Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ists. The 1962
Writers' Union
conference at Liblice finally broke the official silence on
Kafka,and,formanypeople,markedthebeginningofthePragueSpring.Intheimmediate
aftermath of the 1968 Soviet invasion, the Kafka bust was removed from Josefov, and his
books remained unpublished in Czechoslovakia until 1990.
Having been
persona non grata
in his homeland for most of the last century, and despite
the fact that most Czechs consider him a German writer, Kafka now suffers from overex-
posureinPragueduetohispopularitywithWesterntourists.You'llseehisimageplastered
across everything from T-shirts to mugs to key rings, but the
Kafka Museum
in Malá
StranaisaworthwhilestopforanyonewithamoreseriousinterestinoneofPrague'smore
intriguing figures.
Náměstí Jana Palacha
Kaprova and Široká emerge from Josefov at
náměstí Jana Palacha
, previously known as
náměstí Krasnoarmejců (Red Army Square) and embellished with a flowerbed in the shape
ofaredstar(nowreplaced bythecircular ventofanundergroundcarpark)inmemory ofthe
Soviet dead who were temporarily buried here in May 1945. It was probably this, as much as
thefactthatthebuildingontheeastsideofthesquareistheFacultyofPhilosophy,where
Jan
Palach
was a student, that prompted the new authorities to make the first of the street name
changes herein1989(there'sabustofPalach onthecornerofthebuilding). Bycoincidence,
the road that intersects the square from the north is called
17 listopadu
(17 November), ori-
ginally commemorating the day in 1939 when the Nazis closed down all Czech institutions
of higher education, but now also commemorating the date of the
1989 march
.
Rudolfinum
Alšovo nábřeží 79/12 • 227 059 111,
ceskafilharmonie.cz
• Metro Staroměstská
The north side of náměstí Jana Palacha is entirely dominated by the
Rudolfinum
, a neo-
Renaissance building designed by Josef Zítek and Josef Schulz and opened in 1885. It was
originallyconceivedtohouseanartgallery,museumandconcerthallfortheCzech-speaking
community.However,in1918itbecametheseatofthenewCzechoslovakparliament,which
it remained until 1938 when it was closed down by the Nazis. According to author Jiří Weil,
the Germans were keen to rid the building's balustrade of its statue of the Jewish composer
Mendelssohn. However, since none of the statues was actually named, they decided to re-
move the one with the largest nose; unfortunately forthe Nazis, this turned out to be Wagner,
Hitler's favourite composer. In 1946, the Rudolfinum returned to its original artistic purpose
and it's since been sandblasted back to its erstwhile woody-brown hue. Now one of the cap-
ital's main concert venues and exhibition spaces, it's home to the
Czech Philharmonic
and
