This is a re-posting of a blog from 2020 about Christmas in Prague, where my husband and I lived for a year.
We spent Christmas in Prague and were introduced to its customs by the Czech couple, Vladimir and Milada Reznick, who shared their apartment with us. The first tradition we encountered was a visit from Svaty Mikuláš. Svaty Mikuláš (Czech for Saint Nicholas) descends from heaven on a golden cord held by angels, as he returns to earth for his gift-giving rounds each year. In the European advent calendar, St. Nicholas pays a visit to children during the first week of December, bearing gifts of sweets to the well-behaved. He is traditionally accompanied by a devil (Čert) and an angel (Anděl ). Some friends of mine arranged for me to be visited, and luckily St. Nick gave me a present. The devil is sometimes portrayed as Krampas in a scary costume, usually in the public square along with St. Nick and the angel.
Vladimir and Milada purchased a Christmas tree – it appeared one evening – and it was lit with real candles! We lived in fear that it would catch fire. but Milada assured us it rarely happened. Right. Good that I couldn’t read the Prague newspaper!
The traditional Christmas Eve meal is carp soup. The Czechs love polévka, or soup, and Milada was a wonderful soup maker – especially gulašova polévka (gulash soup) and dršťková polévka (tripe soup). Every family would buy a huge carp from enormous tanks found on the streets around the city. They were filled with icy water (it was December after all) and huge carp slowly swimming around in them. The men who sold the fish were in their shirt sleeves with the sleeves rolled up and their forearms were blue from fishing in the tanks and pulling out a fish for you!
Once purchased, the carp was taken home and placed in water in the bathtub and kept until Christmas Eve. (Caveat: Never let your children name the carp) At that point, it would be dispatched, some of the meat saved for the next day, and the rest made into carp soup. Which is, by the way, delicious.
The traditional Christmas dinner was carp (kapr) schnitzel, made with the fresh carp fillets, along with potato salad. This might seem strange – potato salad at Christmas – but I swear the Czechs make the absolutely best potato salad in the world. And of course the fish was yummy and delightfully fresh (no wonder there).
And the sweets. Each Czech is born with a sweet tooth. There is a Christmas bread called Vánočka, which gets its name from the Czech word for Christmas, Vánoce. It’s a braided cake made with raisins and almonds. There are also cookies, lots and lots of cookies, Vánoční cukroví / Christmas cookies. We ended our Christmas meal with a variety of those, along with fruit dumplings that Milada made to perfection. These are usually made with plums (if available) and sprinkled with sugar and poppy seeds.
In the Czech tradition, I wish you Veselé Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Wenceslas Square in Prague at Christmas time. Named for good King Wenceslas!
fascinating; never knowingly had carp, so there’s one for the list! Merry Xmas to you and all yours.
Thanks, Geoff. As long as it’s farm raised and not caught on the bottom of a river (where it acquired a rive bottom taste), it is a very nice white fish. Season’s Greetings back atcha!
Thanks so much for sharing your Czech Christmas, Noelle! Fascinating… With all :Veselé Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok too! 💞
Glad you liked it Betty. It was an extraordinary year there.
Have a wonderful Vánoce, Noelle. That was a fascinating posting. I suppose the Czechs have bare wooden floors at Christmas if the children can’t name the fish to make a carp-pet. (Sorry about that terrible joke). We are having a traditional Christmas turkey etc. but we’re thinking of have a whole fish (sea fish) at New Year!
Only you, Bruce, could make such a terrible pun! Merry Christmas to you and many more!
I spent a couple of years teaching English in Prague some years ago. I remember the carp tradition in the streets and a wonderful Christmas market at Old Town Square with those mythical figures. Enjoyed your story!
Thank you! Christmas was a bit drab under the Communist rule, compared to now but the Czech people always found a way to have fun and celebrate.. how lucky you were to live there for two years!
A delightful post, Noelle. Thanks for sharing with us. Merry Christmas.
Thanks, Teagan. Writing it brought back so many wonderful memories!
I can imagine it being a wonderful place to spend Christmas, Noelle. Similar in some ways to Kraków and I was always a little sad that we never got to spend the celebration with our Polish family there. 🙂 🙂
I think the Christmases would be similar. I am one-fourth Polish – my grandmother emigrated from Krakow!
🤗💕
I bet you wish you had a Christmas like that this year Noelle!
Yes, if I could be that young again! This year I had my grandson (10 months) which made Christmas special (even if he didn’t understand the concept of presents).
these are the memories that take care of us in hard times
What a wonderful experience for you. I know I must be part Czech, since I was born with a sweet tooth as well. 🙂 Their Christmas traditions are fascinating, but “real” candles on the tree?? Shudder. Sounds like you had a fabulous xmas at home this year, with a 10-month-old grandson. Sweeter than the sweetest candy.
Absolutely. We also shuddered at the live candles, but it was the tradition. Then Gene fell putting on an ornament and broke the glass top of one of their shelves. Replacing the glass was an ordeal (it was a Communist country at the time and hard to find things, let alone get custom replacements! We fell badly!
Whoa- that is a glass-shattering memory! 🥴
Sounds like a fun and different Christmas! Lovely post, Noelle😍
Thanks! A wonderful memory.
Lovely photos, Noelle. The last one is glorious – gold everywhere. I hope your Christmas was a good one.
It was – we have a new grandson, and since we’ve all been quarantining, we spend a lot of time with him. My husband, photo-op Pop, as he’s known, took thousands of pictures of Prague – although not that one. He’s getting them all on CDs so I can post some eventually. Prague is very golden in the winter, with the sun low on the horizon. A beautiful city, although after the Velvet Revolution some of the wonderful things about it disappeared.
We went to Prague, once. An IT trade show. We loved it. Hopefully, we can go back in the future. Christmas looks fun!
And congratulations on the new grandson, Noelle. Sadly, ours are in Australia… But it’s great when we all get to catch up.
your blog is very beautiful … Bravo
Thank you so much. Please stop by any time and thanks for the follow!
Welcome dear friend 🌹
Wenceslas Square is stunning, Noelle. What a fun post. I loved learning a little about how the Czech’s celebrate Christmas. My parents went to Prague about fifteen years ago and just loved the city. It was one place they always longed to go back too. And Christmas trees with real candles reminds me of my childhood. We never had a fire, either, thank goodness! 🙂
The first time we were in Wenceslas Square was in June during the Russian occupation. It was dirty, dingy, drab and dusty. Quite a difference now. Of course with the Velvet Revolution came drugs and crime.
Thank you for sharing this amazing post again..Merry Christmas🌲
These are beautiful photos! My husband and I adored Prague but we were only able to stay four or five days.
Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Sheri. I hope you can enjoy the city longer the next time. I would recommend going in the late fall/ winter because the color of the buildings is amazing with the sun low in the sky.
You’re very welcome. I would love to go back. We did actually visit in the fall and, wow, it was stunning. The trees were all changing and everything was just so full of color.
And the food. Ohmygosh.
Keep safe and try to stay warm!
What an amazing experience! Merry Christmas, Noelle.
Thanks, Colleen. It was and I hope you had a great Christmas!
We did. Thanks, Noelle.
Hi Noelle. I enjoyed reading about these Czech traditions, which, although different from American traditions, have the same sentiment of celebrating the holiday with friends and loved ones and sharing good food! I would also have been nervous about the candles on the tree, though!
While we didn’t knock over the Christmas tree, while putting out the candles we managed to crack the glass top of a nearby cabinet!