The concept of the Palach Museum will be decided by the minister at the end of the year

Birthplace of Jan Palach in Všetaty, current state

Všetaty (Mělnicko) - The concept of the Palach Museum in his birthplace in Všetaty in the Mělnicko region will be decided by Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL) at the end of the year. The house is being acquired by the National Museum for 1.7 million crowns, which is the price according to an expert assessment. Michal Lukeš, the general director of the National Museum, told ČTK today.
The property will thus belong to the state, and the National Museum will establish the exhibition in Palach's house. The purchase agreement has already been signed, but because one of the owners is not fully capable of legal acts, the sale must be approved by a guardianship court, which could take approximately two to three months. The museum could open in 2016, but it will also depend on the progress of the tender for reconstruction and furnishing.
Last December, during the approval of the budget for the coming year, lawmakers added six million crowns to the Ministry of Culture for the purchase of the house and the establishment of the exhibition. Its form will be proposed by a commission composed of experts as well as representatives of the National Museum and the municipality of Všetaty. "Before Christmas, we should introduce the minister to the proposal, whether to preserve the house in its original form or create a more generous exhibition that would deal with the years 1968 and 1969 and the meaning of Palach's act," said Lukeš. According to him, a significant target group for the museum will be young people.
According to the director of the National Museum, the commission will lean more towards a more ambitious concept, that is, a more comprehensive exhibition and architectural intervention, for which an architectural competition could be announced. At the same time, however, according to Lukeš, it is important that the concept fits into the community and is well received by the local residents. The decision will be up to Herman, and he could give his opinion to the commission by the end of this year.
Jan Palach was born on August 11, 1948. In protest against the occupation of the country by the armies of the Warsaw Pact in August 1968 and the developments in society, on January 16, 1969, he poured flammable liquid over himself and set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square. With his act, he wanted to awaken the nation from apathy and despair and spur it to resist the emerging normalization.