Czech+Republic+Culture

__Czech Republic Culture __

Traditions:  FolkLore and Costumes: folk costume comprises clothing that is characteristic of a certain region. In the areas of the Czech Republic connected with the historical division of the state, the costumes of the plebeian social classes have experienced a rather complex evolution. Folk clothing can only be classified in a clear historical manner with some difficulty. At present, folk costumes in the Czech Republic are no longer commonly worn, but people still wear them during traditional popular celebrations and entertainment events such as banquets and carnivals. This tradition is strongest in the eastern part of the country and in Moravia.Czech people depict their history and stories through folk traditions, especially on holidays. Holidays will have special folk songs, dances and costumes. Dancing and playing an instrument are traditions of the Czech people and their families.

May 1: The Time of Love: On May 1, a girl should be kissed under a cherry blossom so that she will always be beautiful. Prague lovers head to Petřín hill May 1 in order to leave a flower at the memorial to Karel Hynek Mácha (1810–36), a Czech romantic poet who wrote the poem //Máj// (May). The poem recounts a tragic love between two young people and it is one of the classics of Czech literature.

Barborky: The feast of Saint Barbara, which falls on December 4, used to be connected with a lot of folk customs. The most famous of these was the cutting of cherry sprigs or Barborky. According to popular tradition, a sprig was cut at first light December 4 from a cherry tree that was at least 10 years old, and taken to a house where an unmarried girl lived. If the sprig bloomed on Christmas Eve, it meant that the girl would find a husband in the coming year. If the sprig bloomed earlier, the date of the wedding was brought forward by one month for every day in which it bloomed ahead of time. Today, Barborky are cut primarily as Christmas decorations for the home.

Societal Expectations: The Czech Republic people are distinctly family oriented and the society of Czech Republic revolves around the family units. Generally polite in nature, the Czech Republic people maintain their privacy and are intimate with people they know. (Czech Republic People)

Education:

 Language: The main language spoken is, not surprisingly, Czech. The Slovak language can also be often heard, as there is a sizable Slovak minority and both languages are mutually intelligible. Czech people are very proud of their language, and thus, even in Prague you will not find many signs written in English (outside of the main tourist areas). Many older people, especially outside the large cities, are also unable to converse in English, however most young people speak at least some English, as it has been taught in most schools since 1990. (Czech Republic: Talk)
 * School education: Primary education lasts for nine years divided into two stages of five and four years respectively. It leads to a Vysvědčení. Secondary education comprises three main types of schools: secondary general schools (gymnasium), secondary technical schools and secondary vocational schools. Gymnasiums prepare for study at higher education institutions and for professions. The secondary technical schools and 4-year courses or three-year follow-up courses at secondary vocational schools prepare students for a wide range of professions, as well as for studies at higher education institutions. All these studies culminate in the passing of the Maturitní zkouška/Maturita. The 2-year and 3-year courses at the vocational schools prepare students for professional activities.
 * Higher education: Tertiary professional schools, even though they are not part of higher education belong to tertiary education and offer professional education leading to a diploma, mostly in economics and health care. Higher education institutions can be of university and non-university type. The non-university higher education institutions usually offer Bachelor study programmes and, if accredited, master study programmes. They are not allowed to provide doctoral study programmes. University-type higher education institutions offer Bachelor, Master and in most case also Doctoral study programmes. Higher education institutions offer courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Pharmacy, and Theology, as well as in Economics, Veterinary Medicine, and Agriculture, Teacher Training and Arts. They are public, state or private institutions. Public institutions are financed by the state budget through the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. The private institutions can be partially financed by the State. The Czech higher education system also includes 2 state higher education institutions (the University of Defence and the Police Academy) which are financed by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. All higher education institutions provide accredited study programmes which are assessed by the Accreditation Commission. Important partners of the Ministry of Education in all decisions concerning higher education are the Czech Rectors' Conference and the Council of Higher Education Institutions. (EuroEducation.net)

Religion: The Czech Republic, along with Estonia, the Nordic countries, France and the Netherlands, has one of the least religious populations in the world. Historically, the Czech people have been characterised as "tolerant and even indifferent towards religion". According to the 2001 census, 59% of the country is agnostic, atheist or non-believer, 26.8% is Roman Catholic and 2.5% is Protestant. According to the census, the fastest growing belief system during the intercensal period between 1991 and 2001 was that of those with no religion, which increased by 19.1 percent. Christianity showed negative growth, especially the Roman Catholic Church which lost more than 1 million of its members in 10 years. The largest population increase was No-religion which increased by nearly 2 million people. According to a Eurobarometer Poll in 2005, 19% of Czech citizens responded that "they believe there is a God" (the second lowest rate among European Union countries after Estonia with 16%), whereas 50% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 30% said that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force". (Demographics: Religion )

