Every 28th of October, Czechia celebrates the Independent Czechoslovak State Day, commemorating the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic from the ashes of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. After its turbulent interwar years and the long decades spent under the Nazi and then the Soviet yokes respectively, Czechia is today the most successful post-communist economy in Europe, with a record low unemployment rate. The republic is also a member of both the European Union and NATO. Join in the celebrations of this momentous centenary by learning ten curious facts about Czechia!
1 – Of the countless museums and historical collections that can be viewed in Czechia, one of the oddest is undoubtedly the Hygiene Museum, where visitors can treat themselves to a collection of over 2000 historical toilet seats, chamber pots and other such toilet artefacts. The collection includes a toilet seat from the Titanic.
2 – Czechia has topped the ranks of highest beer consumption per capita for twenty-five years straight, drinking something like 140 litres of beer per capita every year. To put it in perspective, that’s equal to the consumption of half a litre of beer every 35 hours.
3 – After the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Communist dictatorship, the Czech government decided to dress its newly established Czech Guards in style. Czech fashion designer Theodor Pistek was tasked with designing truly fabulous uniforms – which he did, delivering a colourful and fashionable design.
4 – Czech sense of humour can be surprisingly dark, as attested by the grotesque Hitler masks visible in shop windows and market stalls in Prague and elsewhere. This dark sense of humour is not limited to the horrific occupation of the country by the Nazis: Czech jokes are notoriously cruel, ranging from violence to the country’s diminutive standing on the world stage.
5 – Sadly, cancer is a widespread ailment in Czechia, whose cancer death rates are the second-worst in the European Union, behind only Hungary. Czech hospitals, however, are well equipped – Czechia has the highest per capita number of hospital beds in the EU.
6 – The term “defenestration” was first coined in Prague in the year 1618, with the murder of three Holy Roman imperial dignitaries serving as the spark of a Protestant uprising and eventually the Thirty Years’ War. Defenestrations remained popular in Czech politics for four centuries, with the last recorded instance being the defenestration of the country’s then foreign minister in 1948.
7 – Much like its neighbours Austria and Hungary, Czechia can be credited with an impressive array of inventions. These include, but are not limited to, the sugar cube, soft contact lenses, the screw propeller, the compass as we know and use it today, and more.
8 – Although technically of recent formation, Czechia is not a young state: the country has existed in some form for well over a thousand years, being first established as the Duchy of Bohemia during the 8th Century. For most of its history, Czechia was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and later of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but its language, identity and administrative borders have seen comparatively little change during that time.
9 – Economic development in Czechia is mostly skewed towards the city of Prague, whose GDP per capita is twice the national average. This puts Prague’s GDP per capita above the national average of every EU Member State save for Luxembourg.
10 – The second president of Czechia’s modern history, Václav Klaus, caused an international scandal when he was caught on camera stealing a pen during an official visit to Chile. He subsequently justified his actions by stating that pens are usually free for visitors to take possession of during such events.
