The Czechmate Diary...

Czech activities in the USA: Calendar for August 07′

Tanja — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:55:53 +0000

1. New York, NY (the Czech Center)

www.czechcenters.cz

What: “Meet Contemporary Czech Design” exhibition
When: July 07′ – Sept. 15th

2. Astonia, NY (Bohemian Beer Garden)

http://www.bohemianhall.com

What: Showing of various Czech movies
- Aug. 5th: Holiday Makers (Ucastnici Zajezdu)
- Aug. 12th: Bored in Brno (Nuda v Brne)
- Aug 19th: Skritek (Skritek)
- Aug 26th: Devided we fall (Musime si pomahat)

3. Prague, Texas (Czech Heritage Society of Texas)

http://www.czechheritage.org

What: “Prazska Pout” (Prague Fair) Fair
When: Aug. 15th

What: St. Cyril and Methodus Catholic Church Picnic
When: Aug 26th
Where: Cistern, Texas……CLICK ON “MORE ” TO SEE MORE ACTIVITES!!

4. Brookfield, Illinois (United Moravian Societies)

http://www.unitedmoraviansocieties.com/events.html

What: UMS Picnic

When: Aug 12th

Where: Kiwanis Park

5. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library)

http://ncsml.org/about/events&programs/calendar.htm

What: Master Puppet Maker Performance

When: Aug. 1st or 2nd

What: CSA Annual Meeting

When: Aug 2nd-4th

What: Gallery Tour of Puppetry “Suspended Imagination

When: Aug. 4th

What: WFLA Exhibit

When: Aug 9th -Nov.11

What: Czech Village Concert Series

When: Aug. 10th, Aug. 17th& Aug. 24th

What: Puppetry Workshop (long-cherished Czech tradition)

When: Aug. 18th

6. Baltimore, Maryland (Czech and Slovak Heritage Association)

http://www.bcpl.net/~czslha/

What: Tamburitzans (dancers performing Eastern European dances)

When: Aug 07′ through May 08′ (check the website for a specific US location near you)

7. North Miami, Florida (American-Czech-Slovak cultural club)

http://www.acscc.org
What: bluegrass band “Druha Trava” performs acoustic Czech/world music
When: Aug 24th

8. New Philadelphia, Ohio (Moravian Church in North America)

http://www.mcnp.org/articles.asp?ID=5

What: The 550the Anniversary of the Moravian Church celebration
When: Aug 10th – Aug 12th

9. Washington, DC (the Embassy of the Czech Republic)

http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/default.asp?id=32413&ido=15962&idj=2&amb=87

What: Exhibition “Modernity in Central Europe” (also connected with other Czech cultural events)
When: June 07′ – August 07′

Film Festival in Karlovy Vary is on/ Zacal filmovy Festival v Karlovych Varech

Tanja — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 02:05:23 +0000

The 42nd Film Festival in Karlovy Vary has just begun. It will be showing the total of 220 movies, where the best fiction movie wins the Crystal Globe prize (see the photo attached) as well as $20,000. The documentary movies are this year competing for a prize of $5,000 (quite the difference there…). The opening event on Friday was hosted by the world famous movie stars such as Renee Zellweger and Dany de Vito. Pour Renee started her trip to the Czech Republic quite adventurously: she was informed at the London airport that ALL of her luggage had gotten lost somewhere on the way, including her fancy evening dress! Well, let’s hope that Dany de Vito will be generous enough to lend her his toothbrush and she will be able to find something to wear from the Wenceslav Square boutique selection.. One of the Czech movie runners-up that is competing for the Crystal Globe this year is Sverak’s movie “Vratne Lahve” (Return bottles), so let’s cross our fingers for him…Do you know, by the way, how much does a film festival like this costs these days? The whole sum has settled in last years to about 115 million Kc, which is about 6 million dollars. The 75% to 80% of it is payed by various private firms and the rest is usually divided between the Ministry of Culture and the district of Karlovy Vary. More on this film festival can be found at http://www.kviff.com/cz/aktualne-live/