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">National Holidays: > <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Similar to Groundhog Day, Hromnice roughly marks the middle of winter and is linked to dozens of weather-related proverbs and predictions. > Josef is one of the most common Czech names and sparks annual celebrations around the nation. > Read about Czech Easter customs, symbols, and the yearly Easter celebrations in Prague. > This peculiar Czech custom that says a final farewell to winter can still be witnessed in many villages. > May 1st is a day devoted to lovers and the Czech romantic poet Karel Hynek Mácha. > The "July holidays" honor three important names of Czech history. > St. Nicholas Day, an exciting holiday for children, reminds us that Christmas is not far. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|February 2: Hromnice] <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|March 19: St. Joseph's Day]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|Easter]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|April 30: The Burning of the Witches]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|May 1: The Day of Love]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|July 5: Day of Slavic Missionaries Cyril and Methodius> July 6: John Huss Commemoration]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|December 5: St. Nicholas Tradition]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">[|December 24 - 26: Christmas]

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Music: The political turbulence of the 20th century had enormous impact on music in the Czech lands, as both the Nazi occupation and the post-war Communist rulers exploited folk culture for their own benefit. Following the Stalinist dictum "socialist in content, national in character", traditional music was subsumed into large state-sponsored dance ensembles. At the same time, the role of music as resistance was taken over by jazz and later underground rock, which had the advantage of being both international and youth-oriented at a time when folk music became increasingly associated with the establishment. After government persecution of experimental rock band The Plastic People of the Universe in 1976, underground music became closer to the circle of dissidents around playwright Václav Havel, with several figures from this scene playing leading roles in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. After more than a decade of political transition, folk music is again experiencing something of a revival, after a period of healthy distance from the "fakelore" promoted by the former regime. Traditional music can be roughly divided into Bohemian and Moravian strands. Bohemia is a plateau surrounded by highlands with many cultural links to neighboring Germany and Austria, while Moravia consists of rolling hills and fields and finds its musical roots in the string ensembles of Hungary and Slovakia. This can be further divided in both cases—Bohemia is known for brass bands and as the birthplace of polka, but also for a tradition of minor key laments and bagpipe music stretching back to Medieval times (continuing today in the person of legendary bagpiper and folklorist Josef Režný). Moravian music focuses mainly on the cimbalom but divides neatly, with the upper Hor?ácko and Lachia regions incorporating styles from the East (local Roma fiddler Jožka Kubík greatly influenced Moravian music in the post-war era) and the lower Dol?ácko and Slovacko regions, with their emphasis on traditional ritual music (memorably described by novelist Milan Kundera in //The Joke//). Part of the revival in Czech folk music must be attributed to the many open-minded tradition-influenced bands active today. These range from well-established acts Ji?í Pavlica & Hradiš?an and ?echomor, both of which collaborate regularly with leading world music artists, to more aggressive bands such as Ahmed ma Hlád and Chodská Vlna, which openly acknowledge their debt to both Ludvík Kuba and punk rock. Prague artists such as accordion chanteuse Raduza and pub-rockers Neo?ekávaný Dychánek are rooted in "staropražské" beer-hall songs, while hip-hop act Gipsy.cz bring together traditional Roma instruments and topical rapping. The sisters V?ra Bilá and Ida Kelarová perform traditional and popular Roma styles, while the uncategorizable Iva Bittová performs in a wide variety of styles ranging from classical to electronica while always remaining close to her Moravian roots. Recent efforts by pianist Emil Viklický and cimbalom virtuoso Zuzana Lap?iková to combine traditional music with jazz improvisation have also been highly succesful. (Jones) media type="youtube" key="p3tsNJbAZVc?fs=1" height="385" width="480"media type="youtube" key="OBB8MNJSizI?fs=1" height="385" width="480"

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Food: Although Czech cuisine is not exactly a synonym for healthy cooking, everybody will probably find at least a couple of meals "to die for". It may be the potato soup, the traditional roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, the fruit filled dumplings, or the apple strudel. Czech cooking and eating habits have been shifting in the general direction of a healthier lifestyle, but traditional Czech recipes are still extremely popular - and those tend to be high in calories, fat and sugar. Sauces and condiments are popular. (Czech Food and Drink)
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Soups: A Czech meal often starts with soup (//polévka//). Some popular Czech soups are: potato soup (//bramborová polévka// or //bramboračka//) garlic soup (//česneková polévka// or //česnečka//) chicken noodle soup (//kuřecí polévka s nudlemi//) beef soup with liver dumplings (//hovězí polévka s játrovými knedlíčky//)sauerkraut soup (//zelná polévka// or //zelňačka//) dill soup, made from sour milk (//koprová polévka// or //koprovka//)
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">The Main Course: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main course (hlavní chod) usually consists of meat (maso) and a side dish (příloha). The most popular meats are chicken (kuře) and pork (vepřové), followed by beef (hovězí), usually served with some kind of sauce (omáčka). Fish is not very common although trout (pstruh) or cod (treska) are sometimes served. Salmon (losos) and seafood (plody moře) are served in better restaurants. The mackerel (makrela) is a popular fish to grill over open fire in summer. Carp (kapr) is traditionally served on Christmas Eve.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Side Dishes: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The most common Czech side dishes are: boiled potatoes (vařené brambory) roasted potatoes (opékané brambory) mashed potatoes (bramborová kaše) French fries (bramborové hranolky) rice (rýže)bread dumplings (houskové knedlíky) or potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) with sauce (omáčka) bread or potato dumplings with sauerkraut (zelí) potato salad (bramborový salát)
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Desserts: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Desserts (moučníky) come in many varieties and tend to be heavy and fatty because butter (máslo) and whipped cream (šlehačka) are often used. Some popular desserts are: crepes (palačinky) filled with jam (džem) or strawberries (jahody) and whipped creamhoney cake called Medovník. Blueberry dumplings (borůvkové knedlíky) or apple strudel (jablečný závin) or ice cream sundae (zmrzlinový pohár)
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Beverages: As far as drinks (//nápoje//) go, a Czech meal is often accompanied by the national beverage, which is beer (//pivo//). If you're not in the mood for beer, you can have a mineral water (//minerálka//), orange juice (//pomerančový džus//), apple juice (//jablečný džus//), or a soda (specify its name because //soda// in Czech means "soda water"). Czechs also like to drink tea (//čaj//) with sugar (//cukr//) and lemon (//citrón//), and coffee (//káva//) with or without milk (//mléko//) or cream (//smetana//).

