SLOVAKIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Slovakia: the country that made one-half of Czechoslovakia, and the one that many people get confused with Slovenia (which is the next country on my list). Home to castles and folk stories, I always think of Slovakia as one of those lesser traveled European secrets, offering the same spectacular mountain views as Switzerland, exceptional food and drink as Germany, and historic architecture as Italy or England -- but for a fraction of the cost. 

The name Slovakia is stemmed from the Czech word Slováky and was first mentioned during the 15th century. It went by a few different names, but it all generally referred to it being the land of the Slovaks, even though for much of its early existence, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. But it was quite diverse at that time, and perhaps they were just giving some homage to the people there.

Slovakia is located in Central Europe. It’s surrounded by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, and Austria and Czechia (formerly Czech Republic) to the west. The Carpathian Mountains run across the northern part of the country and are most noted for the high Tatra mountain range as well as the Fatra mountain range. The Tatras are one of the most visited areas in Slovakia and form the border between it and Poland. Because of this mountainous region, Slovakia is also dotted with tons of caves, rivers, and lakes. Plenty of places to dump a body. (Just kidding, of course.) It also has four distinct seasons, and the temperature extremes really depend on your relation to the mountains.

The earliest evidence for people living in this area dates back to 270,000 BC. During the Bronze Age, the people figured out how to utilize copper as a way to create tools and weapons and jewelry, making them very prosperous at that time. Several different groups came to chill for a while: the Celts, then the Romans, the Huns, the Avars, and finally Slavic tribes. A few of these Slavic tribes got together and formed the Great Moravian Empire. During this time, Christianity became the thing, and the Byzantine Empire sent Saints Cyril and Methodius to help translate religious text into the Slavic language for them, thus coming up with Old Church Slavonic. Of course, like a bunch of siblings, the fighting didn’t stop. This time it was the Magyar and Bulgarian tribes. And by the 10^th century, they were included as part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and they would stay “Hungarian” until the end of WWI. During this period, the Ottoman Empire expanded into the area, and Bratislava became the capital of Hungary for a while. The Reformation took place, and many Slovaks became Lutherans. Things changed in 1918, and they were now part of the newly created Czechoslovakia that formed after break-up of Austria-Hungary. Nazi Germany annexed off part of Slovakia, which became the Slovak Republic, the first Slovak state in history. Germany used it as a place to hold death camps and forced labor camps for nearly 75,000 Jews. The Soviets and Romanians liberated it in 1945, and many changes took place in the years after WWII. In 1948, Czechoslovakia came under the influence of communism, which lasted until 1993 when the Velvet Revolution dissolved it. Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004.

 

 Located on the west side of the country on both the River Danube (yes, like “The Blue Danube” by Johann Stauss II) and River Morava, it’s the only national capital to border near two other countries: Austria and Hungary in this case. While it was known by many different names throughout its history, its name as we know it is stemmed from the misreading of Braslav as Bratislav when Pavel Jozef Safáik, poet and literary historian, was taking a look at medieval sources. Today, the city is a mixture of old and new: modern architecture with ancient towers in between. There are several castles still standing (and some not so much) and other popular tourist spots. It’s also the center for everything from government offices and commerce to transportation to education, the arts, and sports.

With a focus on car manufacturing and electrical engineering, Slovakia has a high-income economy. Its economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and was ranked as one of the richest countries in the world in 2017 (39^th out of 187 countries ranked). Unemployment is now at the lowest it’s ever been. For those who love architecture and outdoor sports like skiing and hiking, tourism is dependent on you; the country sees over 5 million visitors every year, mostly from nearby countries. Slovakia also has a prolific scientific community, cultivating scientists who have been in on the ground floor of many scientific endeavors. 

The majority of Slovakians are Christian. About three-quarters of the population follow the Catholic Church (by far, the largest denomination), Slovak Greek Catholic Church, a variety of Protestant denominations, Orthodox Church, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Almost a quarter of the people doesn’t follow any particular religion, are not religious at all, or follows other religions (mainly Islam, even though it remains to be the only EU member that doesn’t have a single mosque in its country).

The official language of Slovakia is Slovak, part of the Slavic language family. In the southern regions, Hungarian is also widely spoken, and Rusyn in parts of the northeast. Understandably, the most common foreign language is Czech. One of the things I didn’t know was that even though Czech and Slovak are closely related (and in some dialects, intelligible), Czech Sign Language and Slovak Sign Language are not. 

 

In looking around the Internet, I came across something that said that members of the Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange wrongly sent mail from people who got the two countries mixed up. I was shocked. However, upon further research, I found that’s not entirely true. They do meet monthly, but not to exchange mail. At least, not really (I bet they kept all the good coupons, though). Google, people. If a story sounds sensational or crazy, Google it. Gooooooooogle it.

Up next: art and literature

CZECH REPUBLIC: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

After I graduated from college a little over a decade ago, I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my bachelor’s degree in general music (non-teaching) and a minor in linguistics and English and Teaching English as a Second Language (although the last two were undeclared). I found this program – I forget the name now – where I could travel to one of three European cities to take a 4-6 week course that taught how to teach ESL and then they’d place you in a school somewhere to teach English. Since I was fresh out of college, I wasn’t able to come up with the money required for housing, tuition, and airfare to get to Europe. But when I was thinking about it, I wanted to do the program in Prague, Czech Republic. I was so serious about it, in fact, that I bought myself a book on learning Czech (I still have it on my shelf). I really do love the Slavic languages – I may start learning Czech next, right after I master Portuguese and Spanish. And as a music major, one of my all-time favorite composers is Antonin Dvorak, a Czech.

