Smíchov
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Smíchov (German: Smichow) is a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is located on the left bank of the Vltava river.
Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet tanks in World War II, which was located in Štefánik square. The monument was removed shortly after the Velvet Revolution and a new glass-and-steel building designed by French architect Jean Nouvel became a symbol of the district. An angel (anděl in Czech) from Wim Wenders' movie Wings of Desire is etched into the glass on the façade. The building was demolished in the 1980s and a metro station was built in its vicinity; the local traffic hub was renamed to Anděl from Moskevská (after Moscow).
The Staropramen brewery is located in Smichov. The Ringhoffer factory, which was nationalized after World War II, produced trams for the entire Eastern bloc. It was moved to Zličín in the 1990s and is now operated by Siemens. The buildings were demolished and replaced by a hypermarket, two multiplex cinemas, two hotels and several other commercial structures.
[edit] Smíchov in the Arts
- 1995 – an escalator scene from Svěrák's Kolya was shot in Smíchov.
- 1999 – Vladimír Michálek's movie Angel Exit featured among others the half built Jean Nouvel building, the abandoned Jewish synagogue, the half-demolished Ringoffer factory, St Wenceslas Church and the Bertramka cemetery.
[edit] People
- Karl Egon Ebert, poet
- Moses Porges von Portheim, a Jewish mayor
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