Mailbox
Today in Mailbox: Radio Prague on the CBC, where to buy a Remoska cooker, sausage vendors on Wenceslas Square, the final resting place of Czechoslovak presidents Klement Gottwald, Antonín Zápotocký and Antonín Novotný, efforts to retrieve a German tank reportedly sunk in the Elbe. Listeners quoted: Jude Kirkham, Jeanne Burchmore, Curtis Parham, Richard Harris, Steve Price.
We recently informed you that Radio Prague in now available in Canada on CBC Overnight seven days a week. This email came from Jude Kirkham from Canada:
“I have for a long time enjoyed listening to you on the weekends via the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It made for an interesting contrast to the Russian radio program which would follow you, and as over the years as the difference grew I gradually despaired of your ‘competition’ ever pulling itself from the mire of Putinesque propaganda. When finally the Russian program was removed, it was for the best. What caught me by surprise was your expansion into the weekday slot as well, which came at the expense of South Africa's Channel Africa. While not quite as bad a radio Moscow, Channel Africa had experienced a similar if more amateurish devolution. One can only endure so many blatantly manipulated pieces on how wonderful Zimbabwe is after all! So to be brief, keep up the good work as you are now on air here in Canada seven days a week.”
Thank you very much, we really appreciate your feedback.
On a different topic, Jeanne Burchmore writes from the United Kingdom:
“I visited Prague this June and loved it so much I shall be back in November. Where can I buy a Remoska cooker in Prague? Thank you.”
We have covered the Czech-made Remoska oven on a number of occasions on Radio Prague in recent years. The fifty-odd-year-old appliance was remarketed in 1999 and now you can buy it in most shops selling household appliances all over the country.
“Horror! Get rid of the sausages stands? They ARE Praha. Get rid of them and then you must change the name of the city. What gives?”
“On a recent visit to Prague, I was unable to locate the graves of Klement Gottwald or other post-war Presidents such as Antonín Zápotocký and Antonín Novotný. Can you tell me where these men are buried, please?”
I did a little research and found out that Antonín Novotný found his final resting place in Prague’s Malvazinky cemetery. Both Klement Gottwald and Antonín Zápotocký were originally buried in the Vítkov memorial but after 1989 their remains were removed and reburied. Klement Gottwald’s grave can be found in Olšanské cemetery by the southern wall and Antonín Novotný is buried not far from there, in Vinohradský cemetery across the street.
The video does feature a tank being pulled up to the surface of a water body but it was shot somewhere in Russia – judging from the Russian voices in the background. So far divers have not yet located the tank in the Elbe but found some parts of a machine gun and a magazine.
And that’s it for today. Thank you for all your letters and emails, reception reports and competition answers, of course. Yes, it’s quiz time again and the August question is quite easy.
This month we are looking for the names of the founding fathers of the patriotic Sokol sports movement which played a vital role in the early lives of many a Czech athlete.
Please, send us your answers by the end of August to [email protected] or Radio Prague, 12099 Prague. Next week, we will read out some of your views on the proposed new building of the Czech National Library in Prague. Until then, good-bye and happy listening.
