Městská část Praha 5

In terms of area and population Prague 5 is one of the largest districts of Prague. It is situated on the left bank of the Vltava river, very close to the historical core of the city from which it is separated by medieval ramparts called Hladová zeď, the Hunger Wall. The region was first settled in primeval times which is documented by a range of archaeological sites. Prague 5 consists of several formerly independent villages: Smíchov, Košíře, Motol, Hlubočepy, Radlice, Jinonice-Butovice and the southern spur of Malá Strana (Lesser Town). It is a varied territory comprising shopping districts, residential areas, smaller housing estates, new housing complexes, factories and lots of protected nature areas. Former manors and summer houses surrounded by gardens are a characteristic feature of the area. The terrain is interestingly articulated, formed by several parallel valleys created by brooks which empty into the Vltava. The Prague 5 coat-of-arms is based on the earlier sign of Smíchov.

Smíchov is the central part of Prague 5. It was perhaps first mentioned at the end of the 13th century in the Zbraslav Chronicle in relation to the coronation of King Václav (Wenceslas) II, when a wooden palace in which the reception took place was built "between Petřín hill and the river Vltava -- on a plain flat and beautiful". In today Smíchov there used to be a part of the settlement called Újezd with the Romanesque church of St. Jakub (later of St. Filip and Jakub). A Carthusian monastery, founded by King John of Luxemburg in the 14th century, was burnt down by the Hussites; today it is only remembered by the name of Kartouzská street. Since the Middle Ages most of the area contained vineyards, hop-gardens, estates, fields and gardens, which belonged to various church institutions, and mills powered by the Vltava. As early as the end of the 16th century Prague burghers and aristocrats started building summer houses and gardens in Smíchov. At the end of the 17th century a part of Smíchov, together with other villages, became the property of the noble family of Schwarzenbergs. Over the centuries wars damaged parts of Smíchov.

Even before Smíchov's industrial boom several manufactories had been established here in the 18th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, conspicuous changes appeared. Gardens and summer houses gradually gave way to factories producing various goods, and Smíchov reminded travellers of Britain's "Manchester of a hundred chimneys". In 1838 Smíchov became a suburb -- the second oldest one in Prague -- and in 185O a town. Since 1848 it was governed independently. In the second half of the 19th century the town hall was built, which still stands in Ťtefánikova street, and opposite it the new church of St. Václav. Houses and workersŢ settlements were also constructed during this time. Building activities in Smíchov reached their peak in 1890s. At the beginning of the 20th century the centre of Smíchov moved to 14. října square (named after the date [October 14, 1918] when the nation rose up against the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and proclaimed the Czechoslovak Republic). On the site of a former botanical garden, two Art Nouveau edifices were erected, the market-hall and the National House which contained several halls and a range of club rooms and lounges.

Another part of Prague 5 is Košíře, first mentioned in 1185. In the Middle Ages the local lands belonged to various church institutions and the royal chamber. In the 4th century, under the Emperor Karel (Charles) IV, vineyards owned by Prague burghers were planted on the hillsides. In the following centuries Košíře belonged to various noble families and a part of it to the highest burgrave, the governor of the city. Not even Košíře was able to avoid the consequences of war which damaged nearly all the vineyards in the 18th century. In the 19th century the population increased and several factories were founded. In 1851 Košíře joined Smíchov but in 1859 it was again an independent municipality which in 1896 was raised to a town with its own coat-of-arms and town hall, which still stands today in Plzeňská street. In the 20th century the municipality grew as did the population who usually made their living in the neighbouring Smíchov.

The area of Motol is nearly as large as that of Košíře but its population is much smaller -- less than one quarter. Motol is first mentioned in a Plasy monastery document from around 1146. It is possible that vineyards on hillsides, rising up from the Motol brook, had existed since the Middle Ages. Since the 18th century the village had belonged to the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights of Malta). Not even during the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries did the population of Motol grow considerably.

