The Schaleks – a Central European Family / Schalekovi – středoevr+ opská rodina

Czechoslovakia was a state existing between 1918 and 1992 with changing borders, names, and political systems. Its territories are now part of the modern-day states of Czechia, Slovakia, and Ukraine (Carpathian Ukraine, occupied by Hungary in 1939 and transferred to the Soviet Union in 1945). After 1945, Czechoslovakia came under increasing political influence from the Soviet Union. After the communist party seized power in 1948, the country finally became part of the so-called Eastern Bloc, a satellite state of the Soviet Union, and a member of the Warsaw Pact from 1955. Between 1960 and 1990, the communist country was officially known as the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (abbreviated to ČSSR). The democratic political change was initiated in 1989 with the Velvet Revolution and culminated in 1992 with the founding of the independent Czech and Slovak Republics.

Prague (population 2024: 1,397,880) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is located in the center of the urban area on the Vltava River. The first Prague Castle was probably built in the 9th century. In the 10th/11th century, immigrant Jews lived alongside the local population in what were initially two neighboring castle settlements. At the beginning of the 1230s, Prague was granted city rights, followed by Malá Strana in 1257, Hradčany as a castle town in 1320 and the New Town of Prague (Nové Město) in 1348. From the very beginning, Prague was the residence of the Bohemian rulers, at the latest from the 12th century within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. As the seat of the emperor in the 14th century, Prague developed into one of the most important centers of the entire empire, and the first university in Central Europe was founded here in 1348. In 1784, the four cities were formally united. Gradually, especially in 1920 and after the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, further towns were incorporated. Between 1938 and 1945, Prague became the capital of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which was dependent on the German Reich. After the Allies broke up the Reich in 1945, Prague was once again the capital of - now socialist - Czechoslovakia until 1992. After the collapse of Czechoslovakia, Prague remained the capital of the Czech Republic and one of the most culturally, economically and politically important cities in Central Europe.