PRESS RELEASE
Prague, 23 January 2024 - In the second half of January 2024, the long-planned transformation of the House of Pážat on the border of the New World and Hradčany into the seat of the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century will begin, which will also house a permanent exhibition. The reconstruction should be completed in exactly one year.
"I am very happy that the rebuilding of the House of the Pážat is beginning. The Museum of the Memory of the XXth Century will have a worthy seat for its educational activities and this building in a beautiful part of Prague will have an important and meaningful use," said Deputy Mayor of the Capital City of Prague. JUDr. Jiří Pospíšil.
"A museum commemorating the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century has been missing for a long time. We were inspired by similar memory institutions in Warsaw, Jerusalem, Berlin and Budapest. The Guest House will not only provide space for a permanent exhibition, but it will also become a lively place for education, meetings and discussions about our recent past," said the Chair of the Board of the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century and Senator JUDr. Hana Kordová Marvanová.
In 2023, the Capital City of Prague announced a tender for the construction of a. Prague held a competition for the selection of a construction company in 2023, which was won by Metrostav's subsidiary Subterra. The reconstruction of the House of Pážat to house the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century was approved by the City Council. The Subterra company took over the building on 18 January 2024 and the works should be completed in early 2025.
"The ambition of the project is to enrich the castle hilltop with a living institution. The last reconstruction carried out in the 1970s unfortunately only preserved the load-bearing masonry and three vaults, but we believe that we will be able to restore the key internal links and awaken the spirit of the house," added the architect doc. Ing. arch. Tomáš Hradečný from the IXA architectural studio, who prepared the building documentation.
The exhibition projects will involve not only the rooms on the ground floor of the House of the Pážat, but also other spaces such as the courtyard, garden and attic. On the first floor there will be a research room, a library, and above all a large hall where conferences, seminars, concerts, occasional exhibitions and events for schools will be held.
In addition to the main work on the preparation of the permanent exhibition of the museum in the House of the Pážat, the museum is preparing many other activities in 2024: the publication of new publications, outdoor exhibitions, conferences, seminars, educational events, exhibitions and the 5th annual film festival Unbroken and Sacrificed. Plans include the publication of a monograph on the infamous "Little House" in Hradčany, a book on the so-called Boer Revolt of 1950, a publication on Zbyněk Fišer (Egon Bondy) and the State Security , and a collective monograph on the fate of the Prague statue of Marshal Konev. The Museum will publish the next issue of the yearbook and prepare a film documentary on General Sergei Voronezh.
"The Museum, together with the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, has prepared the second edition of the board game Across the Iron Curtain, which playfully conveys the reality of the divided world and the dramatic escapes from it. We are also preparing a conference on Ďáblický Cemetery and a traditional outdoor exhibition with the Kampa Museum and Prague City Tourism, this time on the theme of 1984 - George Orwell and Czechoslovakia. The second exhibition will be dedicated to the personality of Pavel Tigrid. And, of course, the fifth annual Unbreakable and Sacrificed festival, this time on the theme of uprisings and revolutions in the 20th century," said Petr Blažek, PhD, the museum's director.
The complete work plan for 2024 can be found on the museum's website.
This year the museum will traditionally cooperate with the Kampa Museum, Prague City Tourism (in particular the Bells of Memory project continues), the Václav Havel Library, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Libri prohibiti, the Military Historical Institute, the National Film Archive, the Polish Institute in Prague, the Slovak Institute Prague, the Platform of European Memory and Conscience and other partners.
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