Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
VÁCLAVSKÉ NÁMĚSTÍ: A HISTORY OF PROTEST
The history of protest on Prague's main square goes back to the
1848 Revolution
, whose
violent denouement began here on June 12 with a peaceful open-air Mass organized by
Prague students. On the crest of the nationalist disturbances, the square - which had been
known as Koňský trh (Horse Market) since its foundation by Charles IV - was given its
presentname.Naturallyenough,itwasoneoftherallyingpointsforthejubilantcrowdson
October28,1918
,whenCzechoslovakia'sindependencewasdeclared.Atthelowestpoint
of the Nazi occupation, on
July 3, 1942
, some two weeks after the capture of
Reinhard
Heydrich's assassins
, more than 200,000 Czechs gathered to swear allegiance to the Third
Reich. Just six years later, in
February 1948
, the square was filled to capacity once more,
this time with Communist demonstrators enthusiastically supporting the February coup.
Then, during the Warsaw Pact invasion of
August 1968
, it was the scene of some of the
most violent confrontations between the Soviet invaders and the Czechs, during which the
Národní muzeum came under fire - according to the Czechs, the Soviet officer in charge
mistook it for the Parliament building, though they were most probably aiming for the
nearby Radio Prague building, which was transmitting news of the Soviet invasion out to
the West. And it was at the top of the square, on
January16,1969
, that Jan Palach set fire
to himself in protest at the continuing occupation of the country by Russian troops.
Mostfamouslyitwashere,duringtheNovember1989
VelvetRevolution
,thatmorethan
250,000 people crammed into the square night after night, enduring subzero temperatures,
to call for the resignation of the Communist Party leaders and to demand free elections.
On
November 27, 1989
, the whole of Prague came to a standstill for the two-hour nation-
wide general strike called by Občanské fórum (Civic Forum), who led the revolution. It
wasthislastmassmobilizationthatproveddecisive-bynoonthenextdaytheCommunist
old guard had thrown in the towel.
Palác Koruna
Václavské náměstí 1 • Metro Můstek
The area around Můstek is dominated by the
Palác Koruna
, a hulking wedge of sculptured
concrete and gold, built for an insurance company in 1914 by Antonín Pfeiffer, one of many
to study under Jan Kotěra. The building is a rare mixture of heavy constructivism and gilded
Secession-styleornamentation,butthepiècederésistanceisthepalace'spearlycrown,which
lights up at night.
Kysela buildings
Metro Můstek
Opposite Palác Koruna is a recent neo-functionalist glass building, accompanied by two
much older functionalist shops from the late 1920s, designed by
Ludvík Kysela
and billed
