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81-522: According to romantic medieval legend , the Kinsky story began in Bohemia over 1,000 years ago, when a king's beautiful daughter went out hunting in the forest and was attacked by a pack of wolves . Her attendants all fled the terrible scene except for one young man, who saved the princess by killing some wolves and driving the rest away. In gratitude, the girl's father ennobled the young man, granting him

162-469: A coat of arms featuring three wolves' teeth as an emblem of his bravery. The first factual mention of an ancestor of this clan dates back to 1237, during the reign of the Přemyslid king Wenceslaus I of Bohemia . Over the next three centuries they were only minor nobles with estates in northwestern Bohemia, around the village of Vchynice ( German : Wchinitz ) near Litoměřice . Holding of Vchynice manor

243-751: A 2005 judgement by the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic , at least the expropriations enacted before the Communist coup d'état (1948) are valid. Prince Franz Ulrich died in 2009 in Buenos Aires after a brief illness and was survived by his widow, née Countess Lena Hutten-Czapska. He left as heir to his title, properties and pending claims against the Czech state, his son Karl ("Charlie") and three grandchildren. Like many of

324-456: A content-based series of categories on the line of the Aarne–Thompson folktale index, provoked a search for a broader new synthesis. In an early attempt at defining some basic questions operative in examining folk tales, Friedrich Ranke  [ de ] in 1925 characterised the folk legend as "a popular narrative with an objectively untrue imaginary content", a dismissive position that

405-421: A legend is simply a longstanding rumour . Gordon Allport credited the staying-power of some rumours to the persistent cultural state-of-mind that they embody and capsulise; thus " Urban legends " are a feature of rumour. When Willian Hugh Jansen suggested that legends that disappear quickly were "short-term legends" and the persistent ones be termed "long-term legends", the distinction between legend and rumour

486-509: A liberal democracy through the Velvet Revolution . However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened ( Hyphen War ) and on 31 December 1992, the country peacefully split into the independent countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia . Both countries went through economic reforms and privatizations , with the intention of creating a market economy , as they have been trying to do since 1990, when Czechs and Slovaks still shared

567-499: A modern genre of folklore that is rooted in local popular culture , usually comprising fictional stories that are often presented as true, with macabre or humorous elements. These legends can be used for entertainment purposes, as well as semi-serious explanations for seemingly-mysterious events, such as disappearances and strange objects. The term "urban legend," as generally used by folklorists, has appeared in print since at least 1968. Jan Harold Brunvand , professor of English at

648-470: A more narrative-based or mythological form over time, an example being the oral traditions of the African Great Lakes . Hippolyte Delehaye distinguished legend from myth : "The legend , on the other hand, has, of necessity, some historical or topographical connection. It refers imaginary events to some real personage, or it localizes romantic stories in some definite spot." From

729-554: A mostly temperate continental and oceanic climate . The capital and largest city is Prague ; other major cities and urban areas include Brno , Ostrava , Plzeň and Liberec . The Duchy of Bohemia was founded in the late 9th century under Great Moravia . It was formally recognized as an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1002 and became a kingdom in 1198. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, all of

810-480: A patron of the arts, along with Archduke Rudolf and Prince Joseph Lobkowitz , Ferdinand Kinsky contributed 1800 fl. to a yearly salary of 4000 florin for Ludwig van Beethoven . Ferdinand arranged his share to be paid on as a pension until Beethoven died in March 1827. In 1723, Emperor Charles VI ordered the Kinsky family to develop their stud farms and breed horses of such quality as to provide superior mounts for

891-492: A series of vitae or instructive biographical narratives, tied to the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church . They are presented as lives of the saints, but the profusion of miraculous happenings and above all their uncritical context are characteristics of hagiography . The Legenda was intended to inspire extemporized homilies and sermons appropriate to the saint of the day. Urban legends are

