Club / News / Program
Three candidates shortlisted for the 2023 Václav Havel Prize 05/09/23
The selection panel of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which rewards outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights in Europe and beyond, has today announced the shortlist for the 2023 Award. Meeting in Prague today, the panel – made up of independent figures from the world of human rights and chaired by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tiny Kox – decided to shortlist the following three nominees, in alphabetical order: More
Three candidates shortlisted for the 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 06/09/22
The discussion among the seven-member jury helmed by the president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe centred on the importance of the issue of human rights during this tense period. The finalists include Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political prisoner and leading Russian democracy campaigner; Ukraine’s 5 AM Coalition, which gathers evidence of human rights abuses stemming from Russia’s invasion of the country; and Hungary’s Rainbow Coalition defending LGBTQIA+ rights. “This year’s selection reflects the central role that human rights play in the current European crisis,” says Michael Žantovský, jury member and executive director of the Václav Havel Library, which bestows the prize in cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Nadace Charty 77.
The Other Europe 27/04/22
Dear Friends, After three years we have completed the international project The Other Europe, during which, in cooperation with partner institutions, we have processed and made public recordings of interviews shot in 1987 and 1988 behind the Iron Curtain, and in exile, with important representatives of the opposition and the arts, as well as random citizens. Over those three years we have prepared video, audio and text of 106 interviews in speakers’ native languages and English translation. Despite public health restrictions in the Covid period, we have jointly prepared 16 international conferences and public presentations in six Central and Eastern European states. More
From Schuman to Havel – what next? 16/02/22
The Václav Havel Library is a proud partner of the project Beyond Robert Schuman’s Europe More
Program for October 2022<>
entry-free
Prague Castle Under Václav Havel
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 3, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
How did the country’s most important historical landmark change in the years 1989–2003? What had been a “haunted castle” under the totalitarian regime was transformed into a vibrant cultural and social centre, with numerous leading artists contributing to its renewal. Jáchym Topol will chair the debate with architectural historian Zdeněk Lukeš.
Debate N: Syria as a Failed Western Project?
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 4, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
A debate about the situation in Syria and its causes. Where did the West go wrong? Can the situation have a satisfactory conclusion, and what could bring that about? How do Russia’s activities in Syria relate to what is now happening in Ukraine? Deník N journalist Petra Procházková will moderate a debate with guests.
Ukraine and the Tower of Babylon
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 5, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
An evening of Ukrainian authors living in the Czech Republic. Alongside readings of extracts from their books, the discussion will also touch on their life stories and those of their ancestors, as well as the current situation in Ukraine. Iryna Zahladko, Tim Postavit and other guests will appear. Introduced by Petr Placák. Jáchym Topol will moderate.
Organised by the Václav Havel Library and the Babylon review, in cooperation with RUTA – Ukrainian initiative in the Czech Republic, as part of the Tower of Babylon project focused on the literature of national minorities in the CR.
What Can the Citizen Do, And What Can the State?
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 10, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
Democratic theory and the rule of law are inexorably linked to the concept of limited government. The state solely possesses the powers granted to it by the constitution and laws and may not go beyond them in interfering in citizens’ lives. The creation of the social state, the social market economy practiced in recent decades in Europe and elsewhere, the extraordinary demands on the state at times of war and other crises and the skyrocketing volume of data that the state gathers or has access to via its agencies is leading to an expansion of the state apparatus and the instruments at its disposal at in developed countries. Such factors in turn lead to growth in the citizen’s claims on the state, to a rising number of cases where the state wrongfully invades the privacy of citizens and to legal clashes between citizens and the state.
In democracy is there some kind of natural border between the citizen and the state whose contravention signals a threat to freedom as such? The line of contact between the citizen and the state and the conflicts that take place along it will be discussed by Karel Šimka, judge, lawyer and political scientist, chairman of the Czech Supreme Administrative Court; political scientist Anna Shavit; and other guests.
Debate chaired by Michael Žantovský, director of the Václav Havel Library.
The Underground and Czechoslovakia 1987–1988
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 11, 2022, 09:50 – 17:00
The seventh edition of a conference on the phenomenon of the Czech (and beyond) underground takes place this year.
