A Jan Palach memorial in his former family home outside Prague is set to open to the public next month

The creators of the memorial faced a difficult task: capturing and interpreting the heroic deed of Palach, its influence on the destiny of society and the family itself, sensitively incorporating the memorial into the Všetaty space, and navigating the complicated space of the house where Jan Palach spent his childhood and youth.

The project opens Palach’s legacy to the general public via four interactive screens. The exhibit will also show several emotional objects related to the death of Jan Palach: the briefcase he carried on the day of his self-immolation, the national flag that covered his body after death, and the death mask created by sculptor Olbram Zoubek.

Both the National Museum team and external authors Petr Blažek and Michal Ježek worked on the exhibition.

“After many years of lack of interest in this important place, the National Museum has rescued the Palach family house where Jan Palach had lived since his youth while implementing an ambitious project to transform this place into a dignified and architecturally interesting space,” says National Museum general director Michal Lukeš.

The completion of construction work and preparations for the implementation of the exhibition are currently underway. The grand opening is scheduled for the end of September 2019.