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972-576: A single-party government was formed. For the next 41 years , the Czechoslovak Communist state conformed to Eastern Bloc economic and political features. The Prague Spring political liberalization was stopped by the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia . Analysts believe that the invasion caused the communist movement to fracture, ultimately leading to the Revolutions of 1989. In November 1989, Czechoslovakia again became

1053-516: A successful military commander and mercenary, led his group of forces in the Battle of Kutná Hora , resulting in a victory for the Hussites. He is honoured to this day as a national hero . After 1526, Bohemia came increasingly under Habsburg control as the Habsburgs became first the elected and then in 1627 the hereditary rulers of Bohemia. Between 1583 and 1611 Prague was the official seat of

1134-471: Is a loanword from Old French that entered English usage c.  1340 . The Old French noun legende derives from the Medieval Latin legenda . In its early English-language usage, the word indicated a narrative of an event. The word legendary was originally a noun (introduced in the 1510s) meaning a collection or corpus of legends. This word changed to legendry , and legendary became

1215-607: Is a pluralist multi-party parliamentary representative democracy . The Parliament ( Parlament České republiky ) is bicameral, with the Chamber of Deputies ( Czech : Poslanecká sněmovna , 200 members) and the Senate ( Czech : Senát , 81 members). The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation , with a 5% election threshold . There are 14 voting districts, identical to

1296-584: Is also characterized by rain and storms. Autumn generally begins in September, which is still warm and dry. During October, temperatures usually fall below 15 °C (59 °F) or 10 °C (50 °F) and deciduous trees begin to shed their leaves. By the end of November, temperatures usually range around the freezing point. The coldest temperature ever measured was in Litvínovice near České Budějovice in 1929, at −42.2 °C (−44.0 °F) and

1377-467: Is modeled on the U.S. Senate , but each constituency is roughly the same size and the voting system used is a two-round runoff. The president is a formal head of state with limited and specific powers, who appoints the prime minister, as well the other members of the cabinet on a proposal by the prime minister. From 1993 until 2012, the President of the Czech Republic was selected by a joint session of

1458-583: The European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] The Czech Republic , also known as Czechia , and historically known as Bohemia , is a landlocked country in Central Europe . The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The Czech Republic has a hilly landscape that covers an area of 78,871 square kilometers (30,452 sq mi) with

1539-802: The European Union , NATO , the CIA , Google Maps , and the European Broadcasting Union . In 2022, the American AP Stylebook stated in its entry on the country that "both [Czechia and the Czech Republic] are acceptable. The shorter name Czechia is preferred by the Czech government. If using Czechia, clarify in the story that the country is more widely known in English as the Czech Republic." Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric human settlements in

1620-832: The Holy Roman Empire in 1806 led to degradation of the political status of Bohemia which lost its position of an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire as well as its own political representation in the Imperial Diet . Bohemian lands became part of the Austrian Empire . During the 18th and 19th century the Czech National Revival began its rise, with the purpose to revive Czech language , culture, and national identity. The Revolution of 1848 in Prague, striving for liberal reforms and autonomy of

1701-821: The Human Development Index . The Czech Republic is a member of the United Nations , NATO , the European Union , the OECD , the OSCE , the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group . The traditional English name "Bohemia" derives from Latin : Boiohaemum , which means "home of the Boii " (a Gallic tribe). The current English name ultimately comes from the Czech word Čech . The name comes from

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1782-669: The Hussite Wars (1419–1434) defeated five crusades organized against them by Sigismund . During the next two centuries, 90% of the population in Bohemia and Moravia were considered Hussites . The pacifist thinker Petr Chelčický inspired the movement of the Moravian Brethren (by the middle of the 15th century) that completely separated from the Roman Catholic Church. On 21 December 1421, Jan Žižka ,

1863-879: The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were gradually integrated into the Habsburg monarchy . Nearly a hundred years later, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt led to the Thirty Years' War . After the Battle of White Mountain , the Habsburgs consolidated their rule. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Crown lands became part of the Austrian Empire . In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized; further, in 1918, most of

