“The Heart of Europe” is arguably a rather trite cliché, but it’s one that the Czech Republic often proudly proclaims when advertising its central position within the variegated continent. For example, “Welcome to the heart of Europe! Welcome to Prague!” declares one four-star Prague hotel in its advertising materials. Simply put, it makes for good copy – after all, who wouldn’t want to be the “heart” through which, presumably, all else in Europe must or should flow?
The Czech Republic is not the only former Eastern bloc country to be trumpeting its central status. When one considers that until the events of 1989, these nations were separated from the rest of the continent by a barbed wire, is such imagery a forceful attempt to firmly integrate themselves back into the rest of Europe (and away from Russia)?
©YouTube ‘Poland – Heart of Europe’ (refresh your brower if video isn’t visible)
The 2007 ad for the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency above not only proudly mentions “the heart of Europe” but it even visualizes the metaphor with a large heart sign graphic placed right over the country (see picture).
Not to be outdone, the British domain Heartofeurope.co.uk takes you to a Slovakian tourism information service, while this glossy, Hollywood-style ad from the Slovakian Tourism board (see video below), once again underscores the intended point:
©YouTube ‘Slovakia — Heart of Europe’ (refresh your brower if video isn’t visible)
Curiously, Heartofeurope.sk takes readers to a French Slovakian information service, while perhaps the ultimate prize, Heartofeurope.com, may prove something of a disappointment for the former Eastern bloc countries: it’s an American site offering tours through Germany, Austria, Italy… well, you get the picture.
The heart, of course, suggests a central position – in Central Europe, and maybe even in the center of Central Europe. Ever wondered where this heart, from a geographical point-of-view, actually lies? Wikipedia has a rather detailed entry on the question of the geographical midpoint of Europe. And it’s not as clear cut as one might think.
It all depends, of course, on how one perceives the borders of Europe (the eastern borders are the Ural mountains deep inside Russia). Contenders include locations in Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary and the Czech mountain of Dyleň; though, surprisingly, the actual midpoint may actually be near Vilnius, Lithuania!
Central or Eastern Europe?
How many people in the western part of Europe would contend that the middle of Europe could be somewhere as deeply in the “East” as Lithuania? This brings us to the other, surprisingly sensitive issue: Is the Czech Republic in Eastern Europe or in Central Europe?
There’s little question where most Czechs stand on this issue. To illustrate this: A Google search of CzechTourism.com (the official website of the Czech tourist board) for the phrase “Eastern Europe” yields 422 results. A search for “Central Europe” yields more than ten times that figure – 5,270 results. “Heart of Europe” is mentioned 1,070 times.
“The ‘Eastern label’ can evoke negative connotations,” concedes Marek Mráz, director of strategies and marketing communications at CzechTourism.“‘Central Europe’ perfectly encapsulates our destination vision, which says that we find ourselves in the center of European culture and are very easily reached from most European countries,” he told Czech Position.
But what exactly are these negative ‘Eastern’ connotations? The answer isn’t difficult to encapsulate: The “backwards” East versus the developed west; the prosperous Western Europe versus the nowhere-near-as-prosperous Eastern Europe. The Russian-dominated Eastern bloc versus the democratic West. All of these perceptions, naturally, stem from the communist experience that saw Europe divided for more than four decades after the end of WWII.
“I see Czechoslovakia as a bridge,” says Zdeněk Svěrák’s character in arguably the last truly great Czech film “Obecná Škola” (Elementary School, 1991) set in the ideological turbulence of post-War Czechoslovakia. “A bridge between the East and the West. Russia can learn democracy from us — because that’s something they’ve never had — while the West can use our example to persuade itself that freedom and socialism can exist, figuratively speaking, under one roof.”
Of course, such notions proved to be naive to say the least. The Czech “bridge” concept was soon rendered void by the Soviet vision of satellite states “protecting” Russia from Western “aggression.” Since 1989, the country has experienced both a pro-European vision (under President Václav Havel) and a decidedly skeptical one (under President Václav Klaus).