Besides Smíchov the second largest township in Prague 5 is Hlubočepy. In the Middle Ages there were three villages -- Hlubočepy and Zlíchov, first mentioned around 1222, and Klukovice, only referred to in the 14th century. As early as the Middle Ages there were many vineyards and hop-gardens in Hlubočepy and Zlíchov. In the 16th century Hlubočepy was bought by the Prague merchant Hanuš Falk, who built an estate and a fortified settlement. After the Battle of White Mountain (Bílá hora) in 1620 all three villages were acquired by Pavel Michna of Vacínov; in the 18th century they were owned by the Jesuits until their order was abolished and later on the estates in these villages were sold to private owners. In the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries notable changes occurred -- a railway was built, a range of factories appeared (a distillery, glass works, and several lime works) and the population grew.

Of all the villages in the area of today's Prague 5 only Jinonice and Butovice can boast the oldest reference to their existence. The foundation charter of the Vyšehrad Capitular Chapter (1088) refers to, among others, these two villages. It is most probable that in both villages there stood fortified settlements, one of which was replaced by a small palace with a brewery at the beginning of the 17th century. After the Battle of White Mountain, Pavel Michna of Vacínov acquired both villages; after the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) only a few houses remained, and later on Jinonice and Butovice were bought by the Schwarzenbergs, who were the last owners of the two villages. During the 19th century the population doubled but no large industrial plants were built. There was a limestone quarry, lime works and a brickfield, but it was not until 1911 that the industrialist Josef Walter had his large automobile factory built in Jinonice.

Radlice first appears in documents in 1283 when King Václav II donated it to his nanny. The village belonged to the Old Town Abbey of St. Anna for a few centuries until the abbey was abolished in 1785, when the Schwarzenbergs acquired the village. It is known that as early as the Middle Ages vineyards and hop-gardens were planted there. In the course of the 19th century a dairy, several factories, lime works, and a brickfield operated. Part of the population was employed in the neighbouring Smíchov.

A small part of the township of Malá Strana also belongs to Prague 5. It is formed by several blocks by Vítłzná street located on the site of the former village of Újezd, just outside the medieval ramparts of Malá Strana.

In 1922 all the above-mentioned villages became part of Velká Praha (Large Prague) -- the capital of the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. First they were identified as Praha XVI and XVII, in 1949 Praha 4 and 6, and since 1960 Praha 5.

With the changes brought about by Prague becoming the capital of the young republic, Prague 5 also changed. On the green Smíchov and Košíře hills new settlements of villas, apartment houses and small houses were built in places called Malvazinka, Hřebenka, Cibulka and others. In a part of Hlubočepy, called Brarrandov after the French geologist Joachim Barrande (1799-1883), who had been active in the Czech lands, the then-young engineer Václav Havel (father of the president Havel) realized a magnificent plan. Inspired by the United States, he created a small Hollywood in Barrandov. According to the project of the architect and director Max Urban he built the Terasy restaurant and café on the rocks, and in the 1930s also the Trilobit bar, a swimming pool, villa settlement and film studios became part of the Barrandov garden suburb. Some factories were reconstructed, new ones appeared, and in Smíchov ženské domovy (The Home for Women) was built. Traffic increased and new bridges were added, like Jiráskův Bridge. Indeed, the Fifth Municipal District was becoming modernized, but these promising developments were dramatically interrupted by World War II.

In the course of the war various resistance groups were active here; some factories went on strike, including the Walter Company in 1941, which was producing aircraft engines for the German army. On February 14, 1945 during the 8th American Airforce air raid, bombs were dropped on Farkář in Jinonice, severely damaging some houses and killing their inhabitants. Prague 5 played an important role in the May 1945 uprising which led to the liberation of Prague when insurgent units, the Russian Liberation Army of General Vlasov, the govermental army from Štefánik barracks (today the Courts of Law) and in the last days the Red Army were active. Police and railwaymen became involved too -- trains with arms were taken in Smíchov and Jinonice stations, tens of barricades were erected, churches used as mortuaries. Even on May 9 insurgent units were fighting fiercely the German military group Wallenstein in Zlíchov. The names of several hundred victims of the German occupation and the uprising are now commemorated by plaques and small memorials.

The post-war period is especially characteristic of lack of flats, which was later being solved by building up prefabricated blocks of flats, mainly on the yet unsettled outskirts. Prague 5, too, is "adorned" with several prefabricated settlements like Barrandov, Homolka and smaller groups of such houses. Industrial plants were being modernized, and in the 1960s the childrenŢs hospital in Motol was begun and in the 198Os the Na Homolce hospital for adults.

