Švejk's journey is mapped on an Austria-Hungary map from 1914, showing the military districts of the
k.u.k. Heer. The entire plot of The Good Soldier Švejk is set within the territory of the former Dual Monarchy.
The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk (commonly known as The Good Soldier Švejk) by Jaroslav Hašek is rich in geographical
references, whether through the plot itself, in dialogues, or in the author's narrative voice. Hašek was unusually
well-travelled and had a photographic memory for geographical (and other) details. Geography mattered to him: eight
of the 27 chapter headings in the novel contain geographical names.
This website will, in due course, provide a complete overview of the novel's geographical references, from Prague in
the introduction to Klimontów in the unfinished Part Four. It includes continents, states (including defunct ones),
cities, market squares, city gates, regions, districts, towns, villages, mountains, mountain passes, oceans, lakes,
rivers, caves, channels, islands, streets, parks, and bridges.
The list is sorted according to the order in which the names appear in the novel. The chapter headings are taken from
Zenny Sadlon's recent translation (1999–2026); in most cases, these differ from Cecil Parrott's translation from 1973.
The Czech quotations are taken from the online version of The Good Soldier Švejk provided by Jaroslav Šerák and link to the relevant chapter. The
toolbar provides direct links to Wikipedia, Google Maps, Google Search, svejkmuseum.cz, and the novel online.
The names are colour-coded according to their role in the novel, as illustrated by the following examples:
Šternberk
is a town in Moravia, just north of Olomouc. It is best known for its castle.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] „Tak ty seš tedy Tatar,“ soustrastně řekl Švejk, „ty jsi se vydařil. Pak mně máš rozumět a já tobě, když seš Tatar. Hm - znáš Jaroslava ze Šternberka? To jméno neznáš, ty kluku tatarská?
Sv. Hostýn ve svém původu a svých osudech.František B. Videnský,1913
Hostýn
is mentioned in connection with the battle against the Mongols led by Jaroslav ze Šternberka, something Švejk finds timely to tell a Crimean Tatar who is part of his prisoners' transport.
Background
Hostýn
is a mountain in Moravia, near the border with Slovakia, best known as a pilgrimage site. The summit is at 732 metres above sea level [a]. In the context of The Good Soldier Švejk, the mountain is of interest because of the legends surrounding two enemy incursions into Mähren in the 13th century. See Jaroslav ze Šternberka for more about this theme.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] „Tak ty seš tedy Tatar,“ soustrastně řekl Švejk, „ty jsi se vydařil. Pak mně máš rozumět a já tobě, když seš Tatar. Hm - znáš Jaroslava ze Šternberka? To jméno neznáš, ty kluku tatarská? Ten vám natřel prdel pod Hostýnem. To ste vod nás jeli, vy klucí tatarský, z Moravy svinským krokem. Vás ve vašich čítankách neučejí, jako nás to učívali. Znáš hostýnskoupanenku Marii? To se ví, že neznáš - ta byla taky při tom, však voni vás, kluky tatarský, tady v zajetí pokřtějí.“
Eine Bilderreihe aus den Kampfgebieten der 25. Reserve-Division 1914-1916
Dobromil
is a place Švejk passed through during the transport of Russian prisoners of war between Felsztyn and Przemyśl.
Background
Dobromil
is the Polish name of the town Добромиль (Dobromyl) in Galicia, now in the Lviv province in Ukraine, only a few kilometres from the border with present-day Poland. It is located on the railway line between Chyrów and Przemyśl. The town was, until 1918, part of Austria.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Tak měl Švejk neštěstí, že se nemohl dohovořiti s nikým, a s ostatními vlekli ho na Dobromil, odkud se měla spravovati dráha přes Přemyšl na Nižankovice. V Dobromilu, na etapě v kanceláři, jednoho po druhém zapisovali, což šlo velice ztěžka, poněvadž ze všech 300 zajatců, které do Dobromilu přihnali, nikdo nerozuměl ruštině šikovatele, který tam seděl za stolem a který se přihlásil kdysi, že umí rusky, a jako tlumočník vystupoval nyní ve východní Haliči.
Niżankowice
is mentioned because the prisoners are to repair the railway line between Przemyśl and Niżankowice.
Background
Niżankowice
is the Polish name of the village Нижанковичі (Nyzhankovychi) in the Lviv oblast in Ukraine, very close to the Polish border and to Przemyśl.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Tak měl Švejk neštěstí, že se nemohl dohovořiti s nikým, a s ostatními vlekli ho na Dobromil, odkud se měla spravovati dráha přes Přemyšl na Nižankovice.
