Prague Cold War Walking Tour – Prague, Czech Republic

EXPERIENCE

On the first Wednesday of the month the air sirens in Prague are tested and serve as an eerie reminder of the 40 years of suffering and struggle the city’s residents endured behind the Iron Curtain.

Nearly 800 pressurized bunkers are found across Prague, and can accommodate 40 per cent of the city’s population. One of the larger shelters is tunneled into Vitkov Hill, and this is where you’ll begin your 3-hour guided walk that focuses on Prague’s time as the capital of a Soviet satellite state.

As you take in the ornamentation and statuary in the Hall of the Red Army, created after the communists took power in the so-called elegant coup of 1948, you’ll hear about the heavy-handed propaganda strategies of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSC).

Visit Vitkov Hill, home to the largest equestrian statue in the world. Standing on top of the Vitkov Memorial, you’ll have panoramic views of the city and the Žižkov Television Tower.

Return to the city center and visit the famed John Lennon Wall. Take some time to contemplate the site where poems, pictures, complaints, and hopes were scrawled by individuals yearning for freedom.

By the end of the tour, you’ll have a good overview of the rise of communism in Czechoslovakia and a better understanding of how the country is still recovering from the social and economic impact of totalitarianism.

HIGHLIGHTS

Hear about the 40 years of totalitarianism endured by the citizens of Prague
Visit the John Lennon Wall to see the poems and pictures placed by those yearning for freedom
Stand at Wencelas Square, where Warsaw Pact tanks crushed the Prague Spring uprising in 1968
Learn about the Velvet Revolution that peacefully brought down 4 decades of dictatorship

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