POKAŽENÉ NAROZENINY - PETŘINOVA AFÉRA 1912. K SOUŽITÍ ČECHŮ A NĚMCŮ V ČESKÝCH ZEMÍCH V PŘEDVEČER I. SVĚTOVÉ VÁLKY
SPOILED BIRTHDAY – PETŘINA AFFAIR IN 1912. TO THE COEXISTENCE OF CZECHS AND GERMANS IN THE BOHEMIAN LANDS AT THE EVE OF WORLD WAR I

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with various facets of national cohabitation of Czechs and Ger-mans in the Bohemian Lands, especially in Prague at the eve of the World War I. Given the example of an actual affair of the time which took place on the common ground of the Czech and German university in Prague (i. e. during the use of the common university hall), the author demonstrates the ambiguity of the prevailing view of “conflicting” coexistence of both nations. The example of Theodor Petřina, Professor of Medicine, and of the Medical Chamber of Kingdom of Bohemia demonstrates that in some professions and professional organisations, there was an environment of cooperation or at least non-conflicting coexistence. The chosen ex-ample also shows that even at the beginning of the 20th century, there were people in extremely nationalistic environment (e. g. at the universities) who not only preferred cooperation and friendly coexistence of both ethnics, but were also ready to stand up openly against those who were attacking these efforts under the pressure of media and various national activists, or, on the other hand, found no courage to stand up against those activist pressures. The so-called Petřina Affair is interesting also by behaviour of state authorities in such situations when even seemingly petty things could have vast consequences as it is evident in this case that took place in the back-ground of long-lasting Czech-German compromise attempts during the last years before the outbreak of WW I.

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