Praga
is mentioned by the corporal who interrogates Švejk after he has been captured in Felsztyn. He confuses Prague (in German Prag) and Praga.
Background
Praga
is a district of Warsaw. As the city was part of Russian Poland in 1914, the inhabitants were naturally required to serve in the Russian armed forces. Praga is also the Polish name for Prague.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] „To nemusíš zapírat,“ pokračoval s určitostí šikovatel tlumočník, „každý z vás zajatců, který uměl německy, byl žid, a basta. Jak se jmenuješ? Švejch? Tak vidíš, co zapíráš, když máš takové židovské jméno? U nás se nemusíš bát přiznat se k tomu. U nás v Rakousku se nedělají pogromy na židy. Odkuď jsi? Aha, Prága, á to znám, to znám, to je u Varšavy. Taky jsem tu měl před týdnem dva židy z Prágy od Varšavy, a tvůj pluk, jaké má číslo? 91?“
Yerevan
is mentioned by the corporal who interrogates Švejk after he has been captured in Felsztyn. The 91st Russian regiment is supposed to have come from here.
Background
Yerevan
is now the capital of Armenia; in 1914 it still belonged to Russia. From 1921 to 1991, the city was part of the Soviet Union. The current population is just over one million.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Šikovatel vzal schematismus, listoval se v něm: „Jednadevadesátý pluk je eryvanský, Kavkaz, kádr má v Tiflisu, to koukáš, co, jak my tady všechno známe?“
Caucasus
is mentioned by the corporal who interrogates Švejk after he has been captured near Felsztyn.
Background
Caucasus
is a geographical region on the border between Europe and Asia, which also comprises the mountain range of the same name. Europe's highest mountain, Elbrus, is found here. The countries of the region are Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Šikovatel vzal schematismus, listoval se v něm: „Jednadevadesátý pluk je eryvanský, Kavkaz, kádr má v Tiflisu, to koukáš, co, jak my tady všechno známe?“
Tbilisi
is mentioned by the corporal who interrogates Švejk after he has been captured in Felsztyn.
Background
Tbilisi
is now the capital of Georgia; in 1914 it belonged to the Russian Empire. From 1921 to 1991, the city was part of the Soviet Union. The current population is just over one million.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Šikovatel vzal schematismus, listoval se v něm: „Jednadevadesátý pluk je eryvanský, Kavkaz, kádr má v Tiflisu, to koukáš, co, jak my tady všechno známe?“
Židohoušť
was where the priest priest Vobejda came from.
Background
Židohoušť
has so far not been identified with certainty. It may be a misspelling of Živohoušť; at least, translator Cecil Parrott made this assumption. This former village was flooded in 1954 when the Slapy dam was built across the Vltava.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] To u nás máme přeci lepší jména, jako ten farář v Židohoušti, kterej se jmenoval Vobejda.“
Lubaczów
is mentioned because the prisoners are to repair the railway line between Przemyśl and Lubaczów.
Background
Lubaczów
is a town north of Przemyśl, near the Ukrainian border.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Časně ráno změnilo vojenské stavební velitelství disposice a usneslo se, že ona skupina zajatců, ve které byl Švejk, bude dopravena přímo do Přemyšlu k obnovení trati Přemyšl-Lubaczów.
Przemyśl is mentioned 25 times in The Good Soldier Švejk.
Przemyśl
is pivotal to the action in Part Four after Švejk was taken prisoner by his fellow soldiers after having put on a Russian uniform. More than two chapters are dedicated to the city – only Prague and Bruck (with Királyhida) are given more space in the novel.
As part of the prisoner transport Švejk is escorted to one of the destroyed forts in the inner ring of fortifications, and is accommodated in some abandoned stables. Here Major Wolf soon discovers that Švejk is Czech and wants to hang him immediately, but is wish is resisted by a colleague. The two officers argue intensely as the escort the prisoner to the main guard. Then they continue to the garrison where the good soldier is locked up in a former rice store and where he stays overnight surrounded by mice and vermin.
In the morning a provocateur is placed in the cell. He gives false testimony against Švejk and claims that they met in Kiev. The next day the good soldier is brought before a tribunal headed by the bloodthirsty garrison commander General Fink – a group that consists of several officers, among them the Czech-speaking Major Derwota. The latter has a certain leaning towards legal procedures and justice, and convinces the others to send a telegram to the brigade to enquire about Švejk. After the interrogation, the accused is moved to the garrison prison and is given spiritual consolation by Feldkurat Martinec, and in the end the dead drunk Derwota ends up in the cell with the prisoner. In the morning, the telegram from the brigade arrives and indeed confirms who Švejk is, and asks for him to be handed over. Thus Fink has to let go of the expected summary execution. Švejk is placed on the train and escorted to brigade staff in Wojalycze.
