Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Armádní muzeum (Army Museum)
U Památníku 2 • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
vhu.cz
• Walk or take bus #133, #175 or #207 from Florenc
metro station to U Památníku
On the right as you climb Žižkov Hill stands the
Armádní muzeum
, guarded by a handful
of tanks, howitzers and armoured vehicles. Czech military victories may be few and far
between, but the country has a long history of manufacturing top-class weaponry for world
powers (Semtex is probably their most infamous export). The museum covers the period
from 1914 to 1945, with a balanced account of both world wars, including the fate of the
Czechoslovak Legion, the
Heydrich assassination
and the 1945 Prague Uprising.
Národní památník (National Monument)
U Památníku 1900 • April-Oct Wed-Sun; Nov-March Thurs-Sun 10am-6pm • 110Kč •
nm.cz
• Walk or
take bus #133, #175 or #207 from Florenc metro station to U Památníku
The chief reason for ascending Žižkov Hill is to visit the giant concrete
Národní památník
,
which houses a fascinating museum on the history of Czechoslovakia from its foundation in
1918toitsdisintegrationin1992.Despiteitsoverblowntotalitarianaesthetics,insideandout,
the monument was actually begun in the late 1920s as a memorial to the Czechoslovak Le-
gionwhofoughtagainsttheHabsburgs-thegargantuanequestrianstatueofthemace-wield-
ing Žižka, which fronts the monument, is reputedly the largest in the world. The building
eventually became a Communist mausoleum: presidents Gottwald, Zápotocký and Svoboda
were all buried here, along with the obligatory Unknown Soldier and various other Party
hacks. Gottwald himself was originally pickled and embalmed (à la Lenin), but a fire dam-
aged his corpse so badly that the leader had to be cremated in 1962. In 1990, the remaining
bodies were cremated and quietly reinterred in the Olšany cemeteries.
From the south side of the monument, you enter the central hall, which has engaging dis-
playsonthegreatpoliticalturningpointsin
Czechtwentieth-centuryhistory
:the1938Mu-
nich Agreement, the 1948 Communist coup, the 1968 Prague Spring and the 1989 Velvet
Revolution.AlongthesidesarecabinetsfilledwithhistoricalartefactsfromtheSudetenland,
theSokol,ScoutandCommunistPioneermovements,aswellasthehikingsubcultureknown
as
tramping
. The Kolumbárium where the Communist leaders were once interred now com-
memoratesfamous(non-Communist)Czechsofthelastcentury.There'splentyofsocialreal-
istdecorforfansofCommunistkitsch-thebeststuffisinthemarbleapsidalSíňosvobození
(Liberation Hall), where the
Tomb of the Unknown Soviet Soldier
resides, surrounded by
mosaic depictions of heroic World War II combatants. In the basement, you can inspect the
state-of-the-art1950stechnologythatfailedtopreserveGottwald'sremainsandtheremnants
of his sarcophagus.
