Prague introduces chip card system similar to London's Oyster car

[14-08-2008 14:59 UTC] By Ruth Fraňková

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The Prague Transport Authority recently launched a chip card system similar to London's Oyster card. The Opencard itself is not a novelty: Prague citizens have already been using it to pay their parking fees and take out library books. However, as of October, they can also use their Opencard as a public transport pass, charging it up with credit beforehand. I spoke to Michal Opatrný from the Prague Transport Authority to find out more about the new system:

“The aim of the project is to establish not only new ways of communication between the city and its citizens but also less complicated and more convenient access to the services provided by the city.”

What can the card be used for?

“First of all the Opencard serves as a replacement for vouchers and tickets to some of the city’s institutions and services. You can also use it in place of Prague public transport season ticket. Opencard is also accepted by certain branches of the Prague Municipal library. It can be used instead of coins when parking in paid zones. It is currently accepted by parking metres in the city centre and within the next few months this service will be extended to other zones as well. And you can use it for an easy and secure access to Prague’s website. For example drivers can use this application to obtain information about their current traffic offences including info about penalties and the number of points incurred.”

When did you actually start distributing the card?

“We have already started distributed over 6,000 old Opencards and about 70 new ones. During the autumn we would also like to launch nameless cards for tourists, who don’t need residence permits. They can simply buy the card and use it.”

Speaking about nameless cards, what kind of data do you actually need to provide a customer with the card?

“Prague citizens need to fill an application form. The Opencard will feature a photo of the applicant and his or her date of birth but no other personal details.

So in case I lose my Opencard you can provide me with a new one on the basis of the data that you already have.

“Yes, of course. If you lose your Opencard we give you a new one and provide you with a public transport ticket that you had previously bought.”

Czech TV to Screen the 1968 Russian - Soviet Invasion Live TV

Prague - August 20 will see "Live from the past" broadcast kick off on public service Czech TV (ČT). The program called the "August Night" (Srpnová noc) is to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw pact troops invasion on

August 21, 1968.

A free link to Czech TV (ČT) is here:

http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/vysilani/
Main Portal - http://www.tvlink.cz/

Make Sure To Czech Back On The 21st of August.

Here Is A Short Music Made Documentary Of The Velvet Revolution:
Length: 2:30 Not Too Long Watch IT !!

Article Continued:

"Cross-media project"

The program has not been prepared in advance. It will be broadcast live using pre-filmed memories, archives and live entries. "It is our biggest cross-media project so far," program director of ČT Kateřina Fričová said.

The program is to interlink the TV broadcast with its web page, viewers' reactions, archives, testimonies of the witnesses and commentaries of the historians.

Read more: Soviet invasion of 1968 to have its own web page

Songs by Karel Kryl, Marta Kubišová, Václav Neckář and Hana Hegerová that became iconic at that time will serve to create an authentic atmosphere.

Infobox

• Human torch of 39 years ago strongly remembered
• February 1948 - not bloody enough for Moscow
• Anti-communist fighter: We are not murderers

Václav Havels and Others

Now-celebrities and leaders that were somehow linked to the event will present their views too, either directly in the studio or via pre-filmed interviews.

"Václav Havel, Petr Pithart, Jiří Dientsbier, Čestmír Císař or Zdeněk Svěrák are all to talk about their memories of the ominous day of August 21,1968," says spokesman of ČT Ladislav Šticha. All these figures were staunch opponents of the invasion.

As for the opposite side, it was somewhat impossible to get someone from the Communist Party, says Daniel Růžička, ČT production manager. ČT tried to get help from the current Communist Party (KSČM) but to no avail.

Read more: 1968: Bilateral meeting anticipated Soviet invasion

ČT is trying to get in touch with a number of people who headed the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) back then, says Růžička.

Viewers' contributions

ČT obtained numerous materials from viewers, including unique amateur video-recordings.

Read more: ID pierced by bullet a reminder of 1968 invasion

Some of the materials come from the archives of the Communist state security (StB) and have never been screened yet.

bigger picture

ČT prepared the program in cooperation with the Institute for the Studies of Totalitarian Regimes and the National Museum.

The August Night will kick off at 6 am the following day.

Read more: Totalitarian regime study institute OKd by court

Underground Broadcast

During the Soviet invasion, Czechoslovak radio and television continued in their broadcast despite the difficult circumstances - TV studios were controlled by the occupation forces, while the radio broadcast from a provisional seat.

"Reporters and cameramen filmed in the streets even during machine-gun fire. All the footage they got was secretly delivered to Austrian television that eventually broadcast it around the world," explains director of ČT Jiří Janeček who was only 12 at that time.

"I just remember my mother who came to wake me up, tears in her eyes, saying ´The Soviets invaded our country´, Jiří Janeček.