The author also deals with the immorality, corruption and brutality at the garrison. "Nurses" were employed with the sole purpose of satisfying the officers – on top of that, embezzlement, drunkenness and debauchery. Even the previously so pious Feldkurat Martinec gets embroiled in these undertakings.
Background
Przemyśl
is a city in the south-east corner of present-day Poland. In the times of the Dual Monarchy it was an important fortress and garrison city, and also the seat of KORPS-KO10. Then as now it was connected by railways to Kraków and Lwów, the two largest cities in Galicia.
The fortress
The city was during the reign of Austria-Hungary the centre of an extensive system of fortifications. The outer ring of forts measured 45 km. There was also an inner ring of fortifications around the city itself. Przemyśl was in 1914 one of the 10 largest fortresses in Europe and became world famous during the sieges of autumn 1914 and spring 1915. The second siege of Przemyśl was the longest lasting operation of its kind of the whole war.
On 17 September 1914 the Russians reached the outer fortifications and by the 26th the city was encircled. This first siege was broken as the Russian army failed in the attempt to take the city by a frontal attack and lifted the siege on 11 October. In early November a new offensive started and on the 8th the fortress was again encircled. This time the attackers used a different tactic; they waited for the defenders to run out of supplies. The fortress was finally forced to surrender on 22 March 1915, and the nearly 120,000 defenders were taken prisoner of war. These were mostly Hungarians, commanded by General Kusmanek.
During the Central Powers' offensive in May, Przemyśl came under siege again and in the early hours of 3 June 1915 their forces entered the city. Logically, Švejk's appearance must therefore have occurred soon after (he was in Budapest on 23 May). One of the writers who witnessed (and wrote about) the recapture was Ludwig Ganghofer. Around this time GeneralmajorGustav Stowasser was named commander of the garrison, but the fortress had now lost its military importance and the garrison was reduced to a few battalions.
Manewry Szwejkowskie
Sanocka brama, 3.7.2015
Przemyśl hosts the largest regular Švejk-related event in the world. Fans of the good soldier congregate from all over Poland and often also from Czechia and Ukraine. In July 2015 the 18th manoeuvres took place, and as usual it was a two day event attended by around 100 people. On 4 July a new museum was officially opened at Sanocka brama. On the city's main square there has since 2006 been a statue of Švejk, sitting on a munition crate. A small street off the square is named in honour of the soldier.
Ludwig Ganghofer. Przemysl, 5. Juni 1915
Immer neue Soldatenzüge klirren in die Stadt herein, Reiter mit wehenden Fähnchen an den Lanzen, österreichische Dragoner und ungarische Husaren, rasselnde Geschütze und knatternde Kolonnenreihen. Von der Menge der Truppen und Wagen stauen sich alle Straßen voll. Und wo in der schwülen Mittagssonne nur ein bisschen Schatten ist, da legen sich die Müdgewordenen auf das Pflaster hin und warten geduldig, bis an sie die Reihe kommt mit Quartier und Kosť.
The Good Soldier Švejk in Captivity
In Dobrý voják Švejk v zajetí the city is briefly mentioned at the start of chapter 5. The author notes that the Russian army had occupied Lvov and encircled Przemyśl. In Serbia the Austrian army was in trouble, in Prague people were happy and in Moravia they were preparing cakes to welcome the cossacks. This had happened when Švejk was in prison at the start of the war.[1]
Mezitím co byl Švejk zavřen, ruská vojska zabrala Lvov, oblehla Přemyšl, dole v Srbsku stálo to také velmi špatně s rakouskou armádou, lidé v Praze byli veselí a na Moravě dělali již přípravy k pečení koláčů, až přijdou kozáci.
Quote(s) from the novel
[I.14.4] Švejk posadil se na lavici ve vratech a vykládal, že v bitevní frontě karpatské se útoky vojska ztroskotaly, na druhé straně však že velitel Přemyšlu, generál Kusmanek, přijel do Kyjeva a že za námi zůstalo v Srbsku jedenáct opěrných bodů a že Srbové dlouho nevydrží utíkat za našimi vojáky.
