The birth house of Jan Palach has been transformed into his memorial

Prague – The birthplace of student Jan Palach, who self-immolated in 1969 in protest against the resignation of people to the development of society after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops, was rebuilt into a memorial commemorating his act and his life after 2015. The National Museum, to which the house belongs, opened the memorial in Všetaty in the Mělník region on October 9, 2019.

The memorial includes Palach's birthplace and a new building with a multimedia exhibition. The aim of the memorial is not only to commemorate Palach's fate, but also to motivate visitors to reflect on key events in our history, said Michal Lukeš, the director of the National Museum, during the opening ceremony.

In 2015, the National Museum announced a competition for the transformation of the original village house with a small garden, which was won by Miroslav Cikán and Pavla Melková from the MCA atelier. The author of the historical exhibition is historian Petr Blažek.

The birthplace has been redesigned, and it features a so-called edge of evil that symbolically stops at a table, which is a tribute to Palach's family. The edge consists of a large metal prism. The windows of the building are darkened, and one can only peek outside through small spyholes that symbolize the separation of the family from society. There is also a remnant of stairs that led to Jan Palach's room.

In the newly constructed part of the memorial are authentic objects that Jan Palach had with him on January 16 in Wenceslas Square in Prague at the moment he set himself on fire. The exhibition also includes the death mask of Jan Palach created by sculptor Olbram Zoubek and a statue called Jan made by him. There are also multimedia screens with historical facts and context. A documentary by director Olga Sommerová is being screened here. Every visitor also walks under the flag that covered Jan Palach's body after his death.