After the harsh repression of the early 1980s, the second half of the decade saw the revival not only of the opposition scene but also of the so-called grey zone, awakened from lethargy by Moscow’s new political direction following the ascent of Mikhail Gorbachev to power and which, in mutated form, was also reflected in the highest echelons of the domestic Communist Party. For the normalization leadership, so-called perestroika and glasnost were a nightmare that denied everything the Husák, respectively Jakeš, regime was based on. The ossified leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia viewed this reconstruction as its most serious crisis since February 1948. The short period of calm for the opposition, when the Communists were unsure of how far they could go, created the conditions for varied cultural output, as well as a stormy debate within Charter 77 on how to act toward the one-party government. In the end the crisis within Charter 77 led to the first genuine political demonstration since August 1969, which took place on Human Rights day, 10 December, 1987 on Old Town Square, an event that remains unjustly overlooked.
All this and more will be discussed by experts on the underground (and beyond) at this conference at the Václav Havel Library.
Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.
Echo from the Library
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 11, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
A debate series with editors from the weekly Echo and their guests, in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library. Lenka Zlámalová will chair the discussion. For the topic and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.
The jubilee 10th international conference in honour of the laureate of the 2022 Václav Havel Human Prize
- Where: Prague Crossroads, Zlatá 1, Prague
- When: October 12, 2022, 14:00 – 18:30
Crime and Punishment – Crimes against peace and humanity and the wheels of justice
- Organisers: Václav Havel Library & Charta 77 Foundation
- Partners: Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Conference Programme
13.30 – 14.00 Registration
14.00 – 14.10 Conference Opening: Michael Žantovský – Executive Director, Václav Havel Library
14.10 – 14.20 Keynote Speech: Karim Khan (UK) – Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, barrister and King's Counsel
14.20 – 14.40 Interview with the 2021 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize laureate
Evgenia Kara-Murza wife of Vladimir Kara-Murza a political prisoner and leading Russian democracy campaigner
Chair: Michael Žantovský – Václav Havel Library
14.40 – 15.25 Panel I: Discussion with 2022 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize finalists
Panellists:
Denys Rabomizo War Crimes Documentation and Database
Coordinator and Member of Secretariat of the coalition of civil society
organisations 5 AM Coalition (Ukraine)
Áaron Demeter Representative of Rainbow Coalition
defending LGBTQIA+ rights (Hungary)
Chair: Linda Bartošová – Journalist and moderator
15.25 – 15.45 Coffee Break
15.45 – 17.00 Panel II: The wheels of justice
Massive violations of human rights, such as the ones occurring as a result of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, not only present horrific scenes of human suffering and depravity but pose difficult questions of transformational justice. Apart from the imperative of an immediate and unconditional end to the atrocities, it is incumbent on humanity to document and record for posterity every single instance of human rights violation and to bring to justice those responsible, in order to prevent the repetition of such crimes.
The discussion panel will try to examine the respective approaches and their applicability to the events in Ukraine. In particular, it will discuss the scope and the limits of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, various historical forms of war crimes tribunals, the role of the Council of Europe, the EU and the OSCE, the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the role of memory institutions and NGOs in collecting evidence of the crimes, as well as various forms of retribution and compensation of the victims and their families.
Panellists:
Veronika Bílková – professor of international law focused on international security and human rights, vice president of the European Society of International Law
Vladimír Dzuro – former investigator with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
Tomáš Holub – Roman Catholic priest and Plzeň bishop, first Czech military chaplain
Chair: Lenka Kabrhelová – Journalist, reporter, head of the podcast 5:59, Seznam Zprávy
17.00 – 17.20 Coffee Break
17.20 – 18.35 Panel III: Where does evil spring from?
The recent events have also revived one of the most painful questions of the human condition: Is evil a construct we attribute to behaviour for which there is no adequate or acceptable social explanation, or is the capacity for evil an integral and inseparable part of our existence? And if the latter, where do the roots and the triggers of evil come from?