1944-500: The OECD . The Czech Republic joined NATO on 12 March 1999 and the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 21 December 2007 the Czech Republic joined the Schengen Area . Until 2017, either the centre-left Czech Social Democratic Party or the centre-right Civic Democratic Party led the governments of the Czech Republic. In October 2017, the populist movement ANO 2011 , led by the country's second-richest man, Andrej Babiš , won

2025-826: The Oder River ( Czech : Odra ). Water from the Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea , Baltic Sea , and Black Sea . The Czech Republic also leases the Moldauhafen , a 30,000-square-meter (7.4-acre) lot in the middle of the Hamburg Docks, which was awarded to Czechoslovakia by Article 363 of the Treaty of Versailles , to allow the landlocked country a place where goods transported down river could be transferred to seagoing ships. The territory reverts to Germany in 2028. Phytogeographically ,

2106-576: The Thirty Years' War : Radslav's nephew, the royal official Vilém Kinský , took part in the Protestant revolt against Emperor Ferdinand II , which culminated in the 1618 Defenestration of Prague . Vilém was among the nobles who, without success, offered the Bohemian crown to the Wettin elector John George I of Saxony . After the loss of Czech independence in 1620 ( Battle of White Mountain ), when

2187-675: The University of Utah , introduced the term to the general public in a series of popular books published beginning in 1981. Brunvand used his collection of legends, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings (1981) to make two points: first, that legends and folklore do not occur exclusively in so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales. Czech Republic – in Europe  (green & dark gray) – in

2268-548: The Velvet Revolution and the fall of Communism, several possessions – for example, Karlova Koruna Chateau and Kost Castle – were returned to the family. From 2003, the senior member of the princely branch, Prince Ulrich's son Franz Ulrich , sued the Czech Republic for return of the properties confiscated in 1945 only because, he maintained, the confiscation implicitly labeled his family as historical traitors against Czechoslovakia and as willful collaborators during

2349-474: The elections with three times more votes than its closest rival, the Civic Democrats. In December 2017, Czech president Miloš Zeman appointed Andrej Babiš as the new prime minister. In the 2021 elections , ANO 2011 was narrowly defeated and Petr Fiala became the new prime minister. He formed a government coalition of the alliance SPOLU ( Civic Democratic Party , KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 ) and

2430-483: The fairy tale as "poetic, legend historic." Early scholars such as Karl Wehrhan  [ de ] Friedrich Ranke and Will Erich Peuckert followed Grimm's example in focussing solely on the literary narrative, an approach that was enriched particularly after the 1960s, by addressing questions of performance and the anthropological and psychological insights provided in considering legends' social context. Questions of categorising legends, in hopes of compiling

2511-630: The talking animal formula of Aesop identifies his brief stories as fables and not legends. The parable of the Prodigal Son would be a legend if it were told as having actually happened to a specific son of a historical father. If it included a donkey that gave sage advice to the Prodigal Son it would be a fable. Legend may be transmitted orally, passed on person-to-person, or, in the original sense, through written text. Jacobus de Voragine 's Legenda Aurea or "The Golden Legend" comprises

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2592-511: The 13th century. The Mongols in the invasion of Europe carried their raids into Moravia but were defensively defeated at Olomouc . After a series of dynastic wars, the House of Luxembourg gained the Bohemian throne. Efforts for a reform of the church in Bohemia started already in the late 14th century. Jan Hus ' followers seceded from some practices of the Roman Church and in

2673-713: The 8th century. It reached its zenith in the 9th (during the reign of Svatopluk I of Moravia ), holding off the influence of the Franks. Great Moravia was Christianized, with a role being played by the Byzantine mission of Cyril and Methodius . They codified the Old Church Slavonic language, the first literary and liturgical language of the Slavs , and the Glagolitic script . The Duchy of Bohemia emerged in

2754-554: The Bohemian Crown within the Austrian Empire, was suppressed. It seemed that some concessions would be made also to Bohemia, but in the end, the Emperor Franz Joseph I affected a compromise with Hungary only. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and the never realized coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Bohemia led to a disappointment of some Czech politicians. The Bohemian Crown lands became part of