CZ: 42. rocnik filmoveho festivalu v Karlovych Varech predvede tento rok celych 220 celovecernich filmu, jak hranych, tak dokumentarnich. Vcerejsi zahajovaci vecer byl uveden svetovymi hvezdami filmoveho platna jako je Renee Zellwergerova a Dany de Vito. Chudak Zellwegerova zacala svuj vylet se smulou na patach. Jiz v Londyne zjistila, ze se ji ztratily vsechny jeji zavazadla, vcetne jeji vecerni roby! No, doufejme, ze se ji nejaky ten novy butikovy kostymek na Vaclavaku zalibi a kartacek na zuby si bude moci pujcit od Danyho…Film, ktery vyhraje cenu “pro nejlepsi hrany film” obdrzi tzv. Kristalovy globus a 20,000 USD. Nejlepsi dokumentarni film dostane jako cenu 5,000 USD (trosku vetsi rozdil…). Jako jeden ze soutezicich ceskych filmu bude uveden Sverakuv novy film “Vratne Lahve”, tak mu drzime palce. Kolik si myslite, ze takova”filmova akcicka” v dnes stoji?? Suma se pry v poslednich letech ustalila kolem 115 milionu korun (6 milionu USD), zatimco vetsina castky (75% – 80%) je zaplacena soukromymi firmamy a o zbytek se deli ministerstvo kultury a Karlovarsky kraj. Vice na tema Filmoveho festivalu v Karlovych Varech najdete na http://www.kviff.com/cz/aktualne-live/.

Sources:

A little bit of history…Czech Americans and Education (part VII)

Tanja — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:58:02 +0000

Czechs always kept education in a high regard, which is obvious from the high literacy rate of the Czech immigrant groups (97% could read and write) compared to the other Slavic immigrants where the literacy rate was only 66%. Because they wanted their children to be taught about their Czech heritage, which was something that public school system could not provide, the Czech American communities would establish their own schools.

The earliest educators that came from the Czech lands were the Moravian Brethren, a Protestant religious group which came to America to find religious freedom between the years 1741 and 1762. They implemented especially the teachings of Jan Amos Komensky in their schooling system and were educating everyone, not just the Czechs. Even in these early years the Moravian Brethren already supported women to get equal education to men as well as the abolition of slavery. They were also the founders of the 6th oldest college in America (founded in 1742), the Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (see the picture attached;in the forefront is the statue of Jan Amos Komensky). Besides God and education, Moravian Brethren also loved music. Supposedly the first symphonic orchestra in America – the Moravian Trombone Choir – was created by them. In 1999 the Moravian Brethren still had about 50,000 members in the USA. More on a current information on the Moravian Brethren can be found at http://www.moravian.org/believe/.

The first authentic Czech school was founded by the Catholics in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1854. By 1930 about 21,000 Czech Americans were attending various catholic schools founded by various Czech people. But because the Czechs in general assimilate very well with the Americans, most Czech schools ended up closing down. Since then the Czech language is being taught in 47 (!!!) American universities all over the country, such as the University of Nebraska (http://www.unl.edu/komenskyclub/czech.html), University of Princeton( http://www.princeton.edu/~slavic/Cz ech/Czech%20Webpage%20Files/studyabroad.html), University of California, Los Angeles (http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/slavic/czech/links.html#Courses) and other universities. Many Czech organizations, such as the Bohemian Hall in New York offers free Czech courses a well.