Panellists:
Ksenia Poluektova-Krimer – Russian historian focused on the Holocaust
Lenka Víchová – Ukrainian Studies expert
Jan Vevera – Head of the Psychiatric Clinic at the Pilsen University Hospital and a former army psychiatrist
Chair: Jakub Szántó – Journalist and moderator, Czech Television
18.25 – 18.40 Closing remarks: Martin Palouš – Diplomat, teacher, Charter 77 signatory and human rights advocate
18.40 – 18.45 Acknowledgments and invitation for a drink: Michael Žantovský, Václav Havel Library
* The discussions will be held in Czech and English with a simultaneous translation from/into both languages.
Meeting of Big Book Thursday Authors
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 13, 2022, 17:00 – 20:00
You are cordially invited to a meeting and book signing of writers in the 22nd edition of Big Book Thursday.
You can look forward to authors of new titles such as Evžen Boček, Jan Novák, Jan Němec, Václav Cílek, Pavel Kosatík, Dalibor Balšínek, František Šmehlík and Eva Grestenbergerová, as well as translator Tomáš Jurkovič and book editors Petr Onufer and Martina Mašínová.
Some writers will send video greetings from abroad.
The event will be broadcast live on Facebook and on www.havelchannel.cz
For more information visit www.velkyctvrtek.cz
Machiavelli’s The Prince and Rousseau’s The Discourses
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 17, 2022, 18:00 – 20:00
Whatever way we look at it, Machiavelli’s The Prince changed the way we think about the nature of politics. Rousseau’s The Discourses, meanwhile, changed our thinking about democracy. Both essential works of modern political theory are coming out in new, erudite and expertly annotated translations with accompanying texts that explore the period context, the authors’ lives and contemporary research.
Translators Jan Bíba and Hana Fořtová will present the books and Milan Znoj will moderate.
The evening takes place with the kind support of the Sekyra Foundation.
Debate with Respekt
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 18, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
Discussion with editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more information and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.
The Rehabilitation of General Syrový
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 19, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
The figure of Jan Syrový, a one-time minister of defence and prime minister of the Czechoslovak government from 22 September to 30 September 1938, is linked to the period of national humiliation as a result of the Munich Agreement. The post-war era, when General Syrový was sentenced to 20 years harsh prison, stripped of his military rank and the forfeiture of his property represents one of the most problematic chapters in terms of national destinies. The contemporary Czech judiciary, which began examining his case in 2021 and this year exonerated Syrový, in so doing naturally expressed its views on his historical role and the nature of the period when he was politically active and suffered hardship.
This breakthrough “trial” of our history and the complicated story of efforts to rehabilitate the general will be discussed at the Václav Havel Library by historian Jaroslav Rokoský, the Syrový family’s lawyer Lubomír Müller and Jan Syrový, a descendant.
Chaired by David Svoboda.
The event will take place within the 16th edition of the Mene Tekel international festival against totalitarianism.
Joint evenings of the Václav Havel Library and the Museum of 20th Century Memory.
The Free Academy #5 / Jiří Horáček: Theory of Consciousness and Contemporary Society
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 20, 2022, 19:00 – 20:30
The question of the relationship between consciousness and the brain remains open, representing a major challenge to contemporary neuroscience. Solving it would mean not only understanding how conscious reality is constructed and structured, and what the nature of reality is, but also better understanding the mechanisms by which mental illness develops. On a societal level, the theory of the emergence of conscious reality could contribute to the understanding and solution of negative phenomena such as conspiracy theories.
A lecture by Professor Jiří Horáček, head of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, and head of the Center for Advanced Studies of the Brain and Consciousness at the National Institute of Mental Health.
Vladimír Dzuro: Demons of the Balkan War
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 26, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
Vladimír Dzuro was the first, and for a long time only, Czech who investigated war crimes in the Balkans with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He took part in the first arrest of a war criminal since the Nuremberg Trials. He uncovered the story of a massacre on the Ovčara farm at Vukovar. The former Prague detective was active for over nine years in the team tasked with investigating the war crimes of Serbs in the former Yugoslavia. Today he heads the Office for Internal Oversight Services at the UN in New York. His book The Investigator delivers a unique testimony – and was the basis for the graphic novel Démoni balkánské války (Demons of the Balkan War), initiated by Jan Kužník. It attempts to explore the senseless of the conflict itself, the monstrosity of ethnic violence and the danger of fake news in the media to those who have hitherto not been aware of Dzuro’s book.
