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From the ArchivesAncient Greece comes to Prague in the summer of 1938
In the early summer of 1938 an unprepared visitor would have found it hard
to find a hotel in Prague. Tens of thousands of people from dozens of
countries, including Yugoslavia, France and the United States had gathered
in the city. This was tenth international gathering of the Sokol movement,
which had been founded in Prague back in the 1860s with the idea of using
physical exercise to build a sense of patriotism. Sokol took its
inspiration from Ancient Greece, but in 1938 the event also had more than a
hint of pan-Slav solidarity in the face of an increasingly aggressive Nazi
Germany. At the vast Strahov Stadium literally tens of thousands of people
engaged in simultaneous gymnastic displays. Czechoslovak radio was there,
reporting live on the events as they happened, amid the constant cheers of
the crowd in the background. More
SpotlightTyršův dům – Home of the Sokol movement
In today’s Spotlight Radio Prague visits an early Baroque palace known as
Michnův palác in the historic quarter of Malá strana. Built in the 16th
century, it first belonged to the Micha family before it became munitions
factory in the mid-1700s. In the early 20th century, after the founding of
Czechoslovakia, it was sold to the patriotic Sokol sport and gymnastics
organisation, which renovated it and named it Tyršův dům (or Tyrs’
House) after its main founder. More
SpotlightTyršův dům – Home of the Sokol movement
In today’s Spotlight Radio Prague visits an early Baroque palace known as
Michnův palác in the historic quarter of Malá strana. Built in the 16th
century, it first belonged to the Micha family before it became munitions
factory in the mid-1700s. In the early 20th century, after the founding of
Czechoslovakia, it was sold to the patriotic Sokol sport and gymnastics
organisation, which renovated it and named it Tyršův dům (or Tyrs’
House) after its main founder. More
From the ArchivesCalisthenics, communist style
Last year in this programme I played some archive recordings from the
pre-war gatherings of the “Sokol” movement, which brought together tens
of thousands of people in displays of mass gymnastics, all in an atmosphere
of great patriotic fervour. After the war, the communists suppressed the
Sokol movement as part of the old political order, instead staging their
own spectacular calisthenics displays in honour of the Communist Party.
More
SpecialSome highlights of our Czechs in New York series
Earlier this year I flew to New York to record a series of special reports
about Czechs in the city, visiting several important Czech institutions
and
speaking to dozens of interesting individuals. This special programme
revisits some of those places and people. More
MailboxMailbox
Today we reveal the identity of August’s mystery Czechs and announce the
names of the four listeners who will receive Radio Prague goodies for their
correct answers. Listeners quoted: Hans Verner Lollike, Jana Vaculik,
Charles Konecny, Imo-Obong Umana, Samina Javed, Helmut Matt, David
Eldridge, Colin Law, Roger Tidy.
More
PanoramaSokol New York
The first New York Sokol opened its doors in 1867, only five years after
the Sokol youth and gymnastics organisation was founded in Prague as an
important element in the Czech National Revival nationalist movement.
Sokol
New York’s homely sports and social hall is on East 71st St in
Manhattan.
But that wasn’t the group’s first location. More
Current AffairsForemost Czech organisation in NYC still going strong after 116 years
The Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association is one of the oldest and
most important Czech organisations in New York. Founded as a kind of
umbrella body for a large number of immigrant associations, today the BBLA
is mainly concerned with the running of the Bohemian National Hall on the
Upper East Side of Manhattan, which it built in the 1890s. More
From the ArchivesAncient Greece comes to Prague in the summer of 1938
In the early summer of 1938 an unprepared visitor would have found it hard
to find a hotel in Prague. Tens of thousands of people from dozens of
countries, including Yugoslavia, France and the United States had gathered
in the city. This was tenth international gathering of the Sokol movement,
which had been founded in Prague back in the 1860s with the idea of using
physical exercise to build a sense of patriotism. Sokol took its
inspiration from Ancient Greece, but in 1938 the event also had more than a
hint of pan-Slav solidarity in the face of an increasingly aggressive Nazi
Germany. At the vast Strahov Stadium literally tens of thousands of people
engaged in simultaneous gymnastic displays. Czechoslovak radio was there,
reporting live on the events as they happened, amid the constant cheers of
the crowd in the background.
More
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