Source: http://www.czechsinamerica.wz.cz/DPW/3-Diploma%20Work.htm

Czech stuff: calendar for July 07′

Tanja — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:51:45 +0000

National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

(http://ncsml.org/about/events&programs/calendar.htm)

July 4th – UpBeat! Concert Series (Czech Plus Band)
July 13th – Czech Village Concert series (Czech Plus Band)
July 14th – UpBeat! Concert Series (Leonard’s Reyman’s Accordion club)
July 18 – UpBeat! Concert Series (Cedar Rapids Municipal Band)
July 19th – Learn at Lunch (lecture on Czech puppetry)
July 20th – Czech Village Concert Series (Leonard Reynman’s accordion club)
July 21st – Puppetry workshop
July 23rd through Aug. 2nd – Traditional Czech Wooden Marionette Making workshop
July 27th – Emil Viklicky alive (Jazz band)

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Czech and Slovak Heritage Association (Baltimore, Maryland)

(http://www.bcpl.net/-czslha/)

Towson, MD

July 15th – Sokolfest XXV

Washington, DC
July 29th – TATRA Auto Exhibit

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Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden

Astonia, NY

http://www.bohemianhall.com/home.htm

Showing of Czech movies

July 1st – Pupendo
July 8th – Wrong Side Up (Pribehy obycejneho silenstvi)
July 15th – Cozy Dens (Pelisky)
July 22nd – Wonderful years that sucked (Bajecna leta pod psa)
July 29th – The Ride (Jizda)

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Chicago, IL

(http://www.czechcentres.cz/newyork/novinky.asp?ID=6047)

Prague Days in Chicago

June 15th through July 31st – Exhibiton of paintings of Oldrich Kulhanek (Prints and Drawings)
June 13th through July 31st – Exhibition of paintings of Jan Grimm (The Retrospective)

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Sweet Home Hall

Sweet Home,Texas

(http://www.sweethomehall.com )

July 8th – 17th Annual Sweet Home Polka & Chicken Fest

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United Moravian Societies

Glendale Heights, IL

(http://www.unitedmoraviansocieties.com/ )

July 29th – Czech American Congress Picnic

Is Singer Neckar a traitor??!! / Je zpevak Neckar zradce??!!

Tanja — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 03:31:59 +0000

The Czech newspaper “Lidove noviny” released on Monday a disturbing information about a singing legend Vaclav Neckar. The information claims that in 1978 Neckar started working for the communist secret police (called StB). Just to paint you a quick picture about this StB, anyone in those times could be a part of the StB, so you never knew for sure if one of your friends was “with them”. Anytime and anywhere you were you couldn’t stop wondering if you had said anything “inappropriate” out loud and if any one of “them” heard it; this low level anxiety always traveled with you. Once a person did agree to step over to the Dark Side and became part of this secret police network, he immediately received great privileges such as being able to travel behind the Iron Curtain, sending his kids to a university, getting a fine job……So anyway, what was Neckar’s cover name? The Germ (which is also a current name of his band)! His job was to spy on his manager, mr. Bunzel at first. Yet when Bunzel joined the secret police as well, Neckar started collecting information on other musicians, including his co-worker as well as his former wife, Marta Kubisova. When asked, Kubisova did not believe this shocking news and said that “the information source didn’t sound trustworthy enough”. According to Lidove noviny Neckar is unwilling to discuss this surprising news since it could worsen his state of health (he had a brain accident in 2002). Nice little excuse…..!!! Neckar’s new “situation” also threatens his singing career, especially his upcoming concert in Trutnov where he may not be allowed to perform. What do you think, do you believe that Neckar is a traitor??

Here is an interesting YouTube video that I found.

Neckar filmed this clip in 1968, right after a young student Jan Palach set himself on fire as a form of a protest against the Soviet-led occupation (more on Jan Palach go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palach) . The person that posted this video makes an interesting comment – made three months before Neckar was accused of collaborating with the communists : ” Once the video clip came out the government immediately took it off the air but interestingly, Neckar didn’t get persecuted for it at all.” (Benetomm on YouTube):

