Directly referencing radio appeals that were made urging Czechs to take up arms,
the memorial pays tribute to one of the seminal moments in the city’s contemporary history. With Allied forces closing in on Prague towards the end of WWII, Czech partisans sensed the opportunity to pre-empt their liberators and topple the city’s Nazi regime.
On May 5th, 1945, insurgent units stormed a radio station, prompting Czech broadcasters to urge listeners to take to the streets and rise in rebellion. Over 30,000 answered this appeal, and for the next four days, Prague bore witness to heavy fighting.
Numerous war crimes were committed during the Uprising, and it is estimated that up to 2,000 civilians were killed – some while being used as human shields, others after they were rounded up and massacred.
Long overdue, the new monument recalls the courage of those who answered the call to arms and paid the ultimate price.
Uniting people
Slated to premiere in 2026, the winning design was selected following an open-call architectural competition organized by Czechdesign. Authored by Bronislav Stratil of the RSAA architectural studio, the work was created in collaboration with, among others, sculptor Jakub Berdych Karpelis and landscape architect Lucie Miovská.
Set inside a neighborhood park in the Bubeneč district in the north-west of the capital,
the concept was praised by the jury panel for its elegance, landscaping solutions, design, and unconventionality.
Featuring a dark hole representing the evil of war, the monument
will be topped by a rising grass slope and will provide the principal anchoring point of the revamped park. Other features will include abstract reliefs referring to the Uprising as well as an interactive trumpet-style installation.
“People will be able to stop and talk, and their voice will carry through the monument and be transferred and heard in other parts of the park,” explained Marcela Straková, the project’s PR spokesperson.
“Our intention was to create a 21st century monument that, rather than being an inaccessible pedestal, will connect to people using public space,” said architect Bronislav Stratil.
“This is an up-to-date message for present and future generations.”
This stands in sharp contrast to the park’s previous defining element, a solemn statue of General Konev. Erected in 1980,
the monument’s removal in 2020 sparked friction between Prague and Moscow . Although Konev was the first Allied commander to enter Prague in 1945, he subsequently led the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968.
Repeatedly vandalized,
the statue was regarded as an unwelcome reminder of the nation’s Communist past.
