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Czech Radio (Český rozhlas)
Vinohradská 12 Praha 2 - Vinohrady Phone: 221 551 111 http://www.rozhlas.czAbout
Czech Radio| Czech Radio (Český rozhlas) began broadcasting on the 18th May 1923 on the outskirts of the Kbely Airport in Prague. A lot of time passed before it got to its well known building at the Vinohradská Avenue. There was only a canvas tent for the broadcasting, and when the freezing temperatures made it impossible to stay there, the radio moved to a wooden cottage at the airport. The first reporter, actor Adolf Dobrovolný, always bought newspaper on his way to work in the morning, and on the way to Kbely, he ticked news to be broadcasted. Only later the private company Radiožurnal, which provided for the broadcasting, signed a news contract with ČTK (Czech News Agency). Czechoslovakia was among the first European states with regular radio broadcasting. The company Radiožurnal had its permanent office at today’s Vinohradská Avenue from 1924 on, above the Vinohrady market. There was also a small broadcasting studio, and later on, everything was transferred to Národní dům at Vinohrady. From here, the programme was broadcasted to the Strašnice transmitter, and further to the air. There was a boom of radio broadcasting. The Czechoslovak state gained majority in the Radiožurnal joint-stock company in 1925, and the number of licensees grew, so the decision was made to build a new house for the Czechoslovak Radio. It was built on an empty land plot in the years 1927 - 32 in a Constructivist style according to a project of ing. arch. dr. Bohumil Sláma. A four-storied house was erected on a surface area of approximately 2,600 m2, later on elevated by two more storeys, with two underground storeys for the transformation section, accumulator batteries, machine room and laboratories, workshops and storage areas. On the other floors, there were operational premises for the staff, the performers, as well as the audiences, sound-proof studios with the most advanced technologies of the time, tuning room for the musical instruments and all the administration, including the management. There were two elevators in the building. The construction was carried out by the companies of builders ing. Skorkovský and Strnad. In 1932, the building started to be equipped and used, gradually. The new building at Fochova, today Vinohradská Avenue, officially went into operation on the 10th December 1933. In 1939, the Czech Radio was annexed by the German occupants. It was returned to the Czech people after hard fights, which began on the 5th May 1945, when the reporter Zdeněk Mančal said the legendary words into the microphone: Je sechs hodin (It is sechs o’clock). Ninety Czech fighters were killed in the battle for the radio. A memorial plaque to the fighters for the radio was installed by the main entrance in 1948. It is an unwritten habit to organize a reverent gathering in front of the radio building every year on the 5th May. Another fight for the radio took place on the 21st August 1968. Fifteen people were killed, either directly in front of the building or died later due to injuries suffered here, having defended the radio from the Soviet occupants. These events are also commemorated on a plaque installed on the building. A reconstruction of the building took place in the years 2007 - 2009.
