What will Brno soon have in common with Washington, Dublin and Prague? A bench dedicated to Václav Havel, the first post-revolution Czechoslovak president. In response to calls from the Brno public, the city has now announced a fund so that citizens can contribute to the installation and maintenance of the monument. Contributions of any value can be sent to the account 111393222/0800, which the city set up specially for this purpose on Monday. Photo credit: City of Olomouc / Blanka Martinovská.
Brno, Aug 20 (BD) – The Václav Havel Bench, known as “Havel’s Place”, is to be installed on one of the Capuchin terraces, and is expected to cost approximately CZK 300,000. “The city is ready to finance the bench if the contributions from the collection do not cover the sum, and if the opposite happens, the city promises to use any extra money for further maintenance of the bench and its surroundings,” reads the City’s official press release.
The Vaclav Havel Bench is part of a series of commemorative places dedicated to Vaclav Havel. The unusual memorial, designed by the late Prague Castle architect and artist Bořek Šípek, consists of two armchairs connected by a round table, with a tree trunk growing in the center of the table. The first bench was installed at Georgetown University in Washington, and others can be found in Dublin, Barcelona, Prague, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové and Šumperk.
The bench will be installed to mark the anniversary of Havel’s birth on 5 October 2019. Brno already has a street named after Havel, leading from Divadlo Husa na provázku to the Capuchin terraces.
Read more in our previous article “Memorial Bench Dedicated to Václav Havel to be Installed in Brno’s Center“.
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