Why is Prague called Prague? There are several explanations
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It’s a bit of a mystery. We will probably never know the exact origin of the word Prague. Nevertheless, there are several hypotheses as to how our capital actually got its name.
One of the most common explanations is the river threshold – a place in a river where water overflows a natural stone or rocky barrier. The Vltava used to be typical river thresholds. Thanks to the weirs, the riverbed gained a higher slope, which made it possible to use the river as a transport artery.
In addition, these places could be easily crossed, so they became part of the trails and paths. The city could therefore owe the development of trade to the Prague. It was this theory that was promoted by linguist Josef Dobrovský.
Roasting in Prague
Other researchers have argued in the past that the name Prague is related to the word “roast”. At the same time, they had in mind a parched, burnt, eradicated place, which was used to build a new home. Hradčany Hill, where Prague Castle was founded, was often mentioned in this context. It was around him that the whole city grew.
Linguist Antonín Profous claimed that the name Prague was really related to the word “roast”. According to him, Hradčanský vrch was not “fried” intentionally, but naturally from the sun. “Hradčanský vrch has a marl bottom, so it is probable that a larger area from the sun could have been arid, not overgrown,” he wrote.
Another of the theories is that the origin of the word Prague is related to Slavic quails. These were clay pots in which immature sacrificial grain was dried and roasted. This ritual is known to the majority of the inhabitants of prehistoric Europe.
What about Alois Jirásek?
Alois Jirásek offers a completely different explanation, referring to the house threshold, in his work Old Czech Legends. Let us quote Princess Libuše: “I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. There is a place in the forest, thirty hunts away, the Vltava river orbits them. At midnight, the Brusnice stream encloses a deep ouval, and at noon a rocky mountain next to the Strahov forest. There, when you arrive, you will find a man through the forest, and he cuts the threshold of the house. And you will call the castle you build Prague. And as princes and captains worship the head against the threshold, so will they worship against my city. He will be honored and praised, and the world will be famous. “
Be that as it may, we will probably never know the truth about the origin of the name Prague. But as the well-known writer and philosopher Gustav Meyring remarked years ago, Prague does not have its name in vain:
history history of Prague history linguistics