Memories of 1856 Written by F. Marák Originally Published in Czech 7 October 1951 in Věstník Continued from part one. At first, I didn’t do anything about it except laugh, but as every corner was “full”, the laughter left me. Regardless of whether I wanted to or not, I had to carry the chamber pot up…
Category: Czech History
Exhibition in the City of Prague Museum: “Prague 1848 – 1918”
The City of Prague Museum’s long-term temporary exhibition (June 13, 2018 –February 24, 2019) called “Prague 1848-1918” showcases influential events from a 70-year span and describes how these moments affected the city. Visitors will follow the development of Prague from an enclosed town to a city with extensive suburbs. The displays show popular places in…
Memories of 1856, written by František Marák : PART ONE
Memories of 1856 Written by F. Marák Originally Published in Czech 7 October 1951 in Věstník Translated December 2018 by Kate Challis Editor’s note: – In the previous Věstník there was an announcement that the organizer wanted to receive the biographies and experiences of our old settlers that were published in various magazines and calendars thirty,…
Silesian Nobles: the Czaderski Family
As part of a new series for the Moravian and Silesian Genealogy Facebook Group, I will be writing periodically about noble families. Even though all my known ancestors were peasants (or Burghers), still we can learn a lot by studying the noble families who owned – and especially who oversaw the record keeping practices of…
Cesta z Čech až na konec světa: část druhá
For the first part of this series, see část první here. If you don’t want to bother with that, the gist is that my husband and I are riding a time traveling bike across the Czech lands. We started in the geographical center of Europe in Kouřim and have not stopped since. On 3 May 1653…
The History of Czech Matriky
I was confused about why the matriky in use today are stored in matriční úřady (registrar’s office), not in the farnost (parish). This did not make sense to me. Catholics who get baptized want to still keep matriky books today, because they are a record of a religious ordinance/rites. How can the government justify itself…
What I wish I knew about Czech History
A little over a year ago I returned from my first trip to the Czech Republic. It was a life changing experience. The main thing that changed for me was starting to understand just how little I actually know. A tiny bit more than nothing. It was actually a very overwhelming, humbling, humiliating feeling. I…
Želary, část druhá [part two]
Část první [part one] is located here. My cousin (4th cousin once removed) Josef Petr in Trojanovice – who is just as much into genealogy as I am – gave me some really great answers to some questions, which I am sharing (with permission). The only problem is that his answers have sparked 10,000 more…
Želary
Last night I watched the 2003 Czech film Želary. I wanted to write about it here because of how it added to my background knowledge and understanding of my ancestors. Spoiler alert! Would I recommend this film? Yes, but with a big warning: it is really graphic and violent. I am sure that the language…
Christmas Carols in Czech Land Records
This post was co-authored by Lukáš Svoboda and Kate Challis Štědrej večer nastal, Štědrej večer nastal, koledy přichystal, koledy přichystal. Štědrej večer nastal, koledy přichystal, koledy přichystal. Štědrej večer nastal, koledy přichystal, koledy přichystal. Štědrej večer nastal, koledy přichystal, koledy přichystal. Panímámo vstantě, panímámo vstantě, koledy nám dejte, koledy nám dejte. Panímámo vstantě, koledy nám…