Georgia's Conflicts Coincide With 1968 Russian Invasion Of Czech Republic

Prague/Tbilisi- Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, who has cut his holiday short over the conflict in Georgia, today said Prague supports Georgia where by a sad coincidence fights broke out shortly before the 40th anniversary of the Soviet-Russian led invasion of Czechoslovakia, by the "Warsw Pact" Troops in August, 1968.

She told CTK that Schwarzenberg, who is returning to the office now instead of August 18, as originally planned, is in contact with his Georgian counterpart Eka Tkeshelashvili and also with Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France that presides over the EU now.

Czech Ambassador in Tbilisi Ivan Jestrab today said that some 30 Czechs have left Georgia along with a convoy bound for the Armenian capital Jerevan, from where most of them are to leave by a Polish plane for Warsaw later today.

Further Czechs will leave Armenia in the same way on Monday, Jestrab told CTK.

Another four Czechs, who find themselves in western Georgia and cannot use their air-tickets to depart from Batumi by plane, will go to Istanbul by car. The Czech consulate in Istanbul will help them reach the Czech Republic, Jestrab said.

About 15 other Czechs want to remain in Georgia. The embassy knows their identity, their whereabouts and it has connection with them.

Another 15 Czechs, however, reportedly stay in Georgia's mountainous areas, according to the embassy's unconfirmed information. The embassy does not know their names nor is it in contact with them. Nevertheless, according to available information, all Czechs in Georgia are in order, unharmed and face no problems, Jestrab said.

He said the situation in Tbilisi is calm, but local residents are naturally nervous.

The Czech carrier CSA's regular flights from Prague to Tbilisi and vice versa on Saturday was cancelled over the security situation in Georgia.

Another CSA plane is to depart for Tbilisi on August 12. "It will depend on the general situation whether the flight will depart," CSA spokeswoman Daniela Hupakova told CTK.

On Friday, the Georgian military used force to gain control of the country's separatist and pro-Russian province South Ossetia. It met with armed resistance of the Russian military that sent in troops to reinforce the Russian members of the South Ossetian peace corps.

Thousands of victims have been reported by various sources from the South Ossetian centre of Tskhinvali.

Fame Escapes Czech Who Gave Hiroshima Its Dome

Praha - Wednesday marked the world´s first nuclear attack. Vigils are held across the world to remember one of the biggest tragedies in the history of humankind but hardly any one remembers the creator of the only building that survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack.

His name was Jan Letzel and he came from Czechoslovakia.

On August 6, 1945 at 8,15 a.m. an American B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped a bomb which demolished the city of 350,000. An estimated 70,000 died on the spot, while thousands lost their lives days and months later.

The bomb flattened the entire city centre, except the Hiroshima Industrial Promotion Hall, which was designed by Jan Letzel.

An apocalyptic photograph capturing the torso of the hall rising above the debris of the destroyed city shocked the whole world. The Industrial Hall, later dubbed A-bomb Dome, soon became one of the world´s most striking landmarks, a reminder of the war's atrocities.

Celebrated Concrete

The building miraculously survived the nuclear attack due to the construction material. All the other Hiroshima´s wooden and paper houses were entirely destroyed. nd it was probably concrete that made the young and talented architect well-known in Japan. This "European" construction material was earthquake-resistant, certainly more resistant than the traditional Japanese construction materials, wood and paper.

But without his talent and skills Letzel would have never made it. In Prague´s School of Applied Arts he was one of the best students and a favorite of Jan Kotěra, leading architect and interior designer of that period. Kotěra´s influence is evident in the only building that Jan Letzel built in then Czechoslovakia - Dvorana pavilion in Mšené Spa, 50 km north of Prague.

Mr. Cosmopolitan

Jan Letzel was born in 1880 in Náchod in north Bohemia in a family of a hotel owner. As soon as he finished his studies in Prague, he left Czechoslovakia for Cairo, Egypt. In 1907 he received an invitation from a German architect Georg De Lalande to come to Japan where he stayed for the next 13 years.

Letzel was in Japan all throughout World War One, despite the fact that Japan joined the Allied Powers - France, Britain and Russia - in 1914, which technically made the Austro-Hungarian architect an enemy, at least in the eyes of Japanese authorities.

He was able to steer clear of trouble, though, largely thanks to his acquaintances in high circles. Japanese author Murai Shimako, who wrote a play about Letzel, believes that good relations with local oligarchy were fundamental for his success in Japan.

Letzel was responsible for a total of fifteen new buildings in Japan. The only ones that survived until today are the Industrial Promotion Hall in Hiroshima and the gate of Tokyo's Catholic University of Sacred Heart. The former, now mostly known as A-Bomb Dome, has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1996.