Guests: Vladimír Dzuro, former investigator with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; Jan Kužník, initiator and co-author of the script of the graphic novel Demons of the Balkan War; Zdeněk Ležák, co-author of the script of the graphic novel Demons of the Balkan War; and Jakub Dušek, illustrator of the graphic novel Demons of the Balkan War.
Moderated by David Šťáhlavský, dramaturge and journalist from Czech Radio’s Journalism Creative Group.
Jáchym Topol will introduce the event.
Olga Havlová – Launch of Charity Calendar by Bohdan Holomíček
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 31, 2022, 19:00 – 21:00
The lens of now legendary photographer Bohdan Holomíček captures the lives of Olga and Václav Havel in extraordinary moments in everyday life. A charity calendar prepared for the Goodwill Committee – Olga Havlová Foundation for the 90th anniversary of her birth will be launched by Karel Schwarzenberg, Anna Freimanová a Monika Granja. The evening will also include a projection of works by the photographer.
Havel Channel
Havel Channel je audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla, jehož cílem je šířit myšlenkový, literární a politický odkaz Václava Havla, bez ohledu na vzdálenost, zeměpisné hranice či nouzové stavy. Jeho páteř tvoří debaty, vzdělávací projekty a rozhovory. Velký prostor je věnován též konferencím, autorským čtením, záznamům divadelních inscenací a koncertům. Audiovizuální projekt Knihovny Václava Havla Havel Channel se uskutečňuje díky laskavé podpoře Karel Komárek Family Foundation.
Publications / E-shop
The central focus of the Library’s publishing programme is the life and work of Václav Havel, his family and close collaborators and friends. For clarity, the programme is divided into six series: Václav Havel Library Notebooks, Václav Havel Library Editions, Student Line, Talks from Lány, Václav Havel Documents, Works of Pavel Juráček and Václav Havel Library Conferences. Titles that cannot be incorporated into any of the given series but which are nonetheless important for the Library’s publishing activities are issued independently, outside the series framework.
Diary IV. 1974–1989
399,- CZK
Foolish Writing
299,- CZK
Havel to the Castle
149,- CZK
Kilián Nedory
199,- CZK
Case for a Novice Headsman
199,- CZK
I am not sad. Audience & Vernissage
129,- CZK
To the Castle and Back
249,- CZK
I am the Gypsy Baron
299,- CZK
Conferences & prizes
Václav Havel European Dialogues
The Václav Havel European Dialogues is an international project that aims to initiate and stimulate a discussion about issues determining the direction of contemporary Europe while referring to the European spiritual legacy of Václav Havel. This idea takes its main inspiration from Václav Havel’s essay “Power of the Powerless”. More than other similarly focused projects, the Václav Havel European Dialogues aims to offer the “powerless” a platform to express themselves and in so doing to boost their position within Europe.
The Václav Havel European Dialogues is planned as a long-term project and involves cooperation with other organisations in various European cities. Individual meetings, which take the form of a conference, are targeted primarily at secondary and third-level students, as well as specialists and members of the public interested in European issues.
Prague 2022Olomouc Prague 2023PragueMnichov 2020Brussels 2020Prague 2019Brussels 2019Prague 2018Brussels 2018Europe at the Crossroads (e-book)Prague 2017Brussels 2017Prague 2016Brussels 2016Prague 2015Brussels 2015Brussels 2014Berlin 2014Prague 2014 - J. GauckBruges 2014Prague 2014
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
The Václav Havel Human Rights Prize is awarded each year by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in partnership with the Václav Havel Library and the Charta 77 Foundation to reward outstanding civil society action in the defence of human rights in Europe and beyond.
