Jan Palach Square

One of Prague’s most beautiful squares is lined with several monumental buildings, e.g. the famous Rudolfinum Concert Hall or the Museum of Decorative Arts. Another important building here is the Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, whose frontage carries a remarkable commemorative plaque, the work of sculptor Olbram Zoubek. This is a death-mask casting of Jan Palach, who in January 1969 voluntarily decided to set fire to himself in protest against the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and to rouse Czech society out of its lethargy and moral quagmire. There is yet another monument on the square relating to the events of the Prague Spring and Palach’s subsequent death, a pair of sculptures called in the original ‘The House of the Suicide and The House of the Mother of the Suicide’ by the American sculptor and architect of Czech origin, John Hejduk.