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Economist, philosopher and writer Tomáš Sedláček takes over as head of Václav Havel Library  03/03/25

“I’m proud that I have been given the trust to develop and cultivate the legacy of Václav Havel and that I can join the Library’s great team. I intend to put all my energies into building a world-class platform that will face forward and be attractive to the new generation of people who care about the spirit of Europe. I would like to bring Havel-style optimism and values back to the public sphere. That is desperately needed right now, and that too is why I regard my new role as a major commitment,” Tomáš Sedláček said in connection with his appointment as director of the Vaclav Havel Library today. More

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Change in Library leadership  23/10/24

Today, Wednesday 23 October 2024, Milan Babík decided to resign from the post of director of the Václav Havel Library for personal reasons. The Board of Trustees have accepted his explanation with understanding: “Milan Babík has done a great deal of work. Since June, when he took over, he has succeeded in enriching the Library’s activities, including the launch of projects that should culminate in 2026 in connection with the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth,” said the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Gabriel Eichler. Until a successor to Milan Babík is chosen, the Board of Trustees, as the statutory body, will assume some of his responsibilities, working closely with the Václav Havel Library team.

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Truth and love never rust  03/10/24

On the occasion of its 20th birthday, the Václav Havel Library is launching a new fundraising campaign. It aims to commemorate an important milestone in the VHL’s existence and to address new donors. The author of the communication concept TRUTH AND LOVE NEVER RUST is idea maker Martin Halaxa, while art director Jan Lesák is behind the graphic design. The campaign primarily draws on materials from the Library’s archive, which currently holds over 80,000 items. It is based on relatively little-known video footage of Václav Havel in various situations in his life, as well as images by photographers closely associated with him: Tomki Němec, Oldřich Škácha and Přemysl Fialka. The actor David Prachař has given his voice to the campaign, with musical accompaniment coming from the famous underground band Psí vojáci. More

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Why Should We Care?  02/10/24

The conference in honour of the laureate of the Václav Havel Prize for 2024, provocatively entitled "What's it to us?", starts at two o'clock! The programme can be found HERE. We look forward to seeing you there! 

Where and when?

Program for May 2025<>

entry-free

The VH Library at Záložka

The VH Library at Záložka

  • Where: Castle Litomerice
  • When: May 1, 2025, 10:00 – 18:00

The second annual Záložka book festival is organised by the town of Litoměřice and the local Karel Hynek Mácha Library. Among the attractions will be a Václav Havel Library stand.

The Russian Klondike in Czechia: A Talk with Jiří Hynek

The Russian Klondike in Czechia: A Talk with Jiří Hynek

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 5, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Jiří Hynek, an investigative reporter with the website Odkryto.cz, mapped the influence of Russian oligarchs on Czech territory for over 20 years for Czech Television, shining a light on the dark shadows of Russian activities in the Czech Republic. What goes on within the walls of properties with murky ownership and behind the curtain of relations within the Orthodox Church? How do Russian politicians and influential tycoons promote their interests in this country? All this and more will be discussed during a talk linked to Jiří Hynek’s book Ruský Klondike (The Russian Klondike in Czechia), which explores how international sanctions have impacted Russian influence in Czechia.

Eugen Brikcius: The Next District to Ours

Eugen Brikcius: The Next District to Ours

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 6, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Eugen Brikcius, a poet, writer, philosopher and visual artist, who has received the Jaroslav Seifert Prize and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, will introduce his new autobiographical novel with hoax elements Kraj náš vezdejší (The Next District to Ours). The legendary bard will be introduced by Jáchym Topol.

Dissidents in Power: The Czech Path to Freedom and Democracy

Dissidents in Power: The Czech Path to Freedom and Democracy

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 12, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Thirty-five years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, the Soviet-Russian empire began to crumble and Czechs embarked on the road to freedom. What was the role of the Czech dissent and Charter 77 in this process? What were the greatest achievements, and mistakes, of the former dissidents who were in power during the transformation of the totalitarian state into a liberal democracy? How is Czech society coming to terms with the communist past? And how can the dissident experience inspire today’s opponents of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes? These questions have given rise to Disidenti u moci. Česká cesta ke svobodě a demokracii (Dissidents in Power: The Czech Path to Freedom and Democracy), a book of essays and interviews edited by historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček and issued by the Bourdon publishing house.

Guests: Eda Kriseová, Kamila Bendová, Daniel Kroupa, Jan Urban and Jan Dobrovský.