The Czech Republic lies in central Europe, surrounded by Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria.  The country itself is landlocked, but several major river systems and their tributaries meander their way through the country: the Elbe, Vltava, Ohre, Danube, Morava, Thaya, and Oder. These rivers either drain into the North Sea, Black Sea, or Baltic Sea. Rolling hills, forests, and farmland cover most of the countryside.  The climate is generally temperate with hot, rainy summers and cold, snowy winters – not unlike most of the Midwest United States.

The area now known as the Czech Republic once was the independent states of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia.  I’ve often used the term “bohemian,” meaning someone (especially artists, musicians, writers, etc) who live unconventionally.  (Actually, the term was originally French, in reference to the Romani people who they thought were from Bohemia. Some may have been, but many of the Romani or Roma people were from Romania and Bulgaria and other areas. The English term “gypsy” was from a belief that these tribes originated in Egypt, from a Middle English word “gypcian.”) The famous Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslaus I, is the subject of the Christmas carol “Good King Winceslaus.”  He was murdered by his brother in 935 AD after an argument and subsequently overtook the title.  The Black Death which took its toll on Europe during the mid-1300s, completely devastated Bohemia; some estimates say 10% of the population perished in this horrific outbreak. 

During the 1500s, it fell under the Hapsburg Empire, and later the Austrian Empire, and then Austria-Hungary. After WWI, these states together became Czechoslovakia (which is how I learned it growing up).  During WWII, Germany invaded Bohemia and Moravia and turned it into a protectorate.  The Nazis were brutal to the Czechs, killing many and shipping other out to kill them in other countries.  So it was natural that there was an anti-Nazi resistance towards their occupation.  Even after WWII ended, Czechoslovakia remained a Communist state until 1989.  The term “Velvet Revolution” is often used when describing the non-violent transition from a single-party state to a democracy.  Four years later, Czechoslovakia itself will be no more, but as the separate countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, also separating peacefully. Since then, the Czech Republic has enjoyed a growing economy and high quality of life.

Sitting on the Vltava River, the capital city is Prague (called Praha in Czech), a city of around 2 million people if you count the larger metro area.  Prague is known for its architecture – from Gothic to modern – and especially for its cathedrals (one of its nicknames was “City of a Hundred Spires.”) Prague is not only the center of government, but also a center for the arts: from music and theatre to art and literature.  

Prague Castle

The Czech Republic is highly developed and has a high-income economy.  In comparison with other post-Communist states, the Czech Republic is one of the more stable ones today.  Its infrastructure is vastly improved with airports, railways, and extensively paved roadway systems. They also enjoy having one of the fastest Internet speeds and have the largest number of Wi-Fi subscribers in the EU (one more reason I should retire to live in Prague). The Czech Republic has long been a hot bed for scientific research.  Some of the more famous Czech scientists include such celebrities as Gregor Mendel (“father of modern genetics,” the only part of high school Biology that truly interested me), Jakub Krystov Rad (inventor of sugar cubes), Jan Jansky (discovered the classification of blood types), Josef & Karel Capek (invented the word “robot” – not exactly scientific for coining a word, but I’m including it), and Otto Wichterle & Draholav Lim (inventors of the modern contact lens – I thank them everyday).  Tourism is pretty important as well – the country in general has a fairly low crime rate. Castles (they have over 2000 of them!), cathedrals, museums, theatres, puppet festivals, and beer festivals are all pretty popular destinations. 

The official and most widely spoken language is Czech, a West-Slavic language. Before the 20^th century, it was known as Bohemian in English. It’s closely related to and mutually intelligible with other Slavic languages. Actually, there’s a variety of Czech spoken in Texas which I had no idea existed, but apparently there were a lot of Czechs who immigrated there during the late 1800s.  However, there are a lot of other languages that are officially listed a minority languages: Slovak, German, Polish, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Greek, Hungarian, Romani, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.  The vast majority of Czechs describes themselves as indifferent to religion, or just simply believes in a spiritual or life force outside of any kind of organized religion.  Of the remaining religious folk, the more people adhere to Catholicism while a smaller percentage is Protestant.

This country is surprising, and I’m in awe of what I didn’t know. For instance, 90% of Czechs graduate from high school, compared with only about 75% of Americans (and even the highest ranking state, Vermont, only graduated 85%) And I’m embarrassed to say that’s a 40-year peak for us.  Unfortunately, Czechs also have the second-highest death rate for cancer in the EU – but on the plus side, the Czech Republic has the most hospital beds per inhabitant in the EU.  Czechs also have a serious passion for mushroom hunting. I know a few who do this, but I never have gone mushroom hunting myself. I would have no idea what I’m looking for. I do know that I’m looking forward to making kolaches. There’s a place on the north side of Indianapolis called Kolache Factory, but I never went inside because I didn’t know what a kolache was. Now, I’m waiting to go after I make my own. I’m very excited about writing on the Czech Republic, the world’s largest consumers of beer.  I end this post as I grab me another cold one from the fridge.

Up next: holidays and celebrations