2835-542: The Crown of Saint Wenceslaus . When the country regained its independence after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918, the new name of Czechoslovakia was coined to reflect the union of the Czech and Slovak nations within one country. After Czechoslovakia dissolved on the last day of 1992, Česko was adopted as the Czech short name for the new state and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

2916-478: The Czech Republic recommended Czechia for the English-language equivalent. This form was not widely adopted at the time, leading to the long name Czech Republic being used in English in nearly all circumstances. The Czech government directed use of Czechia as the official English short name in 2016. The short name has been listed by the United Nations and is used by other organizations such as

2997-756: The Czech Republic belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region , within the Boreal Kingdom . According to the World Wide Fund for Nature , the territory of the Czech Republic can be subdivided into four ecoregions : the Western European broadleaf forests , Central European mixed forests , Pannonian mixed forests , and Carpathian montane conifer forests . There are four national parks in

3078-627: The Czech Republic. The oldest is Krkonoše National Park ( Biosphere Reserve ), and the others are Šumava National Park (Biosphere Reserve), Podyjí National Park , and Bohemian Switzerland . The three historical lands of the Czech Republic (formerly some countries of the Bohemian Crown) correspond with the river basins of the Elbe and the Vltava basin for Bohemia, the Morava one for Moravia, and

3159-635: The Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and his court. The Defenestration of Prague and subsequent revolt against the Habsburgs in 1618 marked the start of the Thirty Years' War . In 1620, the rebellion in Bohemia was crushed at the Battle of White Mountain and the ties between Bohemia and the Habsburgs' hereditary lands in Austria were strengthened. The leaders of the Bohemian Revolt were executed in 1621 . The nobility and

3240-510: The Nazi occupation. The Kinsky family has denied such charges, arguing that Prince Franz Ulrich was just two years old at the time of his father's death and that he and his mother, Princess Kinsky ( née Baroness Mathilde von dem Bussche-Haddenhausen — whose family reputedly plotted against Hitler ), had left the occupied country and went into exile in Argentina shortly afterwards. According to

3321-494: The Oder river basin for Czech Silesia (in terms of the Czech territory). The Czech Republic has a temperate climate, situated in the transition zone between the oceanic and continental climate types, with warm summers and cold, cloudy and snowy winters. The temperature difference between summer and winter is due to the landlocked geographical position. Temperatures vary depending on the elevation. In general, at higher altitudes,

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3402-644: The President of Republic , as the late Prince Ulrich (1893–1938) was reproached for his declared German nationality and active collaboration with the Sudeten German Party . Estates of the other branches, Kostelec and Chlumec , which had been confiscated by the Nazis during the German occupation , were returned after 1945 but confiscated again, this time by the ruling Communist Party in 1948. After

3483-455: The Slavic tribe ( Czech : Češi, Čechové ) and, according to legend, their leader Čech , who brought them to Bohemia, to settle on Říp Mountain. The etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root * čel- , meaning "member of the people; kinsman", thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk (a person). The country has been traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia ( Čechy ) in

3564-411: The adjectival form. By 1613, English-speaking Protestants began to use the word when they wished to imply that an event (especially the story of any saint not acknowledged in John Foxe 's Actes and Monuments ) was fictitious. Thus, legend gained its modern connotations of "undocumented" and " spurious ", which distinguish it from the meaning of chronicle . In 1866, Jacob Grimm described

3645-442: The alliance of Pirates and Mayors . In January 2023, retired general Petr Pavel won the presidential election , becoming new Czech president to succeed Miloš Zeman. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the country took in half a million Ukrainian refugees , the largest number per capita in the world. The Czech Republic lies mostly between latitudes 48° and 51° N and longitudes 12° and 19° E . Bohemia , to

