Source: Czech Television, published with consent
Back to the past –
The series Ninadesátka, the first part of which was presented by Czech Television on Sunday in prime time, provoked a great response from viewers. In addition to the large audience due to the cases that the whole nation watched on television at the time, people are also attracted by the charm of places that preceded their reputation in the 1990s, both positive and negative. In the eXtra.cz series, we will gradually introduce you to the individual places where not only the story of the series takes place, but also the history was written here – whether the official one or the history of the Czech underworld. Today we start not far from Prague’s Palmovka, in Primátorská street, where Discoland Sylvie is located.
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Controversial owner
Name Ivan Jonák († 59) is a synonym for the Czech 1990s. A controversial businessman who loved luxury, the owner of the legendary Discoland company Sylvie, but also a man who served 18 years for ordering the murder of his wife. Ivan Jonák loved the company of women, which was one of the reasons why he broke up with his wife and enjoyed the arms of all kinds of beauties and mostly those he employed at Discoland Sylvie in Liben, Prague. Former money changers, as well as deputies and ministers and stars of show business, met there. Take a look at the period video that the late Jonák himself boasted about on YouTube.
Incredible stories
Politicians, money changers, dealers, light women and other elements of the Prague underworld. You could meet everything at this disco. Ivan Jonák enjoyed really extravagant pieces, so it was not a problem to meet a live bear, a giant boa or a snake, which Jonák kept in a bathtub, at Discoland. The former controversial businessman also devoted his memories of the wildest 1990s in his book, which was only published a few years after his sudden death. To illustrate you from his book Sex, disco and revolution we borrow one story that speaks for itself.
“When a guest adorned a girl with her semen, she usually danced on, as if she hadn’t even noticed the thick semen running down her. On the contrary, she often laid the guest down and urinated the clothes and ran to wash. he was never angry with them. The girls made up various diversions. Maybe they inserted a flashing plastic ring with a diode into their vagina before the performance. Ivan Jonák’s book is full of similar, more or less believable stories. Although their credibility is very difficult to verify these days, many of Jonák’s stories remain an amusing testimony to the way it went in the Czech Republic in the 1990s.
After his release from prison, Jonák tried to restore Sylvie’s fame, but he had no money and the building was also burdened by a 20 million execution. Everything remained with only a few brigades, where the most loyal to Jonák arrived. After his death, however, all efforts to recover ceased.
What does Discoland look like today?
Today’s state of once the hottest disco in Prague will not please retro fans. The house is slowly falling into disrepair, bought by a local construction company, which probably uses it mainly as accommodation for workers who are often seen around the building. Unfortunately, no one in the company responded to the editorial office’s request to inspect at least what was left of Discoland. The old golden times are only reminiscent of the iconic name on the neon sign and awnings with company logos. However, in the series Ninety, the company’s filmmakers were able to partially restore its fame, at least from the outside.
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