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Current AffairsAnniversary of Velvet Revolution marked by anti-government demonstrations

On Thursday, November 17th, the Czech Republic marked 22 years since the start of the Velvet Revolution as well as the 72nd anniversary of the events of November 1939 which resulted in the closure of all Czech universities by the Nazis and reprisals against students and intellectuals. But many Czechs used the holiday to voice their discontent with the current government policies. More

NewsCzechs mark 22 years of freedom

NewsPolice monitor demonstrations

NewsPrague Archbishopric says hectic preparations behind failure to invite Havel to November 17th celebrations

NewsCzechs mark 21st anniversary of return to democracy

NewsHavel: country’s direction since 1989 “correct”

SpecialNárodní třída: prominent Prague boulevard that has witnessed history

Twenty-one years ago on Wednesday, on November 17, 1989, a student march was brutally attacked by the police in Prague’s Národní Street; that event sparked a public revolt against the regime and eventually led to the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. In today’s special programme, we walk along Národní Street, or Národní třída, a remarkable boulevard which is home to the National Theatre, Prague’s most famous delicatessen, a jazz club where Bill Clinton played, and some of the city’s greatest cafés: a street where history was made two decades ago. More

NewsSunday marks 65-year-anniversary of publication of Beneš decrees

One on OneJan Bubeník – one of the student leaders of the Velvet Revolution

Jan Bubeník was one of the organisers of a student march in Prague on November 17, 1989 to mark the anniversary of a Nazi crackdown on Czech universities 50 years previously. When the marchers carried on to Národní St in the centre of the city they were brutally attacked by police, an incident which set in train the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Bubeník quickly became one of the student leaders of the Velvet Revolution, and even served briefly as a member of parliament. Today he runs a successful recruitment agency. At its Prague offices the other day, I asked Jan Bubeník what were his strongest memories of the Velvet Revolution.  More

ArtsNew book collects posters that helped shape 1989’s Velvet Revolution

Exactly 20 years ago, during the Velvet Revolution, the country was flooded with posters, both home-produced and professionally printed, calling for change. They bore slogans like Free Elections, Teacher You Don’t Have to Lie to Us Anymore, and Havel to the Castle. Now many of those posters have been gathered in a fascinating new book.  More