3726-400: The ambiguity of this historical period. Ottoman Turks and Tatars invaded Moravia in 1663. In 1679–1680 the Czech lands faced the Great Plague of Vienna and an uprising of serfs. There were peasant uprisings influenced by famine. Serfdom was abolished between 1781 and 1848. Several battles of the Napoleonic Wars took place on the current territory of the Czech Republic. The end of

3807-418: The area, dating back to the Paleolithic era. In the classical era , as a result of the 3rd century BC Celtic migrations, Bohemia became associated with the Boii . The Boii founded an oppidum near the site of modern Prague. Later in the 1st century, the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. Slavs from the Black Sea – Carpathian region settled in the area (their migration

3888-466: The aristocratic families of the Habsburg monarchy, the Kinskys were great landowners and patrons of the arts. They employed (between 1713 and 1716) the celebrated architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt to build their residence Palais Kinsky in Vienna , which remained in the family's ownership until 1987. In addition to this home, from the 18th century the family also owned the vast baroque Kinsky Palace in Old Town Square , Prague . Another family home

3969-400: The common state. This process was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Republic was recognized by the World Bank as a "developed country", and in 2009 the Human Development Index ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development". From 1991, the Czech Republic, originally as part of Czechoslovakia and since 1993 in its own right, has been a member of the Visegrád Group and from 1995,

4050-398: The country became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I . Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a parliamentary democracy during the entirety of the interwar period . After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands. Czechoslovakia

4131-404: The country's administrative regions. The Chamber of Deputies, the successor to the Czech National Council , has the powers and responsibilities of the now defunct federal parliament of the former Czechoslovakia. The members of the Senate are elected in single-seat constituencies by two-round runoff voting for a six-year term, with one-third elected every even year in the autumn. This arrangement

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4212-437: The country, first as a result of local acts of violence and then under the aegis of an "organized transfer" confirmed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain at the Potsdam Conference . In the 1946 elections , the Communist Party gained 38% of the votes and became the largest party in the Czechoslovak parliament, formed a coalition with other parties, and consolidated power. A coup d'état came in 1948 and

4293-480: The extermination, expulsion, Germanization or enslavement of most or all Czechs for the purpose of providing more living space for the German people. There was Czechoslovak resistance to Nazi occupation as well as reprisals against the Czechoslovaks for their anti-Nazi resistance. The German occupation ended on 9 May 1945, with the arrival of the Soviet and American armies and the Prague uprising . Most of Czechoslovakia's German-speakers were forcibly expelled from

4374-435: The hottest measured, was at 40.4 °C (104.7 °F) in Dobřichovice in 2012. Most rain falls during the summer. Sporadic rainfall is throughout the year (in Prague, the average number of days per month experiencing at least 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) of rain varies from 12 in September and October to 16 in November) but concentrated rainfall (days with more than 10 mm (0.39 in) per day) are more frequent in

4455-400: The late 9th century when it was unified by the Přemyslid dynasty . Bohemia was from 1002 until 1806 an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire . In 1212, Přemysl Ottokar I extracted the Golden Bull of Sicily from the emperor, confirming Ottokar and his descendants' royal status; the Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a Kingdom . German immigrants settled in the Bohemian periphery in

4536-406: The lead. This new country incorporated the Bohemian Crown . The First Czechoslovak Republic comprised only 27% of the population of the former Austria-Hungary, but nearly 80% of the industry, which enabled it to compete with Western industrial states. In 1929 compared to 1913, the gross domestic product increased by 52% and industrial production by 41%. In 1938 Czechoslovakia held 10th place in

4617-420: The lowlands of the South Moravian Region , the average temperature is as high as 10 °C (50 °F). The country's capital, Prague, has a similar average temperature, although this is influenced by urban factors. The coldest month is usually January, followed by February and December. During these months, there is snow in the mountains and sometimes in the cities and lowlands. During March, April, and May,