But in 2010, the “bridge” concept was revived as Prague hosted the signing of a significant nuclear arms reduction treaty by US president Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev. The venue was neither too Western (say London), nor too Eastern (say Minsk) to make either “superpower” feel like they were symbolically excessively deep in the other’s court.
‘[The term] “Eastern Europe” is mainly used for the Czech Republic by foreigners who do not know much about the region anyway, and Czechs are getting more tolerant of or used to such ignorance.’
“I definitely consider the Czech Republic to be in Central Europe, but I consider Central Europe to be at times a subsection of Eastern Europe,” notes US-born Czech-based publisher and commentator Erik Best. “Yes, Czechs want to dissociate from countries further to the East, but I think that they are becoming slightly less sensitive to this, because the term ‘Eastern Europe’ is mainly used for the Czech Republic by foreigners who do not know much about the region anyway, and Czechs are getting more tolerant of or used to such ignorance.”
To countless tourists — many of whom view the country as unmistakably Eastern European — the word “ignorance” may seem a little harsh, viewing such matters of terminology as merely a case of apples and oranges. But to others, the issue is a little more serious…
“As far as Czechs are concerned, I would say that yes, we are a little sensitive about being categorized as being in ‘Eastern Europe,’” notes Blanka Říchová , who has spent years studying matters of Central Europe as the head of the political sciences department at Charles University. Stereotypes of Eastern bloc countries standing in line for bread, forced to glorify their cult-like leaders still linger — much to Czechs’ dismay.
But, again, which is actually correct — Eastern or Central?
Many in the West may prefer a simple division that bunches the Slavic-speaking peoples into the “Eastern” category. But as Erik Best points out, “Czechs are not Orthodox and do not use a Cyrillic alphabet, and this makes them feel more Western than some of their other Slavic relatives.”
While a Cyrillic-based division would exclude the Czech Republic, perhaps the most common divider that has cemented itself in the Western European consciousness is the one based on the Iron Curtain, which divided Europe during the Cold War.
Meanwhile, the UN Statistics Division continues to class the Czech Republic as being in Eastern Europe (pictured in RED — the same color as the European part of Russia and very much mirroring the old Cold War order!)
“Geographic concepts must be balanced against cultural ones — and in this sense, the Czech lands have always been singularly associated with the West, marked by Catholicism and Protestantism in contrast to the [Orthodox] East,” explains Blanka Říchová. “This also is evident in notions of the relationship of the state to its citizens, the separation of church and state, etc. In all of theses characteristics, the Czech Republic was always associated with Western Europe.”
Looking at pre-WWII maps of Europe highlights how the Czech Republic really always was in the “heart” of “Central Europe”. From its existence within the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Prague was a major cultural city), to the “Mitteleuropa” concept of German dominance expressed by Freidrich Neumann. Wikipedia lists dozens of historical conceptions and definitions of “Central Europe” (including “Floristic” ones!) – and all of them include what is today the Czech Republic.
It’s the history part of the ‘Central European’ conception that perhaps best underscores why many Czechs view the ‘Eastern’ label as an insult.
It’s the history part of the “Central European” conception that perhaps best underscores why many Czechs view the “Eastern” label as an insult. “Eastern” was forced upon them by the Soviets; “Western” and “Central” was what they had always chosen to be.
Meanwhile, at CzechTourism, the entire “Heart of Europe” and “Central Europe” push is one that the organization has apparently decided to move away from. “We are currently heading a vast re-branding process — more towards ‘honeymoon destination’, ‘romantic city break’, etc. — and are very curious to see if creative agencies will succeed in shifting our brand into something more attractive than these two catch phrases,” says Marek Mráz. “However, the positive and emotional connotations of ‘Heart of Europe’ will be hard to beat.”
Dominik Jůn is a Prague-based freelance writer