Petr Hlaváček of Collegium Europaeum and FORUM 24 will moderate.

Debate with Respekt

Debate with Respekt

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 13, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

A discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more details visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

In Conversation With… Semyon Bychkov

In Conversation With… Semyon Bychkov

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 14, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

The Soviet-born American conductor Semyon Bychkov has been a key figure in Czech culture since becoming chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic, a position he will have held for a decade when his time with the country’s most prestigious orchestra ends after the 2027–28 season. This special edition of In Conversation With… – a series of occasional English-language talks helmed by Ian Willoughby of Radio Prague International – will provide a rare opportunity to hear the great conductor speak in person about his life and career, as well as his relationship to Czech music and Prague.

The VH Library at Book World Prague

The VH Library at Book World Prague

  • Where: Výstaviště Praha - Holešovice, Areál Výstaviště 67, 170 90 Praha 7
  • When: May 15, 2025, 09:30 – May 18, 2025, 19:00

You will be able to visit our stand carrying books, posters and other essentials throughout the entire Book World in Hall A at Výstaviště Praha. Our newest title – a collection of Václav Havel's speeches entitled Péče o stát (Care for the State) – will be presented by its editor Anna Freimanová, the director of the Václav Havel Library Tomáš Sedláček and other guests at the Václav Havel Hall on Friday 16 May at 11 am.

Broumov Discussions: Culture and Reciprocity

Broumov Discussions: Culture and Reciprocity

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 15, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

This gathering will present this year’s theme of the Broumov Discussions autumn conference and introduce the spring opening debate in Prague. Guests will include Deputy Minister of Culture David Kašpar, arts events organiser Stanislav Pitaš and others. Journalist Josefína Formanová will moderate. How does politics influence culture, and vice versa? What role do artists play in social debate? Is culture a source of conflict or understanding? How should the state approach the arts? Can culture be an agent of social or political development? What is it like to “do culture” in the regions? And what does culture even mean to us today?

Organised in cooperation with the non-profit Broumov Educational and Cultural Centre.

Radomyr Mokryk: Ukraine and Russia – A Story of Cultural Colonisation?

Radomyr Mokryk: Ukraine and Russia – A Story of Cultural Colonisation?

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 19, 2025, 17:00 – 18:30

The conquest logic of the Putin regime is highly transparent and is based on a specific interpretation of history and culture. While statues of Lenin and Pushkin are being removed in Ukraine, in the West the belief that culture is not to blame for the war is spreading. How is culture actually being abused? What role do Soviet politics or historical concepts play in the war? What did the Ukrainian 20th century look like within the Soviet empire, and what were the aims of the Ukrainian dissent? These questions will be answered by the Ukrainian historian Radomyr Mokryk, who will introduce his book Příběh kulturní kolonizace: Ukrajina v sovětském impériu (The Story of Cultural Colonisation: Ukraine in the Soviet Empire).

Jáchym Topol will chair the discussion.

Homecomings: The Post-War Fates of Holocaust Survivors

Homecomings: The Post-War Fates of Holocaust Survivors

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 19, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

The cultural and historical memory of returning Holocaust survivors is a topic that links individual experiences and the broader geopolitical context. This roundtable will focus on the stories of those who faced the challenges of repatriation, reconstruction of identity and social acceptance in the post-war period. The differences between returns to Greece and Czechoslovakia will be discussed on the basis of the books Homecoming: Holocaust Survivors and Greece, 1941-1946 by Kateřina Králová and Rozpolcená doba, rozptýlené životy (Divided Times, Scattered Lives) by Daniela Groll-Spenser. The authors will discuss their motivations and methodology and key issues, such as the plurality of Holocaust experiences and the importance of historical memory for the present day.

Moderated by Pavlína Šulcová, director of the Bubny Centre for Memory and Dialogue.

Jaroslav Spurný: Vrbětice – Russian Operation

Jaroslav Spurný: Vrbětice – Russian Operation

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 20, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

In the book Vrbětice: ruská operacekterá změnila Česko (Vrbětice: the Russian Operation that Changed Czechia), Jaroslav Spurný, an investigative journalist with the weekly Respekt, tells the gripping story of journalists' search for the perpetrators of explosions at the Vrbětice ammunition depot. Based on facts and circumstantial evidence, the book links the 2014 attack by a Russian intelligence unit on Czech territory – which resulted in two casualties and huge material damage – to the Kremlin’s interest in clawing back influence in the former satellites of the former Soviet Union, including the Czech Republic. The author describes not only the domestic investigation of the Vrbětice case, but also the related activities of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence service, from the time of the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia to the present day.