Instant Landmark

The massive building was completed in 1915. It instantly became a landmark in the city, as Murai Shimako confirms:

"Our teacher used to take us to the imperial sanctuary and the Industrial Palace was the only European building we would pass on our way. Back then, we thought the architect was Austrian. It wasn't until 1969 when I learnt that the palace had been built by a Czech architect."

Yet another Japanese woman, awed by the palace, found her way to Czechoslovakia at the time. Fumiko Fujita was also impressed by the building, but remained skeptical about Jan Letzel's alleged Austrian nationality. She knew that Jan was a Czech name.

With the help of Czechoslovakia's state broadcaster she was able to track down Letzel's nieces, who gave her access to the family's correspondence and various gifts which their uncle used to send them from Japan.

Citizenship corrected

Fujita then published a series of articles in Japanese magazines to correct the misinformed perception that Letzel was an Austrian. In spite of her efforts, the majority of Japanese people do not know a Czech architect named Retseru, as the Japanese pronounce his surname.

"Common Japanese naturally have no knowledge of Letzel but experts and architects do know him very well and respect him a lot," says Petr Holý, director of the Czech Centre in Tokyo.

Japanese journalist Yuki Masuda who moved to the Czech Republic not long ago regrets that Japanese kids do not learn about Letzel in schools. Letzel is widely believed to have introduced modern architecture to Japan, adds Masuda.

Czech Out Yuki Masuda's Blog - http://blog.aktualne.centrum.cz/blogy/yuki-masuda.php

Jan Letzel returned to Czechoslovakia in 1923 and died alone and forgotten two years later. He lived his last days in the same room in Prague´s Institution for the mentally ill where Czech composer Bedřich Smetana passed away in 1884.

"His grave is empty, though, because he died of syphilis. The Christian-minded people of Náchod would never allow a person that died of a sexually transmitted disease to be buried in a consecrated land of Náchod´s cemetery," explains Petr Holý.

Soviet invasion of 1968 to have its own web page

Prague - A comprehensive list of documents related to the August 1968´s invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops is presented on a new web page run by the Totalitarian Regime Study Institute.
Besides various secret analyses and testimonies, the web page also offers previously unpublished radio transmissions and a list of 108 victims - people who died between August 21 until the end of 1968 and their death was related to the presence of the Warsaw Pact troops in Czechoslovakia.

This list includes basic biographic data, often accompanied with a photo of the victim. Some of them were shot, others were run over by Soviet tanks.

Twenty-two year old Eduard Netušil died in a road accident. The young man was trying to take over a badly lit military transporter that suddenly reversed, forcing the young man to drive his motorbike into a tree.

Or, sixty-three years old Josef Bulík who died when a tank crushed a newspaper stand he happened to be in.

The original records of the radio broadcast programs of August 1968 have been long lost in archives - now they are all disclosed online.

They include radio news or speeches of major political figures.

"These are ten freest days in the history of Czechoslovak radio," said Totalitarian Regime Study Institute head Pavel Žáček.

Prague Spring

The territory of what was Communist Czechoslovakia then was invaded by five Warsaw Pact member states - Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Hungary, German Democratic Republic and Poland - during the night between 20 and 21 August 1968.

The military intervention took place because the Soviet Bloc's leaders were not happy with the liberal reforms initiated by the new Czechoslovak government.

Alexandr Dubček was elected the head of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (KSČ) in January 1968 and has become an iconic figure of the 1968 reform program.

For a short period of time Czechoslovakia broke free from Soviet rule. The new government introduced economic reforms, limiting state controls and allowing freedom of speech. This brief period of about four months is now known as the Prague Spring.

You can see the page here

LN: Roma to set up vigilante patrols in Karlovy Vary

Prague, June 24 (CTK) - Romanies in Karlovy Vary, West Bohemia, will set up their own patrols outside a local school in response to the patrols established by the Czech extremist National Guard (NG), Lidove noviny (LN) wrote Tuesday.

NG's patrols are to start guarding the school against what they call attacks by local Romany children against the schoolchildren later Tuesday.

The Romany children are from a hostel inhabited mostly by Romanies.

Last week, NG members went to the hostel "to explain their position" to the Romanies.

"We do not need any patrols here," a local Romany told the paper.

Stanislav Sivak, an activist of the local Romany Civic Association, said a brawl that occurred a few weeks ago had been investigated by the police.

"This is certainly no Romany gang that would harass the area," Sivak said.

"The authorities have enough measures with which to punish the parents who do not look after their children. Maybe they should be stripped of some welfare benefits," Sivak said.

Sivak said since Romanies feared for their children, too, they wanted to protect them outside the school.