[II.3] „Někdy,“ řekl Švejk, „se zas v gefechtu člověku udělá špatně, člověk si něco zvoškliví. Vypravoval v Praze na Pohořelci na ,Vyhlídce’ jeden nemocnej rekonvalescent od Přemyšlu, že tam někde pod festungem přišlo k útoku na bajonety a proti němu se vobjevil jeden Rus, chlap jako hora, a mazal si to na něho s bajonetem a měl pořádnou kapičku u nosu. Jak se mu von podíval na tu kapičku, na ten vozdr, že se mu hned udělalo špatně a musel jít na hilfsplac, kde ho uznali zamořenýho cholerou a odpravili do cholerovejch baráků do Pešti, kde se taky vopravdu nakazil cholerou.“
[II.3] Když jsme byli na frontě u Přemyšlu, tak tam byl s námi hejtman Jetzbacher, svině, které nebylo rovno pod sluncem.
[IV.1] Potom je přejímal major Wolf, vládnoucí tou dobou nad všemi zajatci pracujícími na opravách v pevnosti Přemyšlu a okolí. To byl důkladný člověk. Měl u sebe celý štáb tlumočníků, kteří vybírali ze zajatců specialisty ku stavbám podle jejich schopností a předběžného vzdělání.
Milatyn
is mentioned because Professor Masaryk was unaware of the dangers that awaited him between Sokal, Milatyn and Bubnów.
Background
Milatyn
is the Polish name for the village Милятин (Myliatyn) in the former Russian province of Volhynia, Ukraine.
Infanterieregiment Nr. 91, with Jaroslav Hašek in their ranks, marched through the village on 28 August 1915[a] during k.u.k. Wehrmacht's advance into Volhynia that autumn. Milatyn is situated by the river Strypa, right on the former border between Austria-Hungary and Russia.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Neznalo ještě nic určitého o revolučních organisacích v cizině a teprve v srpnu na linii Sokal - Milijatin - Bubnovo obdrželi velitelé batalionů důvěrné reserváty, že bývalý rakouský profesor Masaryk utekl za hranice, kde vede proti Rakousku propagandu.
Bubnów
is the Polish name for the village Бубнів (Bubniv) in the Volodomyr-Volynski province in Ukraine. As there are several places with this name in the country, there is some uncertainty, but the place mentioned is the best guess due to its location just north of Sokal.
This was an area that Jaroslav Hašek knew well, as he was stationed near Żdżary for nearly four weeks in August 1915. His statement that the front was here at the time is also correct.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Neznalo ještě nic určitého o revolučních organisacích v cizině a teprve v srpnu na linii Sokal - Milijatin - Bubnovo obdrželi velitelé batalionů důvěrné reserváty, že bývalý rakouský profesor Masaryk utekl za hranice, kde vede proti Rakousku propagandu.
Berounka
is mentioned in the anecdote Švejk during interrogation in Przemyśl, where his message is that it is possible to end up in other people's clothes.
Background
Berounka
is a river which empties into the Vltava near Zbraslav, 10 km south of Prague city centre. The river has its sources as far west as Bavaria and flows eastwards. Its length is in excess of 100 km.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] „Vím, vod 91. regimentu mne už jistě hledají, ale jestli dovolíte, pane majore, malou poznámku vo tom, jak se lidi dobrovolně převlíkají do cizích šatů. Roku 1908 někdy v červenci koupal se knihař Božetěch z Příčný ulice v Praze na Zbraslavi ve starým rameni Berounky.
Dobříš
is mentioned in the anecdote Švejk during interrogation in Przemyśl, where his message is that it is possible to end up in other people's clothes.
Background
Dobříš
is a town in okresPříbram in central Bohemia, with 8,597 inhabitants at the 2009 count. The town was previously known for its glove factory and also has a chateau.
Conferences
In 1983 Dobříš hosted a large conference on Jaroslav Hašek in connection with the 100th anniversary of the author's birth. The participants were, with few exceptions, from Warsaw Pact countries.
That same year Bamberg in Bavaria hosted a competing conference with participants from the rest of the world, including a large number of exiled Czechs.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Nemusejí se bát vlézt do nich. Vodvšivený jsou před tejdnem u okresu v Dobříši. Podruhý si dají lepší pozor na toho, s kým se koupají. Ve vodě vypadá každej nahej člověk jako poslanec, a je to třeba vrah.
Chuchle
is mentioned because the gendarmerie patrol from here arrested bookbinder Božetěch, dressed in a tramp's clothes.
Background
Chuchle
is a place south of Prague, now within the city boundaries, between Braník and Zbraslav. It is mostly used as a common term for the districts Velká Chuchle and Malá Chuchle.
Quote(s) from the novel
[IV.1] Vyhýbal se okresní silnici a šel přes luka po pěšinkách a setkal se s četnickou patrolou z Chuchle, která vandráka zatkla a odvedla druhého dne ráno na Zbraslav k okresnímu soudu, neboť to by moh říct každý, že je Josef Božetěch, knihař z Příčný ulice v Praze, čís. 16.“
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