Lidove noviny dnes uverejnili informaci o nekdejsi zpevacke legende Vaclavu Neckarovi, ze byl od roku 1978 po dobu 9-ti let zamestnan komunistickou Statni bezpecnosti (StB). A jeho krici jmeno??? BACIL (Coz je take nynejsi jmeno jeho kapely)!! Puvodne pry mel donaset informace na sveho manazera Bunzela, ale kdyz se i Bunzel pridal do party, Neckar donasel na dalsi hudebniky, jako na jeho spolupracovnici a take byvalou manzelku Martu Kubisovou. Samotna Kubisova tomu ale neveri, “zdroj informaci ji prijde pochybny”. Podle Lidovych novin pry Neckar odmita o spolupraci s StB mluvit, protoze to pry zhorsuje jeho zdravotni stav (Neckar mel v roce 2002 jakousi mozkovou prihodu). Hezka vymluva…..!! Tato nova informace take ohozuje Neckarovu nynejsi karieru, zejmena nadchazejici hudebni konzert v Trutnove, kde ma Neckar vystupovat. Co si o tom myslite vy? Je Neckar Estebak nebo ne???

Nasla jsem zajimave YouTube video (viz. nahore), ktere Neckar natocil na pamatku upaleni Jana Palacha. Osoba, ktera dala toto video na YouTube udelala zajimavy koment (a to bylo jiz pred tremi mesici, tzn. ze nikdo NEckare jeste z niceho neobvinil): “Václav Neckář nazpíval a natočil tento klip po upálení Jana Palacha. Jak jinak, šel okamžitě do tresoru. pozoruhodné je, že Václav Neckář ne” (Benetomm na YouTube).

Source:

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/prilohy/eu/index_view.php?id=259158

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/index_view.php?id=259260

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Vaclav+Neckar&search=

Miro Zbirka rocks New York / Miro Zbirka rokuje New Yorkem

Tanja — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 04:56:38 +0000

Famous Slovak rock/pop star Miro Zbirka was playing last night at the church of St. Nepomuc in Manhattan, NY. New York is his only stop on this year’s American tour (two years ago he also played in Chicago and Los Angeles) and then he is heading for Canada. Miro rocked the house (well, church…) with the all-time favorites such as Atlantida, Biely kvet( White flower), or 22 dni (22 Days). When the press asked him about how he liked playing in New York he replied: “Playing abroad for the Czech/Slovak audience becomes very emotional since a lot of these people left their homeland a long time ago. Some of them have not been back home for seven or nine years. That’s why it’s understandable that a concert like this fulfills not only the musical cravings but it also reminds them the times when they were still at home (=Czech Republic, Slovakia). These kind of people absorb my music on a different, more emotional, level”. What most people don’t know about Zbirka is that his mother is English so he sings in both languages: in Slovak and in English.

By the way, did anyone go see him??

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CZ: Znama sovenska rokova hvezda starych a novych casu Miro Zbirka v nedeli rokoval ve slovenskem katolickem kostele sv. Jana Nepomuckeho na Manhattanu. New York je jeho jedina zastavka v Americe (oproti roku 2005, kdy take mimo New Yorku koncertoval v Los Angeles a Chicagu) a pote se chysta potesit fanousky take v Kanade. Kostel se otrasal starymi hitovkamy jako Atlantida, Biely kvet, nebo 22 dni. Zbirka uvedl, ze krajanske obecenstvo v zahranici je jine nez na co je zvykly z domacich koncertu: ” Je to o emocich, protoze je tu mnoho lidi, kteri odesli uz pred delsim casem. Potkavam se tu take s lidmi, kteri nebyli doma sedm nebo devet let. Koncerty jim plni i nektere veci mimohudebni, pripominaji jim casy, kdy byli doma. Takove koncerty vnimaji divaci daleko emotivneji.” Malo lidi vi, ze jeho matka byla anglicanka a proto take zpiva v obou jazycich, jak anglictine, tak v cestine.

Koupil jste si na nej nekdo listky???

