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The Good Soldier Švejk: Prague to the East

Hašek's The Good Soldier Švejk is set in Prague, in the pub U Kalicha on Na Bojišti, and in Tábor, Putim, České Budějovice and Bruck an der Leitha, on Švejk's way to the front.

Mapped by Mapped Chronicles editors5 locationsCountries: Czechia, AustriaCities: PragueGPX

#world-war-one#prague#svejk#czech-literature#hasek#bohemia

Timeline & locations

What do the location labels mean?
Exact
The pin marks the actual place where it happened or was filmed.
Approximate
The right area — a town, park or district — but not a precise spot.

  1. The novel opens in Prague, in the pub U Kalicha on Na Bojišti street, Švejk's local. Its foul-mouthed landlord, Palivec, is arrested by the secret policeman Bretschneider after commenting that flies have left their mark on the portrait of Franz Joseph. The pub is real: it has existed since 1907.

    Open inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMapVisitable

    Visitor guidance: Find the pub on Na Bojišti street in Prague.

    Sources

  2. Lieutenant Lukáš is posted to České Budějovice, and Švejk follows him. At Tábor he is led off to the station so a report can be written, and the train leaves without him. The station master orders him to walk to České Budějovice. It is the start of his long march on foot.

    Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMapVisitability not confirmed

    Location precision: The pin marks Tábor town centre; the novel's station scene has no exact spot on the map.

    Sources

  3. Walking to Budějovice, Švejk gets badly lost and reaches Putim, where the local gendarme, Flanderka, takes him for a Russian spy. Part of the story takes place in this village, and in 2014 it unveiled the first Švejk statue in the Czech Republic.

    Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMapVisitable

    Location precision: The pin marks the village of Putim; the novel names no particular building.

    Visitor guidance: The village has a Švejk statue, unveiled in 2014.

    Sources

  4. Lukáš's march battalion waits in the barracks here for the order to go to the front. Švejk, after his long anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia, is brought to his regiment as a suspected spy and deserter. The city is one of the main settings of the novel.

    Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMapVisitability not confirmed

    Location precision: The pin marks the city centre; the novel does not identify a single exact barracks site.

    Sources

  5. The regiment is soon transferred to Bruck an der Leitha, a town on the border between Austria and Hungary. Švejk is arrested again, this time for an affray involving a respectable Hungarian citizen and a street fight.

    Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMapVisitability not confirmed

    Location precision: The pin marks the town of Bruck an der Leitha; the novel's street fight has no exact location.

    Sources

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