Museum of Communism, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

Museum of Communism
Muzeum Komunismu

Established	26 December 2001
Location	V Celnici 1031/4, Prague 1, Czech Republic, 118 00
Public transit access	Náměstí Republiky Metro
Website	http://muzeumkomunismu.cz/en

The Museum of Communism (Czech: Muzeum komunismu), located at V Celnici 4 in Prague, Czech Republic, is a museum dedicated to presenting an account of the post–World War II communist regime in Czechoslovakia, with a focus on Prague.^[1]

History

The museum was founded by Glenn Spicker, an American businessman and former student of politics, who spent $28,000 buying 1000 artifacts. He also spent this money commissioning documentary filmmaker Jan Kaplan to design the museum. According to Kaplan, he created a three-act tragedy displaying the ideals of communism, the reality of life under the regime, and the actions of the police state. It includes rooms depicting a schoolroom, a shop with limited supplies, and a secret police interrogation room.^[2]^[3]

The gallery is devoted to providing a timeline of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Written descriptions in the Czech and English languages communicate to the audience what it was to live under the regime, law and order, education system, and trade and business. These descriptions have all been provided in written and pictorial form, frequently supported by red and black artwork.

Gallery

Entrance from Náměstí republiky (2022)
Entrance within the Savarin Palace (2016)
Schoolroom display, with child in Pioneer outfit (state youth movement)
Grocery shop with limited goods
Posters showing the good life
Lenin statue and the Soviet Union flag
various artifacts

References

^ Rose Smith: An American's Museum of Communism in Prague. In: WerkstattGeschichte (2022), 83, p. 121-124 (pdf).
^ Krosnar, Katka (2 February 2002). "A Tribute to Barren Shops". Newsweek. p 61. Retrieved 10 May 2018.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ "Red revival", The Guardian