Meanwhile in Czechia... 8/26
27.02.2026
New Dresden-Prague line reaches the Bundestag
The preliminary planning for the new railroad line from Dresden to Prague has reached the Bundestag. As a result, the Federal Ministry of Transport has submitted the documents to the Bundestag for parliamentary consideration of the new line from Dresden to the border with the Czech Republic. The core of the project is the 30 km long Erzgebirge tunnel, which was approved by the Czech government last summer. Since then, the German side has been waiting for a decision. The Bundestag is responsible for this. Saxony's Infrastructure Minister Regina Kraushaar described the bill to the dpa news agency as a "very important signal to the people in Saxony's Elbe Valley and to our Czech neighbors". Further steps must now follow as quickly as possible. "I ask the members of the German Bundestag to quickly make the necessary referrals and then secure reliable funding in the federal budget," the Minister called on the Bundestag. According to the Minister, there is an important reason for swift action: "If the budget funds for the next planning steps are made available now, the time window for EU funding and joint implementation with the Czech Republic will remain open." The new line is intended to reduce the travel time between Dresden and Prague from the current 2.5 hours to one hour. If the Bundestag approves the continuation of the project and secures the funding, the already prepared state treaty with the Czech Republic can be signed.
According to current calculations, the Czech Republic is investing almost 1.9 billion euros in its section of the high-speed line. The first section is scheduled to go into operation in 2039. The entire line should be completed by 2045. There will only be a maximum of two stops between Dresden and Prague: one in Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) and a second near Roudnice nad Labem (Raudnitz). Kraushaar emphasized the supra-regional character of the new line. It would close an important gap in the connection between the capital cities of Berlin, Prague and Vienna.
Successful Czech Olympic record
The Czech Olympic delegation returned home from the Winter Games in Cortina and Milan with five medals. In addition to two gold medals, they also won two silver and one bronze medal. With 16th place in the medal rankings, they were able to leave a winter sports nation such as Finland, Slovenia and Poland behind. In terms of value, it was the third best result in the history of the Czech Republic. In terms of the total number of medals, it was the Czech Republic's fourth-best result to date.
However, the medals were ultimately distributed somewhat differently than expected. In the parallel snowboard slalom, defending champion Ester Ledecká was eliminated in the quarter-finals. And yet there was gold for the Czech Republic. Because Zuzana Maděrová stepped into the breach for the three-time Olympic champion (both on skis and snowboard). She won gold in the final in front of President Petr Pavel.
The second gold also went to the Czech Republic, somewhat surprisingly, at least outside the country. Speed skater Metoděj Jílek, just 19 years old, was crowned Olympic champion in the 10,000 meter long track. He himself had the goal of winning the Olympics confidently in mind and produced an impressive triumphant run on the ice over the long distance. He also won a silver medal in the 5,000 meters, narrowly missing out on gold. He thus took over the baton from the legendary Martina Sáblíková, who once surprised the world at a young age in a similar way to Jílek now. In Sáblíková's early years, there was not even a competition track for speed skaters in the Czech Republic.
The 32-year-old Eva Adamczyková also won silver in snowboard cross. This was her third Olympic medal and completes her medal set of gold, silver and bronze. She had to miss the 2022 Olympics in Beijing due to a double leg fracture just above the ankle. In 2023, she crowned a phenomenal return with the world title. She gave birth to her son Kryštof 14 months ago and, after a mixed season, is now back to showing her absolute world class at the Olympics.
However, the fifth Czech medal was the biggest surprise. On the penultimate day of the competition, 25-year-old Tereza Voborníková won it in the women's biathlon mass start. It was her first individual medal at the Olympics and the Czech Republic's first Olympic medal in the biathlon since Michal Krčmář's silver medal in the sprint in 2018. Like teammates Krčmář and Eva Adamczyková, Voborníková also comes from Vrchlabí (Hohenelbe) in the Giant Mountains.
This is what the stations for the Jeschken cable car look like
The designs for the new stations of the cable car to the popular Ještěd peak were presented in Liberec. The Liberec-based architecture firm SIAL was awarded the contract by the city. SIAL has a long tradition. Its co-founder Karel Hubáček once designed the iconic television tower on Jeschken, which is both a restaurant and a hotel.
The designs for the stations are based on the design for the new cable car by designer Anna Marešová, which was presented earlier. The new cable car route consists of a valley station, a mountain station and an intermediate station, which is located on the road to the Ještědka chalet.
The mountain station directly below the mountain hotel will be smaller than the original one. At the same time, it will improve access for emergency vehicles. The access road runs directly below the mountain station. The biggest innovation is the valley station, which is to be built several hundred meters further down the valley. Its new location is right next to the final streetcar stop. The parking lot there will also have a superstructure and thus a second floor. This means that in future there will be 782 parking spaces for cars instead of 529.
However, it will be a long time before the new streetcar runs to the summit again. It is estimated that it will not be operational until 2030 at the earliest.
This week, the mountain hotel including the radio tower and restaurant was also sold. It now belongs to the Liberec district. Previously, the broadcasting and telecommunications company České Radiokomunikace was the owner. The sale, which amounts to 7.6 million euros including original furniture from the 1970s, has secured the building for use by the public, according to the Liberec district.
Gerta Schnirch film scores on HBO
It will be one of the film events not only in the Czech Republic this year. The film adaptation of Kateřina Tučková's bestseller "The Expulsion of Gerta Schnirch". The two-part film with the simple title "Gerta Schnirch" is a co-production of Czech Television Česká televize and Arte. It will only be shown on both broadcasters in the fall and will also be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair at the beginning of October. However, the 90-minute mini-series can already be seen on HBO plus. And the demand in the first few weeks makes the producers optimistic.
The two-part film by director Tomáš Mašín is based on the screenplay by Alice Nellis, Ondřej Gabriel and Tomáš Mašín, which is inspired by Tučková's successful novel. The film is about the young woman Gerta Schnirch, who grows up in a German-Czech family before and during the German occupation (1939-1945). After 1945, she and hundreds of other Germans from Brno are driven on the painful march to Austria, which ends in Pohořelice.
Although the novel is set in Brno, the film was also shot near the border with Saxony. The film crew spent several days in Děčín (Tetschen).
Czech Republic has a new environment minister
Five months after the election and two months after the new Czech government took office, it is now complete. On Monday, President Petr Pavel appointed Motorist Party candidate Igor Červený as the new Minister of the Environment. Until now, the post had been held temporarily by Foreign Minister and Motorist leader Petr Macinka. Červený announced that he would lead the ministry in a triumvirate with the Government Commissioner for the Green Deal and Climate Policy, Filip Turek, and the Chief Director of the Technical Environmental Protection Section, Jaromír Wasserbauer.
Olympia Teplice shopping center to be expanded
Construction work is in full swing on the highway from Ústí nad Labem to Teplice just before the spa town. Since September 2024, the large Olympia shopping center at the gates of the city has been extended by a low-rise building directly on the highway. The old center has also been modernized. The focus was on energy-efficient refurbishment. The new building is due to open in spring. While the operator is expecting a reduction in operating costs, customers are looking forward to new stores. The 8,000 square meters of additional retail space will accommodate 13 stores. Stores from Penny, Jysk, Rossmann, the electronics retailer Planeo, Action (decoration, furnishings) and Kytky od Pepy (flowers) have already been confirmed. A Burger King is also moving into the new building.
However, the new building is not only met with anticipation. Critics complain that the center on the outskirts of the city will draw further purchasing power away from the city center. There are already two other shopping centers there (Fontána and Galerie). This will make it increasingly difficult for small stores in the spa town.