News from the Czech Republic

Václav Havel remembered

Czech democracy leader Václav Havel was born 90 years ago this October. We speak to several people who were close to the dissident playwright-turned-president.

Business

Society

Anniversary of the Week

Martina Navrátilová at 70: from defection to 59 Grand Slam titles

Tennis legend Martina Navrátilová turns 70. She fled communist Czechoslovakia and went on to win 59 Grand Slam titles. Here is her story.

Culture

Franz Kafka | Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

In Kafka's Footsteps

Franz Kafka was born in Prague, but where specifically did the world-famous writer grow up? Where did he draw inspiration, or even go on holiday?

03:42

Inside Prague’s bell tower, where communist secret police spied on Western diplomats

Prague’s St Nicholas bell tower once warned of fires, then became a secret police surveillance post. A new exhibition explores its past.

Sport

09:04

More than tricks: How Czech freeskiers built a community on and off the slopes

What started as friends premiering their amateur movies has grown into a meeting point for a community of freeskiers in the Czech Republic.

Travel

32:10

Two Czech cities, two different worlds: Ostrava and Český Krumlov

In Czechast, we explore two contrasting Czech cities, Ostrava and Český Krumlov, through the personal memories of people whose lives are closely connected to them.

Foreigners and the Czech Republic

11:55

Kingdom Come: Deliverance star Luke Dale on becoming a Prague “innkeeper”

Englishman Luke Dale first came to Prague as an actor in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. He has since moved to the city, where he recently opened the pub Nobleman.

Picture of the week

Spooky Zoo in Liberec gets visitors in the mood for Halloween and All Souls’ Day

Halloween is gradually catching on in Czechia. To mark the occasion Liberec Zoo transformed the grounds into a world of skeletons, vampires and other spooky creatures.

Photogallery

Reopening of the Palace of Industry at the Exhibition Centre (Výstaviště) in Prague

Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International

Video

Video of Signal Festival 2026: laser nad Vltavou, Laterna magika i Václav Havel

Lit up: Signal Festival in Prague

Petra Hůlová | Photo: Karolína Němcová, Czech Radio

Petra Hůlová on The Long Version: “It’s about my own experience of being used”

Written from the perspective of a female author in her 50s, Petra Hůlová’s The Long Version explores themes of gender, potential abuse and intergenerational tensions.

Democracy is not forever: President Petr Pavel's warning to Czechia

Czechast brings you President Petr Pavel's October 28 speech in English, plus rare archival memories of Miloš Forman, posthumously awarded the Order of the White Lion.

Follow us

Picture of the week

Reopening of the Palace of Industry at the Exhibition Centre (Výstaviště) in Prague

Featured

Subscribe

English Service Staff