Palach Pylon

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Coordinates: 50° 4' 48.6"  N , 14° 25' 53.7"  E

Palach pylon in front of the New National Museum building (2020).

The Palach Pylon ( Czech Palachův pylon ) is a monument commemorating the Czech student Jan Palach , who set himself on fire in January 1969 in protest at the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops . The monument, in the form of a slender steel pylon almost 30 meters high , depicts a flame beating toward the sky and bears a bronze sculpture by sculptor Miloslav Chlupáč called Flame ( plamen in Czech ). It stands in front of the New Building of the National Museum in Prague , the former Czechoslovak Parliament.

The monument was designed by architect Karel Prager in February 1968 . After Jan Palach's death, the creators dedicated their work to his memory. But they kept it a secret in order to save the work from the censorship that began in 1969 . This dedication was only discovered in the archived documents in the course of restoration work in 2018. To mark the 50th anniversary of Palach's death, the National Museum decided to complete the monument according to the artists' original intention. Because the sculpture Flame was missing, it was not allowed to be realized in 1969. The completed Palach Pylon was unveiled in November 2020.

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Detail: bronze sculpture Flame by sculptor Miloslav Chlupáč, realized in 2020 by Antonín Kašpar.

Between 1968 and 1973, the original building of the Prague Stock Exchange was remodeled according to the plans of the architect Karel Prager for the needs of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly. Part of the project was the steel pylon in front of the main entrance, which was originally intended to tower over the building. The pylon was supposed to carry a granite sculpture by sculptor Miloslav Chlupáč called Flame . After Jan Palach's devastating death on January 19, 1969, the artists decided to dedicate the work to his memory. It stood only a few tens of meters from the site of Palach's self-immolation in Wenceslas Square . So that the work of art does not fall victim to censorship, they did not make their decision public.

After the radical political change in Czechoslovakia, a commission set up by the Czechoslovak Communist Party had some works by contemporary, politically uncomfortable artists removed from the new parliament building. The removal of the pylon in front of the main entrance was also considered, but ultimately not implemented. Only the sculpture by Miloslav Chlupáč was not allowed to be realized, its name aroused unwanted associations. The place on the pylon reserved by Karel Prager was filled with a hollow block of stone, to which the Czechoslovakian coat of arms was attached and two sentences from the constitution were engraved.

The forgotten and publicly unknown meaning of the monument was only remembered in 2018 by the sculptor Antonín Kašpar, who restored the steel pylon. While researching his restoration work, he discovered documentation in the archive of the National Museum about the conversion and expansion of the Parliament building, which an architect's office led by Karel Prager had created in 1991. In this documentation, Karel Prager referred to the pylon as the Palach pylon and proposed its restoration and completion around the originally intended Flame sculpture . For unknown reasons, however, this restoration did not take place. Prager and Chlupáč died in the following years and the cause was forgotten.

In 2019, the Czech Republic celebrated the 30th anniversary of the so-called Velvet Revolution and also commemorated the 50th anniversary of Palach's death. On this occasion, the management of the National Museum decided to complete the pylon based on the original design by Karel Prager. Because of the weight of the originally planned granite block and the difficulty of anchoring it to the steel pylon, it was decided to make the Flame sculpture out of bronze instead . The sculptor Antonín Kašpar was commissioned with the realization. He made the sculpture based on a 30 cm high plaster model by Miloslav Chlupáč.

On November 17, 2020, the 31st anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, Czech Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek and Director General of the National Museum Michal Lukeš presented the restored and completed Palach pylons to the public. Thus, after almost 50 years, the monument was completed in the spirit of Prager and Chlupáč's original intention.

description

The slender steel pylon is almost 30 meters high and its foundations reach 7 meters into the ground. It is dark in color and tapers towards the top. The bronze sculpture Flame is almost 2 meters high and weighs about 1 ton. It is the world's largest Palach monument.

On the ground in front of the pylon are the words: "PLAMEN" / PAMÁTCE JANA PALACHA (German: "Flame" / In memory of Jan Palach).

itemizations

  1. ↑ a b c Národní muzeum představilo dokončený Palachův pylon. Národní muzeum, 18 November 2020, accessed 24 October 2021 (Czech). english: The National Museum presented the completed Palach pylon. On November 17, the Palach Pylon was ceremoniously unveiled in front of the New Building of the National Museum. Communication from the National Museum.
  2. ^ a b c " Alespoň že je tady ten pylon." Komunistům pod nosem stál utajený Palachův pomník. Česká televize , September 15, 2018, retrieved October 24, 2021 (Czech). German: "At least the pylon is here." A secret Palach monument was under the nose of the communists.
  3. ↑ Ministr kultury uctil památku studentů boje za svobodu a demokracii. Ministerstvo Kultury, November 17, 2020, accessed October 24, 2021 (Czech). English: The Minister of Education honored the memory of the students who fought for freedom and democracy. Communication from the Ministry of Education.

web links

Commons : Palachův pylon  - collection of images, videos and audio files