Source: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/spolecnost/index_view.php?id=259174

Czechs like to splurge / Cesi radi utraceji

Tanja — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:41:51 +0000

A European study made by Barometer Cetelem came out with their recent results about Europeans and their attitude toward saving their money. The poll showed that in 2006 60% of Czechs were planing to save up, where as in 2007 this percentage decreased to only 22%. The biggest “tightwads” this year turned out to be the British, where 41% of them want to put their money away; the British are followed by the French and the Germans. Who turned out to be the biggest spenders? It’s the Hungarians! Only 6% of them are thinking about their savings. The Czech Republic placed third in the “hitparade of spenders”. This increased need of buying supposedly increased for two major reasons:

the wages have increased
the Czech Republic has the cheapest loans in the European Union.

What do the Czech want to buy the most? The winners in this category are:

traveling
free time
household electronics
cell phones.

In all of these 4 categories listed above the Czechs outran the other 12 European countries. According to the Barometer Cetelem by 2010 the household spending (especially in furniture, electronics and home upgrades) in the Czech Republic will increase even more. Interestingly the study also showed that the Czech people feel very positive about their future. Out of all of the 14 European countries tested the Czechs graded their current and future situations as 5.1 (out of 10). Higher scoring came only from Belgium, Italy, Spain and Britain. The reality is that the Czechs do have something to look forward to in the future: an average yearly salary will increase by 2010 from 12,537 eur (2005) to 15, 532 eur which will be a higher income than in Portugal!

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CZ: Evopska statisticka studie Barometr Cetelem predstavila jeji posledni vysledky o sporitelnosti Cechu. Podle ni, jeste v roce 2006 planovalo vice sporit 60% Cechu, ale v roce 2007 uz jen 22%. Nejvetsi “skrblici” v Evrope se ukazali Britove (41% chce sporit), pote nasleduji Francouzi a pak Nemci. Nejvetsimi “utraceci” na druhe strane jsou Madari, kde pouze 6% lidi pomysli na setreni. Ceska republika se umistila na zebricku techto “utracecu” na tretim miste. Tato kupni sila v Cesku pry vzrusta kvuli dvema aspektum a to 1/ narust platu a 2/nejlevnejsich pujcek v Evropske unii. A do ceho chteji Cesi nejvice investovat? Do volneho casu a cestovani. Dale je to nakup elektrospotrebicu a mobilnich telefonu. Ve vsech techto 4 kategorii Cesi predhonili vsech 12 evropskych zemi. Do roku 2010 by podle agentury BIPE mely vydaje na vybaveni ceskych domacnosti vzrust jeste vice (zejmena u nakupu nabytku, elektrospotrebicu, pocitacu a rekonstrukce bydleni). Cesi se take kupodivu ukazali jako velci optimiste co se tyce pohledu do budoucnosti. Ze vsech evropskych zemi ohodnotili jejich soucasnou a budouci situaci znamkou 5.1 (z 10ti). Lepe svou situaci hodnoti jen Belgie, Italie, Spanelsko a Britanie. Cesi se take maji v budoucnosti na co tesit. Prumerny rocni plat by do roku 2010 mel vzrust na 15, 532 eur ze 12, 537 eur (2005), coz bude vyssi prijem nez v Portugalsku!

http://www.financninoviny.cz/zpravodajstvi/index_view.php?id=258483

Prizes for promoting the Czech culture abroad / Ceny za sireni ceske kultury v zahranici

Tanja — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:12:57 +0000

The Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Swarzenberg held this Tuesday in Prague an award-giving ceremony. Who was worthy of this s0-called Gratias Agit prize? Anyone who has been promoting the Czech Republic’s good name abroad. This year’s winners became 2 organizations and 14 persons. Compared to the last year results, however, this year’s champions were mostly foreigners:

ORGANIZATIONS

Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center – currently building a Czech museum
“Stonozka” organization in Norway – founded by Czech fellow-countryman Bela Gran Jensen; humanitarian organization where the Czech and the Norwegian children help other children from around the world by selling their hand-drawn pictures, where the money raised is used for a purchase of first aid necessities.