Today the centre of Prague 5, Smíchov, is gradually changing. On the site of a former factory several business and administrative centres are being erected. This will make the character of this part of Prague totally different, and Smíchov will extend the city centre to the left bank of the Vltava river in an important way. One of the new complexes is Zlatý anděl (At the Golden Angel), so-called after the house "At the Golden Angel" which used in this place. The author of the project is the internationally-known architect Jean Nouvel. The complex includes offices, shops and restaurants. Another new structure is the shopping and cultural centre Nový Smíchov (New Smíchov) built on the site of the former Ringhoffer factory in Plzeňská street. It contains a hypermarket, shops, restaurants and a multicinema. A footbridge links the centre with Sacré Coeur Park. Anděl City (Angel City) complex between Stroupežnického and Radlická streets houses shops, restaurants, offices, a hotel, flats, a cinema with several projection halls and a bowling alley. New housing complexes have been built, including U Trojice in Smíchov, U Křeče in Jinonice, and another one in Barrandov.

One of the oldest monuments in Prague 5 is the Romanesque St. Vavřinec church in Butovice. St. Filip and Jakub church in Zlíchov is medieval. Relief carvings of linden wood from this church are being exhibited in the National Gallery. The most numerous monuments in Prague 5 are summer houses with gardens and parks. Some of them are medieval but most of them came into existence in the 17th and 18th centuries. K. I. Dientzenhofer, the Baroque architect of many churches and palaces in Prague, built Portheimka summer house for his family in Smíchov. The best-known Smíchov manor is Bertramka, which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart made famous by his visits. He even finished his opera Don Giovanni there which was premiered in Prague. Bertramka houses a memorial devoted to Mozart and his hosts, the Dueks, who are buried in the former Malostranská Graveyard not far from here. It is also the resting place of the bishop of Passau, Bavaria, prince Leopold Thun-Hohenstein, who had an older estate Cibulka in Košíře rebuilt into a manor surrounded by a landscaped park. Prince Rudolf Kinský had a Classicist villa built in the garden on the south slope of Petřín hill, where monastery vineyards used to be. An ethnographic collection of the National Museum was placed in the villa at the beginning of the 20th century. Not far from here two monasteries were built at the end of the 19th century -- Sacré Coeur and St. Gabriel. Interiors of the monastery churches contain very valuable frescoes of the Beuron painting school. The main church in Smíchov, St. Václav, was designed by Antonín Barvitius, and the facade of the town hall standing opposite by Josef Schulz. Both structures are Neorenaissance. A former synagogue in Smíchov and a Jewish cemetery with tombs dating from the 18th century in Radlice have been preserved. The largest Art Nouveau structure in Prague 5 is the National House by Alois Čenský. This period is characteristic of rise of many high quality apartment houses and villas. In Prague 5 modern architecture can be found, too -- the Terasy complex, film studio and villa settlements in Barrandov, a villa in Na Cihlářce street (which the architect Adolf Loos worked on), St. Jan Nepomuckś church in Košíře, the former Hydroxygen factory in Hlubočepy, and various industrial relics, (e. g. the water supply system in Na Vidouli street and the viaduct of the Buštěhrad Railway.

In the course of the 19th century a range of industrial plants were constructed in the area of today's Prague 5 -- breweries, malt houses, water mills, steam mills, a chocolate and sweets factory, weaving mills, spinning mills, dye-works, glove-making workshops, chemical factories, china factories, lithographic shops, brickfields, and gasworks. The Ringhoffer factory, which produced railway carriages and tenders, belonged to the biggest ones of its kind in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. It was connected with a foundry and machine works. A power station was built at the end of the 19th, and a dairy in the 20th centuries. One of the largest plants in Košíře was a brewery. In Radlice there was a foundry and a china factory which had been moved from Smíchov, in Zlíchov glass works and limeworks, other limeworks were situated in Hlubočepy. In the progress of time many factories closed down and new ones appeared. At present the biggest plant is the Walter Company which produces aircraft engines in Jinonice and the Staropramen brewery in Smíchov.

