The Polish Club in Prague (1887–2020)

Abstract

The essay presents a synthesizing glimpse into the relatively long tradition of Polish associational life in Prague (on the example of the Polish Club), which was violently interrupted during the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (1940) and restored after the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia (1991). Today’s Polish Club in Prague directly succeeds an organisation of the same name that originated under the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1887). It is widely regarded as the representative and speaker of all Poles permanently living in the capitol in the Czech Republic or in its immediate vicinity. It plays this role towards the state and local authorities (in particular the City of Prague Magistrate) as well as the Polish representative office in the Czech Republic, i.e. the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Prague (including its Consular Department). The activities and attitudes of the Polish Club in Prague have thus never been without significance in terms of the development of Czech-Polish relations – in particular with regard to the cultural ocial contacts, mutual recognition of both neighbouring nations or overcoming the negative heterostereotypes.