11th Year of the Prize (2023)10th Year of the Prize (2022)9th Year of the Prize (2021)8th Year of the Prize (2020)7th Year of the Prize (2019)6th Year of the Prize (2018)5th Year of the Prize (2017)4th Year of the Prize (2016)3rd Year of the Prize (2015)2nd Year of the Prize (2014)1st Year of the Prize (2013)History of the prize
Havel - Albright Transatlantic Dialogues
Since the first Václav Havel Transatlantic Dialogues at GLOBSEC and FORUM 2000 conferences last year, we have lost another stalwart advocate of the transatlantic bond and of the need to face threats to democracy and international order together on both sides of the Atlantic, the former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. In view of the close bond between Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright and, after Havel's death, between the Secretary and the Library, the Václav Havel Library, with the approval of Madeleine Albright's family, renamed and rebranded the program as The Havel-Albright Transatlantic Dialogues (HATD), after the two major figures with roots in Central Europe who have personified the bond. Together, Václav Havel and Madeleine Albright symbolize the transatlantic relationship and the fundamental values underpinning it perhaps better than any other two people in recent history. The upcoming Dialogues “The Indispensable Woman: The Legacy of Madeleine K. Albright”, at the FORUM 2000 conference on September 1, and at the “Havel and our Crisis” conference at Colby College, ME, on September 28, will thus become venues for a well-deserved tribute to the pair we all respected and admired.
Transatlantic Dialogues 2021Transatlantic Dialogues 2022HATD 2022 Prague
Václav Havel
Václav Havel
* 5. 10. 1936 Praha
† 18. 12. 2011 Hrádeček u Trutnova
- spisovatel a dramatik, publicista a filozof
- jeden z trojice prvních mluvčích Charty 77
- vůdčí autorita československé společenské změny v listopadu 1989
- poslední prezident Československa a
- první prezident České republiky
- celoživotní zastánce lidských práv a svobod doma i ve světě.
Educational projects
Archive / Documentation centre / Research projects
The Václav Havel Library is gradually gathering, digitizing, and making accessible written materials, photographs, sound recordings and other materials linked to the person of Václav Havel.
- 70140 records in total
- 27137 of events in the VH's life
- 2831 of VH's texts
- 2125 of photos
- 403of videos
- 568of audios
- 6604of letters
- 15101of texts about VH
- 8255 of books
- 40246of bibliography records
Access to the database of the VHL’s archives is free and possible after registering as a user. Accessing archival materials that exist in an unreadable form is only possible at the reading room of the Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, 110 00 Prague 1, every Tuesday (except state holidays) from 9:00 to 17:00, or by prior appointment.
We will be glad to answer your queries at archiv@vaclavhavel-library.org.
Sign in (registered users only)
Havel in a nutshell
The virtual exhibition Václav Havel in a Nutshell places the life story of Václav Havel in the broader cultural and historic context in four chronologically distinct chapters with rich visual accompaniment. The exhibition is supplemented by the interactive map Flying the World with Václav Havel, which captures in physical form Havel’s global “footprint”.
Vladimir Hanzel's revolution
Collage of recollections, images and sound recordings from Vladimír Hanzel, President Václav Havel’s personal secretary, bringing the feverish atmosphere of the Velvet Revolution to life.
Václav Havel Interviews
A database of all accessible interviews given to print media outlets by the dramatist, writer and political activist Václav Havel between the 1960s and 1989. The resulting collection documents the extraordinary life story of an individual, as well as capturing a specific picture of modern Czechoslovak history at a time when being a free-thinker was more likely to lead to jail than an official public post.
Pavel Juráček Archive
The Pavel Juráček Archive arose in February 2014 when his son Marek Juráček handed over six banana boxes and a typewriter case from his father’s estate to the Václav Havel Library. Thousands of pages of manuscripts, typescripts, photographs, documents and personal and official correspondence are gradually being classified and digitalised. The result of this work should be not only to map the life and work of one of the key figures of the New Wave of Czechoslovak film in the 1960s, but also to make his literary works accessible in the book series The Works of Pavel Juráček.
The aim of the Václav Havel Library is to ensure that Pavel Juráček finds a place in the broader cultural consciousness and to notionally build on the deep friendship he shared with Václav Havel. Soon after Juráček’s death in 1989 Havel said of him: “Pavel was a friend of mine whom I liked very much. He was one of the most sensitive and gentle people I have known – that’s why I cannot write more about him.”