4698-465: The main characters and do not necessarily have supernatural origins, and sometimes in that they have some sort of historical basis whereas myths generally do not. The Brothers Grimm defined legend as " folktale historically grounded". A by-product of the "concern with human beings" is the long list of legendary creatures , leaving no "resolute doubt" that legends are "historically grounded." A modern folklorist 's professional definition of legend

4779-411: The majority of local Protestant aristocracy was banished and their possessions expropriated in favour of nobility faithful to the Catholic House of Habsburg, he retained his possessions and was even elevated to the rank of a Count ( Graf ) in 1628. Through his marriage with Alžběta (Elisabeth) Trčka of Lípa , he was a brother-in-law of the Imperial generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein , with whom he

4860-471: The middle class Protestants had to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. The following era of 1620 to the late 18th century became known as the "Dark Age". During the Thirty Years' War, the population of the Czech lands declined by a third through the expulsion of Czech Protestants as well as due to the war, disease and famine . The Habsburgs prohibited all Christian confessions other than Catholicism . The flowering of Baroque culture shows

4941-412: The moment a legend is retold as fiction, its authentic legendary qualities begin to fade and recede: in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , Washington Irving transformed a local Hudson River Valley legend into a literary anecdote with "Gothic" overtones , which actually tended to diminish its character as genuine legend. Stories that exceed the boundaries of " realism " are called " fables ". For example,

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5022-684: The months of May to August (average around two such days per month). Severe thunderstorms , producing damaging straight-line winds, hail , and occasional tornadoes occur, especially during the summer period. As of 2020, the Czech Republic ranks as the 21st most environmentally conscious country in the world in Environmental Performance Index . It had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.71/10, ranking it 160th globally out of 172 countries. The Czech Republic has four National Parks ( Šumava National Park , Krkonoše National Park , České Švýcarsko National Park , Podyjí National Park ) and 25 Protected Landscape Areas. The Czech Republic

5103-584: The officers of the elite cavalry regiments of the empire. In 1776, the quality of the Kinsky horses was further improved by bloodstock from England . In 1838, Count Oktavian Kinsky expanded still further the Kinsky studs, famous throughout Europe for their high equine quality, known as the Kinsky horse . Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values , and possess certain qualities that give

5184-450: The parliament for a five-year term, with no more than two consecutive terms ( Václav Havel and Václav Klaus were both elected twice). Since 2013, the president has been elected directly. Some commentators have argued that, with the introduction of direct election of the President, the Czech Republic has moved away from the parliamentary system and towards a semi-presidential one. The Government 's exercise of executive power derives from

5265-446: The region into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . The Protectorate was proclaimed part of the Third Reich, and the president and prime minister were subordinated to Nazi Germany's Reichsprotektor . One Nazi concentration camp was located within the Czech territory at Terezín , north of Prague. The vast majority of the Protectorate's Jews were murdered in Nazi-run concentration camps . The Nazi Generalplan Ost called for

5346-418: The so-called Cisleithania . The Czech Social Democratic and progressive politicians started the fight for universal suffrage. The first elections under universal male suffrage were held in 1907. In 1918, during the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of World War I, the independent republic of Czechoslovakia , which joined the winning Allied powers, was created, with Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk in

5427-401: The tale verisimilitude . Legend, for its active and passive participants, may include miracles . Legends may be transformed over time to keep them fresh and vital. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted. Legends are sometimes distinguished from myths in that they concern human beings as

5508-411: The temperature usually increases, especially during April, when the temperature and weather tends to vary during the day. Spring is also characterized by higher water levels in the rivers, due to melting snow with occasional flooding. The warmest month of the year is July, followed by August and June. On average, summer temperatures are about 20–30 °C (36–54 °F) higher than during winter. Summer

5589-407: The temperatures decrease and precipitation increases. The wettest area in the Czech Republic is found around Bílý Potok in Jizera Mountains and the driest region is the Louny District to the northwest of Prague . Another factor is the distribution of the mountains. At the highest peak of Sněžka (1,603 m or 5,259 ft), the average temperature is −0.4 °C (31 °F), whereas in