PERSONALITIES

Jiri Hlinka from Norway – Czech piano player and a music teacher
Milos Forman - Czech American film-maker (see my previous post on him)
Cahan Rozen from Israel – born and raised in Ostrava, founder of the League for Israel-Czechoslovakian Friendship, also a member of Israeli organization called the Friends of the Czech Republic
Irena Kirkland from the USA – Czech-born; activist for human rights, rights of the workers and immigrants
Irene Bizot from France – serves as a negotiator between the Czech and the French galleries and museums
Kerry Statton from Canada - Canadian conductor who keeps relentlessly introducing the Czech music to the world
Edna Gomez Ruiz from Mexico - Mexican woman who propagates Czech culture in many ways such as introducing the “Mexican Lidice”
Erich and Brigitte Kraus from Germany – German married couple who is involved in making peace between the Czechs and the Germans

Other foreigners that received the Gratis agit award for introducing the Czech culture to the world are Nguen Thi Mui (Vietnam), Christa Rothmeler (Austria), Fernando de Valenzuela Villaverde (Spain), Leo Metsar (Estonia), Dusan Karpat (former Yugoslavia) and the philantrophist Charles Merrill (USA).

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CZ: Ministr zahranici Karel Swarzenberg poradal toto utery v Cerninskem palaci slavnostni predavani cen a to “za sireni dobreho jmena Ceske Republiky v cizine”. Cenu Gratias agit dostalo 14 osobnosti a dve organizace. Vetsinou ocenenych se ale tento rok stali cizinci a to zejmena z rad umelcu, bohemistu a prekladatelu:

ORGANIZACE

Centrum ceskeho dedictvi a kultury v Texasu - nyni buduje ceske museum a skanzen
Hnuti Stonozka v Norsku – zalozene ceskou krajankou Belou Gran Jensen; humanitarni hnuti kde pry deti (ceske a norske) pomahaji detem po celem svete a to kreslenim obrazku za ktere pak nakupuji sanitky, vybaveni nemocnic….

OSOBNOSTI

Jiri Hlinka z Norska – cesky klavirista a hudebni pedagog
Milos Forman – Cechamerican; producent/reziser znamych filmu jako je Amadeus a Prelet nad Kukaccim hnizdem (mate-li zajem, prectete si o nem muj post pod kategorii “Famous Czech people”)
Chanan Rozen z Izraele – ostravsky rodak, zakladatel Ligy pratelstvi Izrael-Ceskoslovensko a predseda Izraelske spolecnosti pratel Ceske republiky
Irena Kirklandova z USA – ceska rodacka; zastankyne lidskych prav, prav pracujicich a uprchliku; dnes jiz zesnula
Irene Bizot z Francie – se jako kuratorka zaslouzila o rozvijeni kontaktu mezi ceskymi a francouskymi muzei a galeriemi
Kerry Statton z Kanady – kanadsky dirigent, ktery neustale uvadi ceskou hudbu ve svete
Edna Gomez Ruizova z Mexika – mexicanka, ktera propaguje ceskou kulturu napriklad tim, ze prosazuje mexicke Lidice
Erich a Brigitte Kraus z Nemecka -nemecky manzelsky par, ktery podporuje smireni mezi Cechy a Nemci

Dalsimi cizinci kteri proslavuji jmeno Ceske republiky v zahranici jsou Nguen Thi Mui z Vietnamu (prekladatelka Oty Pavla), Christa Rothmelerova z Rakouska, Fernando de Valenzuela Villaverde ze Spanelska, Leo Metsar z Estonska, Dusan Karpatsky z byvale Jugoslavie a filantrop Charles Merrill z USA.