All about Library
The Václav Havel Library works to preserve the legacy of Václav Havel, literary, theatrical and also political, in particular his struggle for freedom, democracy and the defence of human rights. It supports research and education on the life, values and times of Václav Havel as well as the enduring significance of his ideas for both the present and future.
The Václav Havel Library also strives to develop civil society and active civic life, serving as a platform for discussion on issues related to the support and defence of liberty and democracy, both in the Czech Republic and internationally.
The main aims of the Václav Havel Library include
- Organizing archival, archival-research, documentary, museum and library activities focused on the work of Vaclav Havel and documents or objects related to his activities, and carries out professional analysis of their influence on the life and self-reflection of society
- Serving, in a suitable manner, such as through exhibitions, the purpose of education and popularisation functions, thus presenting to the public the historical significance of the fight for human rights and freedoms in the totalitarian period and the formation of civil society during the establishment of democracy
- Organizing scientific research and publication activities in its areas of interest
Staňte se členy Klubu přátel Knihovny Václava Havla
We believe that we are succeeding in fulfilling the vision of Václav Havel, who, when he founded the Library, declared that it only makes sense as a living organism that occupies an unmissable place in the whole of public and political life. We see this as a commitment and inspiration for the future. We would like to use the footage of our hundreds of events in our own internet TV channel, expand our publication programme, develop more e-learning series, start organising workshops for teachers... But all this will require considerable financial resources. That's why we decided to turn to our visitors and supporters for support.
Pomozte nám inspirovat své okolí i Vy!
Přijdete se k nám a staňte se členem Klubu přátel Knihovny VH!
Přítel
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s organizací pravidelných akcí pro veřejnost.
Patron
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže rozvíjet náš ediční plán a publikační činnost
Partner
pro další informace
Váš příspěvek nám pomůže s vývojem vzdělávacích miniserií, audivizuálních projektů, přípravou mezinárodních konferencí...
Support us
Financial donations
If you would like to support the work of the Václav Havel Library or its specific activities or projects by means of a financial donation you can do so via the VHL’s PayPal account
Or by bank transfer to:
ČSOB a. s., Na Poříčí 24, 115 20 Praha 1
- Crown account number 7077 7077 / 0300 CZK
- Euro account number 7755 7755 / 0300 EUR
- Dollar account number 7747 7747 / 0300 USD
If an individual makes a donation of over CZK 1,000, or if a company makes a donation of over CZK 2,000, in one calendar year we will create for you a donation contract confirming the amount of the donation involved; the donor can use this to reduce their tax base in compliance with the law on taxation. For more information, contact us.
Donors with US citizenship can support us through the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation New York.
Donations and loans to the VHL archive
The Václav Havel Library administers an archive of written materials, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Václav Havel. The archive is predominantly digital in form. If you or somebody close to you is the owner of original texts, photographs, speeches or other works produced by Václav Havel we would appreciate it greatly if you contacted us. We will oversee the digitalisation of these documents and place them in our digital archive. If you would like to keep possession of such documents or items, we will return them in perfect condition.
If a copy or original is donated to the Václav Havel Library, the terms of donation and use will in all cases be agreed with the owner. The names of all donors or owners will be listed alongside the documentary materials in question.
Internships
We offer short and long-term internships at the Václav Havel Library to Czech and foreign students. Interns are particularly welcomed in the fields of library studies and archival science, arts management, journalism, Czech Studies and other areas of the humanities.
We welcome knowledge of English (German and French are also a plus), while knowledge of Czech is an advantage for foreign interns.
Internships range in duration from six weeks to one year, while it is possible to agree on individual duration depending on the requirements of schools. On completion of the internship, the participant receives a certificate with an appraisal. Internships take place on the basis of prior agreement with applicants and dates must be agreed around two months in advance. Václav Havel Library internships are unpaid and we do not cover transport or accommodation costs.
If you are interested in an internship at the Václav Havel Library, contact us at the email address:
Media and promotion cooperation with the VHL
The Václav Havel Library welcomes the mutual exchange of links and the publication of our banners and information about our events. For more information, contact us directly.
Volunteers
The Václav Havel Library welcomes volunteers who would like to assist in our work.