At present, the school is being watched by police patrols.

Representatives of the National Party (NS), that had set up the para-military NG, are of the view that the problem was caused by the Romany children from the hostel for rent-defaulters.

"We will settle the repeated attacks on schoolchildren," Pavel Sedlacek from the NS press office told CTK.

NG members also want to organise a free self-defence course for local children.

There is tension among parents of the local schoolchildren, LN writes.

"If anyone harms my child, I will be very tough. I have a pistol and I would not hesitate to use it," LN quotes a father as having said.

Three children from the fourth grade told the paper they had been victims of a recent attack by Romany children.

"It happened about three weeks ago. We were suddenly attacked by the Gypsies," a boy, aged 10, said.

"One of them had a knife and asked us whether we want our hands to be cut off. Another one hit a friend of mine in his head. We took to our heels," he added.

The assailants were six to seven years old.

"They were younger, but it was unpleasant. Now both of us are trained for the fight with a stick," another boy said.

EU presidency - Czechs are not too thrilled

In January 2009, the Czech Republic will begin its six-month presidency of the European Union. However, according to a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM) it appears that as much as three quarters of Czech citizens are not interested in this momentous event at all. Only 24 percent responded that they are interested in the Czech presidency of the EU. This group is composed predominantly of university-educated people and potential voters of the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS).

According to the CVVM, the public's awareness of the issue is even worse. No more than one fifth of the society have sufficient information about what the EU presidency means, how the government is preparing for it and who is participating in the process.

However, the question whether those polled believe that the Czech Republic will be successful in its role brought more positive responses. Half of those questioned expect the Czech Republic to succeed.

The CVVM conducted the poll this year in the first half of April, questioning more than one thousand people.

For more detailed information czech out: Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Do tourists really know what they are looking at?

Even on a cold February afternoon, the rolling hillside in Malá Strana is swarmed with tourists. They meander up the hill to snap photos of the city as it emerges beneath them.

But before they can begin their ascent, they are met with a peculiar set of bronze statues at the base of the hill. The statues, anonymous figures, are staggered along large, concrete steps. The first of the figures is a whole, life-sized man, his face gaunt, his body inclined forward as if he can barely hold himself upright.

With each step, a piece of his body disappears; first a jagged hole rips across his torso, then his arms are eaten away until finally, there is nothing left but a pair of deteriorated legs.

This staircase of human decay is supposed to represent what happened to the spirit of Czechs persecuted under the communist regime of 1948-1989. The Memorial to the Victims of Communism was built in 2002, 12 years after the fall of the regime.

A bronze ribbon that runs up the center of the staircase tallies the numbers: 205,486 arrested; 248 executed; 4,500 died in prison; 327 shot trying to escape; 170,938 forced into exile.

The unveiling of the memorial by renowned Czech sculptor Olbram Zoubek sparked a debate between those who welcomed it as a much belated tribute and those who felt it was artistic kitsch, and an unsightly blemish on Prague's architectural landscape

More controversy erupted when the Civic Democrats, the party largely responsible for its establishment, snubbed President Václav Havel by declining to invite him to the ceremony until the last minute. The Civic Democrats were led by Václav Klaus, now the Czech president and long a rival of Havel.

Most visitors to Petřín Hill seem unaware not only of the controversy surrounding the statues, but also of what they are supposed to be honouring. The disappearing man certainly stops them in their tracks; they gape curiously and clamber up the steps to pose for pictures, kissing his cheek and holding his hand.

But after saying cheese, they move on, consulting maps and pushing baby strollers up the rest of the hill. At one point, 12 onlookers gather around the memorial, but not a single one of them stops to inspect the dedication plaque or the numbers running up the middle of the steps.

With the next round of visitors, one young man does pause, however. Sascha Junkert, 24, on holiday from Russia, thinks the meaning of the memorial all depends on how you look at it.

"For me, communism is good in the beginning," he says. "Everyone owns everything, but in the end it breaks down. This is what you see if you look at the statues from the bottom up. But what about those people at the top of the stairs? What do they see? They see a body getting stronger and stronger. It is the same with communism - it all depends on your perspective." Czech sculptor Olbram Zoubek tried to depict the deteriorating human condition under four decades of communism.

"This memorial is dedicated to all victims, not only those who were jailed or executed, but also those whose lives were ruined by totalitarian despotism," reads a small bronze plaque, a chilling reminder of a recent past at the bottom of Prague's otherwise picturesque Petřín Hill.









This story is part of an occasional series of articles from the Prague Wanderer, a webzine created by New York University students in Prague. Learn more about the Prague Wanderer here. Aisha Gawad is a third year student at New York University studying journalism and Middle Easter and Islamic Studies. She is from Burke, Virginia.