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PRAGUE / PRAHA - 5. 9. 2010

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A Prague pedestrian tells of...

POBŘEŽNÍ ULICE ("Shore Street")

It is pointless to ask an etymologist how the name of this Karlín thoroughfare originated. But what was here before this old route? Initially, it was a disproportionately wide part of the Vltava riverbed, which could be easily forded, especially when the water was lower. It was used by merchant caravans coming to Prague from the north as well as by troops. Historically, the most well known military crossing of this ford occurred during a raid by crusading armies against the Hussites entrenched in the Vítkov hills on 14 July 1420. The Taborites, led by Jan Žižka and aided by Praguers, repulsed the attack and the foreigners were heavily defeated. They were massacred on Špitálské pole (the hospital field), as the plain between the Vltava and Vítkov has been known since the time when, near the gate of Prague's Nové Město (New Town), a cloister, church and hospital were founded here by the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star.

The name Karlín is newer. It comes from the year 1717, when the district authority of the Kouřimský area, to which this Prague suburb belonged, submitted a request to the land office for the area to be called Karolinenthal (the Karoline Valley) in honour of Karoline Auguste, the young new wife of the emperor Franz I. The emperor graciously granted the request. Although the newly born suburb gained a royal godmother, this well-thought-out name was rather clumsily translated into Czech, i.e. Karoliníno údolí, Karolíčany, Karolínov, etc. It was only later that the Czech name became crystallised as Karlín, which then took hold.

In the distant past, today's Pobřežní Street ran along the River Vltava and around Rohanský ostrov, the old route east out of the city through Pořičská brana (Pořičská Gate)

Between Holešovice and Karlín, the river flowed via flat territory, and through furrowed riverbeds and distributaries, known as Maniny. Flooding frequently threatened both thoroughfares, including Pobřežní, and residential and industrial buildings

In the 19th century, an adventurous project was implemented. A deep excavation created a new bed for the Vltava. This shortened the course of the river by more than one kilometre and substantially increased the speed of the river's flow. At the same time, one of its distributaries was deepened and the Karlín harbour was further expanded along Pobřežní Street so that large boats were now able to dock here as well. That is why Pobřežní Street was at one time called U přistavu ("by the docks"). During this adjustment, the old island was also substantially altered. It had stretched from Těšnova to Saldova Street and had developed from river silt sometime in the first half of the 16th century. It was initially called Šaškovský ostrov after the local miller Martin Šaška. It acquired the name, Přimátorský Ostrov (Mayor's Island) when it came into the possession of Prague's Staré Město (Old Town) and began to be administered by the mayors of Prague. Sometime at the beginning of the 18th century, it was bought by Gabriela Rottenhanová, the wife of František Rottenhan, who was the chief burgrave of the Bohemian kingdom of Jindřich. As a result, the island became known as Rottenhanský Ostrov. It was then known as Köpplův Ostrov after another of its owners - the Prague burgher J.J. Köppl. It got the name Rohanský Ostrov after the master carpenter, Josef Rohan, who bought it in 1850.

The place where Pobřežní Street now leads to also had one other interesting name. Part of the Pobřežní route was called Růždol or Růžové údolí (Rose Valley) after the Růždol summer castle, which the Prague printer, Jan Ferdinand of Schönfeld set about building at the end of the 18th century. What he established behind Poříčska brana was something that Prague had not yet seen up until that time. He purchased the old hospital graveyard, an old hostelry, and the small adjacent island on the Vltava and built the Rosenthal entertainment facilities here. This was a holidaymaker's paradise, with a café, a confectioner's, a restaurant, billiards, Chinese pavilions, romantic retreats, miniature ruins, garden recesses, a dancehall and a summer theatre, The biggest attraction was the garden which represented the Bohemian kingdom. It had paths marking out the most important roads in the kingdom, streams fed by the Vltava, which represented the kingdom's rivers, and bushes and trees which represented the towns.

Pobřežní Street now bears little resemblance to the old times gone by. It is changing before our eyes. Buildings from the last two centuries have been reconstructed and in certain places there are renovated buildings, whose designs were drawn up by architects at the close of the 20th century. Even Rohanský Ostrov, which for years was used as a marshalling area for state railways, is having a facelift. A new town is growing here, which should be called River City of Prague. Knowing Praguers, it will undoubtedly end up being christened Pobřežní, and Pobřežní street shall come as its godmother. Bridges in the new quarter will link it to Štvanice ostrov and the business and cultural premises in Pražské tržnice (Prague Market).