5670-409: The west, Moravia ( Morava ) in the east, and Czech Silesia ( Slezsko ; the smaller, south-eastern part of historical Silesia , most of which is located within modern Poland) in the northeast. Known as the lands of the Bohemian Crown since the 14th century, a number of other names for the country have been used, including Czech/Bohemian lands , Bohemian Crown , Czechia , and the lands of

5751-408: The west, consists of a basin drained by the Elbe ( Czech : Labe ) and the Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains, such as the Krkonoše range of the Sudetes . The highest point in the country, Sněžka at 1,603 m (5,259 ft), is located here. Moravia, the eastern part of the country, is also hilly. It is drained mainly by the Morava River , but it also contains the source of

5832-581: The world industrial production. Czechoslovakia was the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to remain a liberal democracy throughout the entire interwar period. Although the First Czechoslovak Republic was a unitary state , it provided certain rights to its minorities, the largest being Germans (23.6% in 1921), Hungarians (5.6%) and Ukrainians (3.5%). Western Czechoslovakia was occupied by Nazi Germany , which placed most of

5913-565: Was Choceň Chateau , a medieval Bohemian fortress rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style in the 19th century. All of these homes were filled with priceless treasures and artifacts. The family lost most of its property in 1945 by confiscation in Czechoslovakia, but after 1990, Karlova Koruna Chateau and Kost Castle were restituted to the family. The Kinskys also own Burg Heidenreichstein in Lower Austria, which they inherited. As

5994-462: Was assassinated at Cheb in 1634. A branch of the family was elevated to Princes of the Holy Roman Empire by Empress Maria Theresa in 1747. Many members of the family served in high diplomatic or military positions in the Habsburg monarchy and subsequently in the Austrian Empire . After World War II , estates of the princely ( Choceň ) branch of the family were confiscated under the Decree of

6075-512: Was confirmed by the Habsburg emperor Rudolf II in 1596 and in 1611 one of the family's members, Radslav Vchynský of Vchynice the Elder, ennobled as lord ( Czech : pán ), became a member of the Diet of Bohemia ( zemský sněm ). The rise of the family to prominence began in the turbulent era of religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants which finally led to the cataclysm for Bohemia in

6156-501: Was effectively obliterated, Tangherlini concluded. In a narrow Christian sense, legenda ("things to be read [on a certain day, in church]") were hagiographical accounts, often collected in a legendary. Because saints' lives are often included in many miracle stories, legend , in a wider sense, came to refer to any story that is set in a historical context, but that contains supernatural , divine or fantastic elements. History preserved orally through many generations often takes on

6237-406: Was peacefully dissolved , with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic is a unitary parliamentary republic and developed country with an advanced , high-income social market economy . It is a welfare state with a European social model , universal health care and free-tuition university education . It ranks 32nd in

6318-402: Was proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990: Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized narrative performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on a psychological level a symbolic representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs. Legend

6399-762: Was pushed by an invasion of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe into their area: Huns , Avars , Bulgars and Magyars ). In the sixth century, the Huns had moved westwards into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present-day Austria and Germany. During the 7th century, the Frankish merchant Samo , supporting the Slavs fighting against nearby settled Avars , became the ruler of the first documented Slavic state in Central Europe, Samo's Empire . The principality of Great Moravia , controlled by Moymir dynasty , arose in

6480-467: Was restored in 1945 and three years later became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948. Attempts to liberalize the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet -led invasion of the country during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country and restored democracy . On 31 December 1992, Czechoslovakia

6561-510: Was subsequently largely abandoned. Compared to the highly structured folktale, legend is comparatively amorphous, Helmut de Boor noted in 1928. The narrative content of legend is in realistic mode, rather than the wry irony of folktale; Wilhelm Heiske remarked on the similarity of motifs in legend and folktale and concluded that, in spite of its realistic mode , legend is not more historical than folktale. In Einleitung in der Geschichtswissenschaft (1928), Ernst Bernheim asserted that

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