Whenever you travel to a country, it's always nice to know some interesting facts beforehand. Below, you can find some Czech Republic fun facts to help you prepare for your trip, a quiz, or just for fun!.
Czech Republic Fun Facts
This post is part of a series of fun facts posts I'm doing for every country I have articles about here on the blog. These posts are research-based and although a lot of time has gone into finding the facts, it's still possible a mistake has snuck into these fun facts about Czech Republic. If you see something that looks incorrect, please inform me at sofie [at] wonderfulwanderings.com and I'll look into it. Thanks!
1. Emil Zátopek, famously known for his unprecedented win of gold in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games in the 10,000 meter, 5,000 meter, and the marathon track events, was from Czech Republic. He was born in Kopřivnice.
2. Geneticist Johan Gregor Mendel, the man who set the groundwork for genetics and inheritance principles studied in biology classes around the world today, was born in Hynčice.
Read more: 14 top things to do in Prague
3. Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world at 570m long and 128m wide. For reference, that’s bigger than seven football fields combined!
4. Another interesting fact about Czech Republic is that the Pančavský waterfall is the highest in the country at 148 meters.
5.The Krkonoše Mountains, home to Sněžka mountain peak (the highest point in the Czech Republic at 1,603 meters ), create the Czech-Polish border, dividing Bohemia and Silesia.
6. The source of the Elbe river, one of the major rivers in Central Europe with a river basin spanning four countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, and Poland) is within the Krkonoše Mountains of Czech Republic.
7. The Czech Republic has the largest number of castles than any other country in Europe (over 2000!). I think it's one of the coolest things about the country.
8. Oskar Schindler, famous for saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, grew up in Zwittau, Moravia. According to a census from 1930, only 14,000 of 118,000 Jewish people remained alive in these lands by 1945.
Read more: Wandering through Prague's Jewish Quarter
9. The Czech Republic contains the historic regions of the Kingdom of Bohemia to the west, Moravia to the east and Czech Silesia to the northeast.
10. Prague was the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor during the reign of Charles IV and consistantly one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire.
11. The first big Hollywood blockbuster filmed in Prague was Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible. Other notable films include The Illusionist, Yentl, Les Misérables (1998 version) and Casino Royale.
12. Beer is a big deal in the Czech Republic. Czechs have the highest beer consumption per capita in the world! Pilsen is home to the first Pale Lager, Pilsner Urquell.
13. The National Gallery in the Czech Republic's capital Prague is an art museum displaying works of art in historic buildings throughout the city and is one of the largest museums in Central Europe.
14. The currency used in Czech Republic is the Czech Crown (Koruna). In general, you can't pay with Euro in Czech Republic.
15. The town of Písek has the Czech Republic’s oldest bridge – 900 years old!
16. Several ossuaries (chapels and caves where old bones are stored) are found in the country, including one inside the Church of St. James, the second-largest ossuary in Europe, after the catacombs in Paris.
17. A man-made mining crater at the site of the Velka Amerika Quarry has become a sought-after place of beauty after deep blue water was allowed to fill in the gorge. The area is referred to as the “Czech Grand Canyon”.
18. A stone lookout tower – The Spirálovitá Rozhledna – with a spiraling outdoor staircase can be visited in Krásno. It is one of the most unusual lookout towers in the entire country and offers stunning views of the Czech countryside.
19. Karst landscape is formed with the flow of acidic water through soft rock and can be seen firsthand at the Machocha Gorge…also called the Macocha Abyss, the deepest sinkhole in Central Europe.
20. The odd, yet unique Hygiene Museum in Prague displays an unusual collection of over 2,000 historical chamber pots, toilets, and loos that range from historical to famous, including a seat from the Titanic.
21. If you like Guinness World Record facts, this one is for you: a gothic church in Most (NE Czech Republic) was completely moved a mile from its original location so the town could mine lignite.
22. St. James Church in Brno features an interesting adornment – a sculpture of a two-headed man showing his bare bottom to any passerby who can spot him.
23. The Czech Republic ranks as the sixth safest country to live in the world according to the 2017 Global Peace Index.
24. The sweet little sugar cube was invented in Moravia by Jakub Kryštof Rad (patented in 1843), to the delight of tea drinkers the world over.
25. The Czech Republic ranks 27th in most environmentally conscious in the world, with 4 National Parks and over 20 protected land areas and six biosphere reserves.
26. Jan Janský, a Czech neurologist, was the first to classify human blood into the four blood groups, paving the way for modern blood donations and typing.
27. The Czech Republic became part of the European Union in 2004.
28. Martina Navratilova one of the greatest female tennis players of all time was born in Prague when it was Czechoslovakia.
29. Czech, the official language of the Czech Republic, has been classified by scientists as one of the most difficult languages in the world! Some important Czech words: Hello = Ahoj, Thanks = Děkuji, and we can’t forget Beer = Pivo
And that's it! I hope you learned some new facts about Czech Republic :-)
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