The Administration of Prague Cemeteries announced a competition for the memorial arrangement of Ďáblický Cemetery

Prague - The Prague City Hall, through the Prague Cemeteries Administration (SPH), announced an architectural competition for the memorial design of the Ďáblice cemetery in Prague. This was reported to ČTK by the spokesperson for the City Hall, Vít Hofman. According to representatives of the capital, the current appearance is unsatisfactory both visually and due to historical inaccuracies. Ďáblice cemetery is a national cultural monument and is also the second largest burial site in the metropolis after the Olšany cemeteries.

"The landscape design of the entire area in question, which spans nearly one hectare, should sensitively connect the Honorary Cemetery of executed and tortured political prisoners and members of the second and third resistance movements with the entrance area of the cemetery complex at the northern cubist gate from Ďáblická street," stated Martin Červený, director of SPH. Participants in the competition should also propose the use of two cubist pavilions, the appearance of the ceremonial hall's facilities, and the operational infrastructure of the cemetery, he added.

Architects and landscape designers interested in participating in the competition can submit their proposals until March 30, as stated in the competition documents. Evaluators will then select eight to ten teams, which will be able to develop and submit competition proposals by August 23. These will be judged by a jury that will include architects Jan Šépka, Pavel Buryška, and Ján Stempel, among others. Representatives of the Association of Former Political Prisoners, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the National Heritage Institute, and other institutions have also been invited for consultations. The winning team will subsequently prepare project documentation, which will guide the modifications to Ďáblice cemetery.

Historical inaccuracies, where names on symbolic gravestones are incorrectly listed, arose during repairs in the 1990s. Gravestones with names of the deceased that do not correspond to their burial locations in the cemetery should thus be removed.

The Ďáblice cemetery was created between 1912 and 1914 according to the design of architect Vlastislav Hofman. The cemetery in Ďáblice is the only cubist cemetery in the Czech Republic. Since 1958, the burial site has been protected by heritage law, and it was declared a national cultural monument in 2017. At the site of the Honorary Cemetery, 72 mass graves were excavated between 1943 and 1961. These graves primarily contained individuals whose burial costs were covered by the city, as well as those executed between 1946 and 1947 and some victims of the totalitarian regime.