Melantrich

The new party set up a publishing house called Knihtiskárna národně sociálního dělnictva ('Printing press of the national socialist workers') on July 9, 1897.

In 1907 Jaroslav Šalda, a talented worker from the printing press, together with Klofáč started a new daily, České slovo ('The Czech Word').

In 1919 the company, obtaining an official permit, started to publish several newspapers and journals (including the first tabloid in the Czech lands, Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj).

The spectrum of literature published by Melantrich was very wide and included works by many contemporary Czech writers, such as Božena Benešová, Jan Čep, Jaroslav Durych, Egon Hostovský, Josef Kopta, Vítězslav Nezval, Ivan Olbracht, and Vladislav Vančura.

The circulation of some its newspapers and journals reached hundreds of thousands, and in a few cases (Večerní slovo, weekly Svobodný zítřek) more than one million.

In 1950 the Czechoslovak Socialist Party (the ČSNS had changed its name) was granted the right to control the company again while the state remained its formal owner (this settlement led to litigation after 1989).

During the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Melantrich building's balcony served as a stage for speakers to the masses of protesters gathered in Wenceslaus Square.