DOI - Mendel University Press

DOI identifiers

DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-087-0-0120

DEVILS AND ANGELS IN CZECH TOPONYMS

Marek Havlíček1, Ivo Dostál2, Aleš Bajer3, Vilém Pechanec4
1 Department of Landscape Ecology, Landscape Research Institute, Lidická 25, 602 00 Brno, Czechia
2 Transport Research Centre (CDV), Líšeňská 33a, 636 00 Brno, Czechia
3 Department of Geology and Soil Science, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czechia
4 Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science, Palacký University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 50, 779 00 Olomouc, Czechia


The article aims to explore spatial distribution and relationships between toponyms in the Czech Republic between place names inspired by the themes of hell and devils on the one hand, and contrasting names derived from God, angels, and heaven on the other.
The key hypothesis verified was that local names derived from hell or the devil frequently indicate interesting geomorphological formations and dynamic relief and are generally more often used for natural objects and local names of land and forest areas, while names derived from God, angels, and heaven are mainly used for smaller man-made structures or buildings. The text is accompanied by examples of notable objects with interesting names closely related to tourism, recreation, or nature conservation.

Keywords: place name; geomorphological landforms; tourism; hell; heaven

pages: 120-125, Published: 2026, online: 2026



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