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Sports:
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Hockey: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Czech national team is one of the top teams in the world, regularly competing in the World Championship, the Winter Olympic Games and the Euro Hockey Tour. The national team captured their first Olympic Gold at the 1998 Games in Nagano. Prominent Czech players include Dominik Hašek, Patrik Eliáš, Jaromír Jágr, Aleš Hemský, Tomáš Kaberle, Milan Michálek and the incredible Robert Lang, who captained the 2006 Olympic team to a bronze medal.
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Football: Football has been a popular sport amongst the locals. Previously the old Czechoslovakia team were a force to be reckoned with, finishing runners-up twice in the World Cup and winning UEFA Euro 1976. The sport gained even more support when the national team qualified for their first World Cup since the break-up of Czechoslovokia. More recently players such as Petr Čech, Tomáš Rosický & Pavel Nedvěd have gone on to achieve great success at top European clubs and have become national icons. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In domestic football, the Gambrinus liga is the top-level in the Czech football league system. The most successful clubs are the two capital-based sides Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague. For a long time, Sparta Praha has supplied the national team with players such as Libor Sionko, Jaromír Blažek, Zdeněk Grygera, and Tomáš Rosický.[[image:http://www.czech.cz/image/itemid-89257/mw-800/mh-600/q-85/89257.jpg width="316" height="155" align="right" caption="Martina Navrátilová "]]
 * <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Tennis: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Czech tennis players have been remarkably successful in international competitions. One of them, Martina Navratilova is arguably the best female tennis player of all time. Many other male and female tennis players have appeared in the top 1OO rankings of international tennis including Drobn, J. Kodes, I. Lendl, P. Korda, H. Mandlikov, H. Sukov and J.Novotn. (Sports of the Czech Republic)

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Art: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">﻿The Barque period was very popular in the Czech lands, the works of Matthias Bernard Braun (1684-1738) have an unsettling effect. The sculptor also emphasised exalted moments with tense theatrical gestures and rich folds of clothes. Both the representative of the local tradition and Braun, who came to Prague from Austria, gave the statues on Charles Bridge their present-day appearance. The most famous is Brokoff’s statuary of the Saints John of Martha, Felix of Valois and Ivan (sousoší sv. Jana z Mathy, Felixe z Valois a Ivana), with the very realistic figure of a Turk guarding Christians, and Braun’s Vision of St. Luthgard (Vidění sv. Luitgardy). Realism and Impression had an affect on the Czech lands as well with such artists as Josef Vaclav Myslbek (1848-1922) and Max Svabinsky (1873-1962). The explosion of expressionism is associated with the names of Emil Filla, Bohumil Kubista and Antonin Prochazka. (History of Czech Fine Art)

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Famous People from the Czech Republic: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Czech Republic has evolved over time and has sustained many rough phases of history. Over this period of development Czech Republic has been the motherland of many famous Czech people. Not confined to one single field, famous Czech people can be found in different aspects of the society and culture. Whether in sports, films, music or in politics, one can go on with the list of famous Czech people. Many of the team members of the NHL teams in Canada and USA are of Czech Nationality. Jaromir Jagr, Dominik Hasek are examples of famous Czech people in sports who even won the Olympic Gold medal for their country. The world famous tennis player Martina Navratilova is also a Czech National. In the cultural front one of the most famous Czech people is Ludmila Babková. This film actor began her career at the age of 17 and is know to be the beholder of heavenly beauty. Later in life after being discovered by the German movie studio scouts she went to Berlin. Another enigmatic person who is definitely one of the most famous Czech people is Jirí Grossmann. This multi- faceted character was a poet, a composer and also a Czechoslovak theater actor. In politics, one among the important famous Czech people is Vaclav Havel. Once the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel is also known to be a well known philosopher, dramatist, and essayist. Havel is one of the most popular people in the Czech Republic. (Czech Republic People)


 * General Information || Geography || History || Culture || Political System || Economics || Activities || Teacher's Page ||

Back to Czech Republic Home Page