Prague approved a grant of 9.2 million CZK for the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century

Prague – Prague will contribute 9.2 million Czech crowns to its Museum of the 20th Century Memory for operational costs this year. The grant was approved by city councilors this morning at an early hour. The museum was established last year and aims to commemorate significant events of the past century associated with the rule of two totalitarian regimes. The director of the institution, Jiří Šesták, recently resigned. The session of the Prague city council began on Thursday at 8:30 AM and continued until this morning.

Due to the form of the grant, the museum will have to report its expenses to the municipality by the end of March next year. So far, according to the approved document, the museum's activities have been financed mainly from a founding capital of ten million crowns, which the capital city deposited into the institution's account. According to the approved document, the museum now has nine permanent and eight external staff members.

Councilor Hana Marvanová (for STAN) pointed out today that the museum has the form of a so-called registered institute, for which there is no direct way for the municipality to send money. Therefore, it had to be provided as a grant from funds allocated for this purpose in this year's budget. According to the councilor, a methodology is currently being prepared for how to finance these institutions, of which the city already has several.

The establishment of the museum was approved by Prague councilors last September. It formally came into existence on November 17, 2019, marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, and this year it began organizing events and exhibitions. As a temporary headquarters for the museum, the city leadership chose the House of Pages in Hradčany. In this year's budget, an amount of 15 million crowns was designated for financing the museum, from which the grant approved today originates.

The museum's board dismissed its current director Šesták at the beginning of December, who had previously announced his resignation. Deník N reported that he cited a lack of trust from some board members and questioning of his competence as reasons. According to Marvanová, who also chairs the museum's board, dissatisfaction was mutual. She stated that the director neglected the issue of financing and did not attend board meetings. Šesták was temporarily replaced as head of the institution by his deputy Jan Kalous, while a permanent director will be selected through a competition.

Šesták's departure is not the first personnel change to occur in the museum's governing bodies. In February of this year, Mikuláš Kroupa, the director of the non-profit organization Post Bellum, resigned from the board. He did so because the board refused to utilize the memories of witnesses stored in the Post Bellum - Memory of the Nation database.