition devoted to activist art is currently underway at Prague’s Municipal Library. Organised by City Gallery Prague, it explores Czech activist art of recent decades in dialogue with international movements such as Black Lives Matter...

Commemorating exactly fourteen years since the death of former president Václav Havel, candles and flowers are laid in remembrance – not only of a president, but also of an artist, playwright, dissident, and public figure. Havel has come to...

Precisely ten years ago, the Paris Agreement was adopted by a record 195 parties – a moment of relief and euphoria for Stéphane Crouzat, who was among the architects of the landmark deal and is now France’s ambassador to Czechia. What does he...

In 2025, Czechia ranked as the world’s sixth-best performing economy, according to The Economist. But did it really perform that well? In my interview with Vladimir Vano, Chief Economist at Wealth Effect Management, I asked him what factors...

The debate over mobile phones in Czech schools has moved from the margins to the mainstream. One of the voices shaping this discussion is lawyer Jan Vobořil, who supports the parental initiative “Cell-less Childhood” (Dětství bez...

A magical evening took place at the pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk on Zelená Hora in Žďár nad Sázavou. Dozens of worshippers honoured St. Lucy’s feast with songs and prayers, celebrating her name, which comes from the Latin word for...

New data on alcohol addiction treatment reveal stark regional differences. Most Czechs undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction come from eastern, northern, and central Moravia. The districts of Vsetín, Zlín, Jeseník, Kroměříž, and Přerov are...