Source: http://krajane.radio.cz/cs/article_detail/1000

A little bit of history….Czech-American Institutions from Past to Present: Religion (Part V)

Tanja — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:07:36 +0000

Czech Americans and their relationship towards Religion

The earliest Czech immigrants (the Moravian Brethren) came to America solely to search for religious freedom. The later immigration wave of Czechs (after 1850) was coming for many different reasons such as education, political convictions and others . Yet still the majority of Czech Americans belonged to the Catholic Church – the only recognized religion by the Hapsburg Empire. This Hapsburg re-Catholization of the Czech lands left many Czechs scared, especially since the Czech lands used to be predominantly protestant. No wonder that when these “forced Catholics” came to the free America, about a half of them decided to turn their backs on Catholicism all together. The other half that stayed Catholic and didn’t have a Czech congregation in their vicinity usually joined some German or Polish Catholic congregations. By 1920 America had about 350 Czech priests and about 200, 000 Czech Catholics.

Czech Protestants in America consisted mostly of descendants of the Hussites and Moravian Brethren. Their most famous congregation has been the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York City (founded in 1888).

And then there were the blossoming Progressives and the Freethinkers who refused any kind of religion. These two groups received support and sympathy from the socialists and the atheists and together they established in America many atheist schools, ceremonies for marriages, funerals and other important events.

What is the relationship between the Czechs and religion now?? According to a recent poll the Czech Republic is the biggest atheist country in Europe with only only 33.6% of Czechs belonging to a religion and only 11.7% attend services once a month or more. And what is more, they are also proud of it. As the psychiatrist Libor Growsky says: ” I’m a nonbeliever. It’s connected to our history. Religion limited the freedom of the people. I don’t see a difference between the Communists and the Catholics ( http://atheism.about.com/b/a/009710.htm ). Yeah, but the one difference is that the Communist government was actually torturing the Catholics and I don’t think it ever went the other way….

I personally think that it’s very sad a country with such a rich Christian history( Cyril and Method, Jan Hus, the Hussites) has almost nothing left of it now. What has happened? Did the Hapsburgs beat it out of us? Or was it the Nazis? Or the Communists?? Or all of them combined together? One think is for sure and that is even though one claims to be a Catholic in the Czech Republic, it really doesn’t mean much. I went to a Catholic high school (my parents – devoted atheists – put me in there thinking I would get a better education) , my best friend was Catholic and we never talked about God. Isn’t that strange?

Source: http://www.czechsinamerica.wz.cz/DPW/3-Diploma%20Work.htm

New Charles Bridge museum / Nove Museum Karlova mostu

Tanja — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:23:11 +0000

Are you planning on going to Prague sometime soon? The city has a new sightseeing place for you to see. The new Museum of Charles Bridge is located on Krizovnicke square and will be opening this Sunday. Besides the “Prague exposition” which shows the way Prague looked in the 10th century, visitors will also be able to check out one of the “mlynsky” rocks, which was the authentic corner stone of Charles Bridge. Exhibition will also show the historical wooden machines as well as the tools that carpenters and masons used while building the bridge. Although its construction began in 1357 the whole structure was completed no earlier than at the end of the 15th century. What is interesting is that the bridge was called the Prague Bridge until the second half of the 19th century when it was finally renamed to Charles Bridge. Do you know why is it that the bridge has been standing so steady throughout all these centuries? That’s because the builders would put eggs into the plaster so that the whole structure would stick together better…And that’s for real!

Chystate se do Prahy?? Nove zrizene museum Karlova mostu je situovane na Krizovnickem namesti a jeho bezny provoz zacina jiz tuto nedeli. Krome expozice modelu Prahy – jak vypadala v 10. stoleti – budou mit navstevnici take moznost shlednout jeden z mlynskych kamenu, na nichz byl Karluv most roku 1357 postaven. Vystaveny budou take modely tehdejsich stavebnich drevenych stroju a dobove pracovni nastroje tehdejsich tesaru a kameniku. Samotny most byl ale celkove dokoncen az koncem 15. stoleti. Jmeno “Karluv most” mu bylo prisouzeno az v druhe polovine 19.stoleti; pred tim se jmenoval most Prazsky. A uz jste slyseli, proc je jiz po staleti tak neodolny? Protoze do malty tehdy pridavali vajicka a to aby byla malta extra lepkava!

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/vytvarne/index_view.php?id=257748