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CZECHS AND THE BEER

Czechs are the biggest consumers of beer per male in the world. Incidentally, a Czech man called Honza Zampa holds the record for beer guzzling, after drinking one litre of beer in 4.11 seconds

SATELLITE VIEW

The Czech Republic is one of the few inland countries whose borders can be seen from satellite photographs. The location of the Czech Republic can be best recognized by its border mountains on satellite photos made from a height of 900 kilometers.

BOHEMIA

According to Roman reports, the Latin name of the Czech lands Boiohaemum (Bohemia) is derived from the name of the Celtic tribe that settled on the territory of today´s Czech Republic.

KALININGRAD

The Russian city of Kaliningrad (former Königsberg) on the Baltic seaside was established by Czech king Přemysl Otakar II as "Kralovec" during one of his campaigns.

MEDIEVAL TANKS

The principle of an offensive vehicle was used almost 500 years before the first tanks appeared by the Hussite captain Jan Žižka of Trocnov at the Battle of Malešov in 1424.

CZECH SIBERIA

"Czech Siberia" is the nickname of an area of hilly countryside only a few kilometers south of the capital city of Prague. The area is as cold as it would be located 200 meters higher than it is, because of the frequency of temperature inversions in winter.

FIRST FAIR IN THE WORLD

The very first fair in the world took place in August 1754 in Veltrusy as Veltruský velký trh tovaru Království českého (The Big Fair of Goods of the Czech Kingdom in Veltrusy). The fair was visited not only by many businessmen from abroad but also by Her Majesty Empress Maria Theresa herself.

THE OLDEST GLASS WORKS

The oldest running glass works in Europe is located in Chřibská near Děčín. It has been in operation since 1414.

THE 2016 OLYMPICS?

Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic, is planning on a candidacy for the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 or 2020.

RADIOACTIVE SPA

The first radioactive spa in the world was opened in 1906 in Jáchymov.

THE MOST FAMOUS MIME

The best-known mime of the 19th century, Jean Gaspar Debureau, was born in the Czech city of Kolín.

MISS KOOH-I-NOOR

The picture of Miss Kooh-i-noor with a press button in her left eye is the most famous Czech portrait of a girl in the world. The creator of this brand image was the Czech painter František Kupka. 

ELECTRIFIED THEATER

The first electrified theater in the world was the Municipal, today Mahen’s, Theater in Brno. The electrification was realized in 1882 according to the plans of Thomas Edison, who also helped with the installation.

MONTHS OF THE YEAR

The Czech names for the months are different from the names in other Indo-European languages. From each of the names, you can decipher the weather characteristics of it. For example, in January (“leden”), there is often ice (“led”); in May (“květen”) flowers are in blossom (“květ”) and August (“srpen”) is named after the reaping-hook (“srp”) used for reaping grains.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY

Charles University in Prague is the oldest university in the Central Europe. It was established April 7, 1348, and today is attended by 42,000 students.