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Stalin Monument (Prague)
Stalin's Monument (Czech: Stalinův pomník) was a 15.5 m (51 ft) granite statue honoring Joseph Stalin in Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was unveiled on 1 May 1955 after more than 5+1⁄2 years of work, and was the world's largest representation of Stalin. The sculpture was demolished in late 1962.
The structure was commissioned after the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948 with Soviet backing. It was designed to showcase Stalinist ideology and was constructed on an elevated site on Letna Hill in Letná Park, overlooking the city centre of Prague.
The monument was located on a huge concrete pedestal on the flattened Letna Hill, which can still be visited in Letná Park. It was the largest group statue in Europe, measuring 15.5 m (51 ft) high and 22 m (72 ft) long. The monument weighed 17 million kilograms, and consumed thirty thousand granite slabs.
Forced labour was used during the monument's construction. In 2021, archaeological excavations in Letná Park uncovered the foundations of a labour camp which housed workers involved in the monument's construction. According to historical documents, the camp consisted of three wooden barracks, each accommodating up to 40 inmates in eight-person rooms, with minimal facilities. The laborers were described as soldiers and individuals deemed politically unreliable by the communist regime.
The monument was officially unveiled on May 1, 1955. It was officially titled "A Monument to Love and Friendship." The sculptor was Otakar Švec, who killed himself a few days before the unveiling.
Stalin died in March 1953, two years before the unveiling of the monument, and the process of de-Stalinization began shortly after its completion. The monument, therefore, became a liability to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. As ordered by the Soviet Union, it was taken down with 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) of explosives. The remains of the statue are stored in chambers beneath the site.
In 1990, pirate radio station Radio Stalin operated from a bomb shelter beneath the statue's plinth. The same shelter was also the home of Prague's first rock club in the early 1990s. Since 1991, the marble pedestal has been used as the base of a giant kinetic sculpture of a metronome. In 1996, the pedestal was briefly used as a base for a 35-foot-tall (11 m) statue of Michael Jackson as a promotional stunt for the start of his HIStory World Tour. A billboard promoting Civic Democratic Party leader Václav Klaus was erected on the site during the Czech parliamentary elections of 1998 but was removed soon after due to high winds.
A green plaque below the metronome reads:
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Stalin Monument (Prague)
Stalin's Monument (Czech: Stalinův pomník) was a 15.5 m (51 ft) granite statue honoring Joseph Stalin in Prague, Czechoslovakia. It was unveiled on 1 May 1955 after more than 5+1⁄2 years of work, and was the world's largest representation of Stalin. The sculpture was demolished in late 1962.
The structure was commissioned after the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power in Czechoslovakia in 1948 with Soviet backing. It was designed to showcase Stalinist ideology and was constructed on an elevated site on Letna Hill in Letná Park, overlooking the city centre of Prague.
The monument was located on a huge concrete pedestal on the flattened Letna Hill, which can still be visited in Letná Park. It was the largest group statue in Europe, measuring 15.5 m (51 ft) high and 22 m (72 ft) long. The monument weighed 17 million kilograms, and consumed thirty thousand granite slabs.
Forced labour was used during the monument's construction. In 2021, archaeological excavations in Letná Park uncovered the foundations of a labour camp which housed workers involved in the monument's construction. According to historical documents, the camp consisted of three wooden barracks, each accommodating up to 40 inmates in eight-person rooms, with minimal facilities. The laborers were described as soldiers and individuals deemed politically unreliable by the communist regime.
The monument was officially unveiled on May 1, 1955. It was officially titled "A Monument to Love and Friendship." The sculptor was Otakar Švec, who killed himself a few days before the unveiling.
Stalin died in March 1953, two years before the unveiling of the monument, and the process of de-Stalinization began shortly after its completion. The monument, therefore, became a liability to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. As ordered by the Soviet Union, it was taken down with 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) of explosives. The remains of the statue are stored in chambers beneath the site.
In 1990, pirate radio station Radio Stalin operated from a bomb shelter beneath the statue's plinth. The same shelter was also the home of Prague's first rock club in the early 1990s. Since 1991, the marble pedestal has been used as the base of a giant kinetic sculpture of a metronome. In 1996, the pedestal was briefly used as a base for a 35-foot-tall (11 m) statue of Michael Jackson as a promotional stunt for the start of his HIStory World Tour. A billboard promoting Civic Democratic Party leader Václav Klaus was erected on the site during the Czech parliamentary elections of 1998 but was removed soon after due to high winds.
A green plaque below the metronome reads: