Palach's memorial will not open in August; a new date is set for September

Všetaty (Mělnicko) – The Palach Memorial in Všetaty in the Mělnicko region will not open this August as originally planned. The new opening date is set for the second half of September, said spokesperson for the National Museum, Šárka Bukvajová, in response to a query from ČTK. According to her, the reason for the delay is complications that the contractor could not influence, but she did not provide further details. It has been 50 years since Palach's death on January 19 of this year.

The exact completion date, according to Bukvajová, will be announced by the National Museum, the administrator of the memorial. Back in January, the National Museum anticipated that the memorial, which is being created in the house where Palach spent his childhood, would open on August 21.

Construction work began last August, and finishing touches are still ongoing, with the exhibition installation not yet complete. The house where Palach spent his childhood had been uninhabited for a long time; the National Museum purchased it in 2014 and launched an architectural and artistic competition for the overall design of the memorial about a year later. The design by the architects from MCA atelier won.

Following the evaluation of the architectural competition, the project was developed, and necessary paperwork for the building permit was processed, which the National Museum obtained at the beginning of last year. The start of work was delayed by a lack of interest from companies in the contract valued at 16 million crowns; a contractor was only found on the fourth attempt, which is why work began in August.

"The original house is preserved in its most basic building substance in the winning design, while the authors additionally inserted an edge symbolizing the communist regime," the National Museum stated earlier. The exhibition will also feature authentic items that will remind visitors of Palach.

Student Jan Palach self-immolated in protest against the resignation of people after the occupation of the country by Warsaw Pact troops. He wanted to awaken his fellow citizens from lethargy with his act. In Prague, Palach's deed is commemorated by a memorial plaque in the pavement of Wenceslas Square, a commemorative tile at the Charles University’s Karolinum, another plaque on the wall of the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University on Palach Square, and another reminder is also his grave in Olšany.