20 Czech Contributions to World Culture

The Polka

One of the world’s best known and popular dances, the polka, is of Czech origin. It is said to have appeared in 1834 in Týnec nad Labem, a town about 50km east of Prague. From there it moved to Prague and then to Vienna where is soon became a ballroom staple. There is some dispute over the origin of the name. One theory is that it comes from polka, meaning a Polish woman, or from půlka, the Czech word for half.

Circus Music

The Miami Vice Theme Song

New York Punk

Resonet Futurama Guitar

There was even something Czech – or rather Czechoslovakian – joining The Beatles in their early days. George Harrison first recorded on the Resonet Futurama, a locally built guitar which was marketed at the time as the most advanced in its day. Jimmy Page also played the Futurama in his younger years.

Vinyl Records

Sex Scenes

Gustav Machatý’s 1933 film Ecstasy, which was partly filmed outside of Prague, is credited with being the first non-pornographic film to feature a sex scene.

Ratatouille

Other spheres outside of music have seen an influence from Czechs or those with Czech roots. In film Prague-born Jan Pinkava came up with the idea for the film Ratatouille, though he was replaced part way through production.

Stylized Special Effects

The Czech director, who can perhaps be credited with having the most influence, might well be Karel Zeman. The sci-fi and fantasy adventure film director who worked from the 1950s to the 1970s is famous for his imaginative stylized effects and set designs. Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and Wes Anderson all consider him an influence. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Anderson used Karlovy Vary’s Grandhotel Pupp as an inspiration for his acclaimed film The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Futuristic Architecture

Czech Cubism

Words Beyond Robot

The modern word pistol derives from this Hussite-era píšťala

Pistol comes from píšťala, which also means pipe in Czech. The weapon – a type of hand-held cannon – gained notoriety during the Hussite War. Howitzer also dates to the Hussite War when the howitzer or houfnice was used against infantry formations (houf is Czech for a large group.) Dollar is from the Czech tolar the name for silver coins minted in Jachýmov. The concept of tunneling from the Czech tunelování, which itself comes from the English word tunnel, refers to the process of selling a company’s assets at a cheaper price to a second company owned by (or connected to) the owners of the first company. The unit used for supersonic speeds – the Mach – comes from the physicist Brno-born physicist Ernst Mach. Mach’s principle helped inspire Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Nanofiber Technology

In fact, there have been many other Czechs who have made a contribution in the field of science and technology. One we forgot to mention in our previous article on the subject is Oldřich Jirsák, who has made significant advances in nanofiber technology; the development of nanofibers has helped make important advances in medicine.

3D Printing

Plastic Surgery

Crazy Cat Theory

A more recent medical contribution has come from Jaroslav Flegr, and this contribution is more a theory than a procedure. Flegr contends that the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite that is typically found in cat owners and is the cause of the disease toxoplasmosis, may manipulate the behavior of cat lovers making them reckless or, depending on sex, well-dressed and outgoing (women) or poorly dressed and introverted (men). Flegr won an Ig Nobel prize (a pardoy of the Nobel Prize) for two studies connected to the theory.

What (or who) have we missed?

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• The Sketchy History of a Little-Known Czech Invention
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