Since time immemorial important roads heading west, south and southwest lead through the area of today's Prague 5. It was not until the 19th century that transportation changed significantly. In 1862 the Czech Western Railway began operating whose route was Prague - Plzeň - Furth im Wald, starting in Smíchov Station. In 1872 it was the Buštěhrad Railway with two viaducts, called Prague Semmering, and one year later Prague - Duchcov Railway. Smíchov was connected with Franz Josef I Railway Station (today's Hlavní nádraží) via the railway bridge below Vyšehrad. In the course of the 19th century the Vltava was gradually made navigable, ports were built and other bridges constructed which enabled tram and later car connections to the rest of the city. In 1876 a horse-drawn tram line from Karlín to Smíchov was opened and in 1897 the mayor of Košíře, Matěj Hlaváček, had an electric tram line from Klamovka junction to Anděl built. On June 7, 1927 when constructing the division of tram line between Zlíchov and Hlubočepy, the hundredth kilometre was finished. In 1925 a city bus started going to Jinonice, in 1939 a trolleybus line called W, joining Plzeňská street to the Walter Company's factory in Jinonice, was established. Trolleybuses were eventually phased out in 1972. Since 1985 Metro B line has been operating, connecting Smíchov with the city centre and with Prague 13. Barrandov Bridge, a part of the central transport circuit, is the latest bridge; it will be followed by a road connecting the Mrázovka tunnels, which are being currently built, and Strahov tunnel, which links Prague 5 with Prague 6.

Since the 19th century Prague 5 has been very much an industrial town, but at the same time it has had a rich cultural and social life. Several important writers, playwrights, artists and scientists have lived here. Local choirs and orchestras performed throughout the years. Smíchov's choir Lukes had a club banner painted by Josef Mánes. The first accounts of the touring theatrical groups performing in the area of Prague 5 date from the 1840s. The first theatre in Smíchov was run by Pavel Švanda of Semčice with his wife Eliška Pešková, gradually in two wooden open-air theatres and, since the 1880s, in the Libuše House, the later Švandovo Theatre. A range of excellent actors used to perform there. As for famous Prague 5 natives let us not forget the journalist and writer Jakub Arbes, the sculptor Josef Václav Myslbek, and the composer and member of a cabaret group, Karel Hašler. Those who used to live in Prague 5 were, among others, the architect of the National Theatre Josef Zítek, the young professor, the later president T. G. Masaryk, the landscape painter Julius Mařák, the puppet film artist Jiří Trnka, and the writer and poet Fráňa Šrámek. The famous foreigners who lived in Prague 5 were W. A. Mozart, geologist Joachim Barrande, whose second home was Prague, physicist Albert Einstein, writer and playwright Lion Feuchtwanger and others. In 1926 a film studio in Kavalírka, and in 1933 the modern film studios in Barrandov were founded. Prague 5 of today has several cultural and social establishments: Bertramka, where music can be heard throughout the year (various churches hold concerts, too), Portheimka summer house, the National House which holds concerts, exhibitions and balls, the Culture Centre Poštovka, organizing different kinds of activities. Youth attend a whole range of clubs. New cultural establishments will appear after the big centres by Plzeňská street are finished and Švandovo Theatre is renovated.

Prague 5 has had a large number of schools over the years. The earliest accounts of the level and system of education date from the 18th century. Schools started prospering in an unusual way in the last quarter of the 19th century. Their current range is very diverse, comprising some individual teaching institutions.

Numerous physical training clubs were founded in the 19th century, the best-known being Sokol (Falcon), which was developing nearly in all parts of the Prague area; in Smíchov one such club was founded in 1868. Later other sports clubs appeared. At present most sports can be done here, such as football, handball, tennis, water sports, and golf.

Hardly any municipal district can boast such a varied landscape and multitude of nature monuments, reserves and parks as Prague 5. They include Barrandov rocks in Hluboçepy, Vidoule in Jinonice, Ctirad in Radlice, Skalka in Košíře, Prokopské valley, Dalejské valley and Košíře-Motol park. There are also parks around summer houses and manors as Klamovka, Santoška, Cibulka, Kinský garden and the garden of the former monastery Sacré Coeur. Marked tourist trails wind through the landscaped parks and visitors can cover tens of kilometres without leaving the municipal boundaries.

Let's hope that Prague 5 will continue to develop in a way satisfactory for its inhabitants and newcomers and be an important part of the capital of the Czech Republic.