Meanwhile in Czechia... 38/26
09.10.2026
The Czech Republic Celebrates Václav Havel
On Monday, October 5, Václav Havel would have turned 90. The writer, dissident, and president was commemorated throughout the country. Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) celebrated Havel with an entire 15-day festival featuring concerts, plays, exhibitions, and even a hike past houses in the Bohemian Uplands that were inhabited by members of the opposition before 1989 and were therefore under special surveillance by the State Security Service. The festival was organized by several institutions.
Václav Havel is also being commemorated in Dresden. The nEUROPA Gallery on Bautzner Straße is exhibiting photos by photographer Bohdan Holomíček, a close companion of Havel’s. Holomíček’s photos show Havel above all as a human being—in everyday life, surrounded by his family, or while traveling. Holomíček himself will appear at the closing of the exhibition on November 13 as part of the Czech-German Cultural Days.
Václav Havel was born on October 5, 1936, in Prague and died on December 18, 2011, at his weekend home in the village of Hrádeček near Trutnov (Trautenau). From 1989 to 1992, he served as President of Czechoslovakia, and from 1993 to 2003 as President of the Czech Republic.
Local Elections in the Czech Republic
Polling stations opened in the Czech Republic today at 2 p.m. All eligible voters are called upon to elect new members to their municipal councils by 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday. In addition, one-third of the seats in the Senate, the upper house of the Czech Parliament, will be filled.
In the Czech Republic, city and municipal councils are elected for four-year terms. Mayors are not elected directly but are appointed by the municipal council based on coalition agreements. It may therefore take some time before the names of the mayors are finalized. It is already clear that the district capital of Ústí nad Labem (Aussig) will have a new leader, as the incumbent mayor, Petr Nedvědický (ANO), is not running for re-election. Whether the next mayor will also be from ANO remains to be seen. A large multi-party coalition is hoping to win the election. However, Ústí has always been considered a reliable ANO stronghold.
President Petr Pavel made headlines in connection with the elections; he originally announced that he would not vote, but has apparently since changed his mind. Pavel is registered as a resident of the North Bohemian municipality of Černouček. However, he has been living in Prague for 3.5 years, and no new senator is being elected in his district. The president will be in Morocco with fellow motorcyclists until the end of next week. He attributes his inability to participate in the elections to a planning error, for which he apologizes. In the Czech Republic, there is no option for absentee voting in municipal elections.
Most commentators, however, cannot understand this reasoning. First, it is the president who sets the date of the elections, and second, the president serves as a role model. One cannot complain about low voter turnout and then fail to vote oneself. The president’s team reportedly tried to further persuade Pavel to return to the polls after all, and according to the latest reports, this appears to have been successful. Live updates report that he has returned and has already voted this afternoon.
Ghetto Museum in Theresienstadt to Be Modernized
The Ghetto Museum in Terezín (Theresienstadt) will remain open to visitors until November 2. After that, the museum will close for renovations lasting over two years. At the same time, the exhibition will be updated to meet modern standards. The Ghetto Museum is scheduled to reopen in 2029.
The museum will also take on a completely new look thanks to a glass extension. Atelier SKUPINA, led by architect Marcela Steinbachová, emerged as the winner of an architectural competition in which 22 teams participated. She also invited American architect Steven Holl to collaborate on the project. In the winning design, Holl is the architect of the glass tower, called the Tower of Light, whose appearance and name are inspired by the life story of Petr Ginz, who created the painting “Moon Landscape” during his internment in Theresienstadt.
In addition to the expansion and modernization of the museum building, the visitor infrastructure, a completely new exhibition, and the museum’s surroundings will also be redesigned by 2029. Until then, the museum will relocate in stages to the Magdeburg Barracks.
Last year, the memorial complex—which also includes the former Gestapo prison in the Kleine Festung—welcomed 240,000 visitors.
From 1940 to 1945, the Nazis deported 140,000 people—primarily Jews—to the ghetto. 35,000 died under the harsh conditions of imprisonment; most of the others were deported to the extermination camps in what is now Poland.
Human Remains Found at Site of Massacre
Construction workers have found human remains in Postoloprty (Postelberg), Czech Republic. The construction work is taking place on the site of a former barracks that, after the end of World War II, became the scene of one of the largest massacres in Europe. According to historians, it was even the largest massacre until Srebrenica.
At the time, the barracks served as headquarters for the 1st Division of the Czechoslovak Army, which was joined by the Revolutionary Guards. Their mission was to “cleanse” Postoloprty, as well as nearby Žatec (Saaz) and the surrounding villages, of the German population. It was primarily men who were rounded up, tortured, and killed at the barracks. Sources confirm at least 763 deaths. However, the number is likely higher; some estimates even put the death toll at over 2,300.
The discovery was made at the site where trenches once stood. Many of those executed without trial were buried in these trenches, while others were buried in mass graves in the surrounding area. In place of the barracks, which were demolished in 2016, single-family homes are to be built.
Rudolfstein will remain closed until the end of October
One of the most popular viewpoints in Bohemian Switzerland, Rudolfův kámen (Rudolfstein), will remain closed until the end of October. The Bohemian Switzerland National Park is having the small hut at the summit of the rock renovated. The lower section of the trail leading up to the summit also needs to be repaired. The stairs in the upper part of the trail were already renovated years ago.
The other two popular viewpoints in the Dittersbach Rocks (Jetřichovické skály) area—Mariina skála and Vilemínina stěna—remain accessible.
Too Many Deaths—Ústí Crematorium Gets Third Facility
The New Crematorium in Ústí-Střekov (Aussig-Schreckenstein) is getting a third cremation unit. The city has published a corresponding call for bids. The reason cited is high utilization. Too many deceased individuals for whom cremation was chosen have caused the crematorium to reach its capacity limits. Currently, demand can only be met by starting work earlier.
The city had already renovated one of the two cremation units. This was also because, in the past, heavy deceased individuals could not be cremated in Ústí. The facility has now been designed to handle bodies weighing up to 300 kilograms. The new facility is intended not only to increase capacity but also to make better use of waste heat.
The New Crematorium in Ústí was built in 1986. It serves not only to cremate the deceased from the district capital, but also from the wider surrounding area, including those from abroad.