The debate will be moderated by journalist Ondřej Kundra.

Circus Europe: Europe Between Trump and Putin

Circus Europe: Europe Between Trump and Putin

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 21, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Putin's Russia is waging a genocidal war against Ukraine, which it sees as a proxy conflict with Europe and the West. But under Donald Trump the United States of America – hitherto the leader of the free world – is now hostile to Europe while negotiating with Russia. The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked NATO and EU allies. Are we witnessing the end of the Western alliance? What might the future hold for Europe? What can we expect from the US and Russia? What role will China play? And what will this mean for the Czech Republic? Taking part in the debate will be political analyst Jiří Pehe, essayist and political commentator Tomáš Klvaňa and Johana Hovorková, editor-in-chief of news outlet FORUM 24.

Historian and philosopher Petr Hlaváček will moderate. 

Circus Europe is a discussion series, prepared by Collegium Europaeum in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library, focused on current issues of the West, Europe and the Czech Republic in broader contexts and perspectives.

Vaculík’s A Czech Dreambook: A Critical Edition

Vaculík’s A Czech Dreambook: A Critical Edition

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 22, 2025, 16:00 – 18:00

Ludvík Vaculík’s novel Český snář (A Czech Dreambook) is being published on the Česká knižnice imprint, with the new edition split into two volumes: the first contains a critical edition of the novel and accompanying texts focusing on A Czech Dreambook as a unique work of art; the second contains commentaries on contemporary realities, the development of the text and its reception and more. The publication has been prepared by Petr Šámal, Daniela Iwashita, Michal Kosák and Hana Kosáková, who will take part in the discussion. Literary historian and editor Michael Špirit and archivist Petr Kotyk will also speak as part of the evening’s programme, while Ondřej and Jan Vaculík, as well as those who lived through those times and served as models for the novel’s characters, will recall the circumstances of the work’s creation as well as the personality of its author. The evening, which will explore the complex history of the text of A Czech Dreambook, will be helmed by Jáchym Topol.

The Free Academy: Rony Plesl

The Free Academy: Rony Plesl

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 22, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Design should be appealing – but art should rip your guts ou

This academic-style lecture, which I have never presented publicly before, is based on my many years of experience in both sculpture and design. It focuses on the difference between designers who create for industry and artists whose work is primarily driven by their own conscience. - Rony Plesl

Rony Plesl (1965) is a major Czech artist, sculptor, designer and teacher. His work is utterly unique in the field of both free art and design. Rather than confronting contemporary trends, he follows impulses from various artistic disciplines, literature and film. He explores the limits of fused glass sculpture, deliberately treating it as a conventional sculptural medium.

Launch N: The Human Dimension

Launch N: The Human Dimension

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 26, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

We cordially invite you to the launch of Lidský rozměr (The Human Dimension), a book of interviews by Karolína Klinková, a journalist with the newspaper Deník N. Her thoughtful questions symbolically discard seemingly banal truths about life and ask with sincere curiosity – how to be a human being in the 21st century, with all the familial, social and psychological roles that go with that? The “baptism” of the book and subsequent discussion with the author will be helmed by Vítek Svoboda, while anthropologist Marie Heřmanová will also be a guest.

Are We Facing an Economic Nuclear Winter?

Are We Facing an Economic Nuclear Winter?

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 27, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

Plain insanity, or a well-thought-out approach that can have positive consequences for the US and the democratic world? Is the Trump administration’s economic policy built on long-outdated concepts? What does the world’s reaction tell us about the current position of the US within it? Can the US defeat the entire world economically? The new reality six months after the election of Donald Trump will be discussed by Miroslav Singer, former governor of the Czech National Bank; Alexandr Vondra, former minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic and ambassador to the USA and current MEP; and Martin Ehl, chief analyst with Hospodářské noviny. The discussion will be moderated by Matyáš Zrno, editor-in-chief of Aktuálně.cz

This debate kicks off the new series Aktuálně from the Library, run by the website Aktuálně.cz from the Economia publishing house.

The Dalai Lama – Havel – Prague 1990

The Dalai Lama – Havel – Prague 1990

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 28, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

"Václav Havel summoned me to his office and spoke to me briefly: 'You know more about Tibet and the Dalai Lama than I do, and you brought me the messenger with his letter. Nobody’s got any time here now, everybody’s busy, so make it happen," recalls Saša Neuman, the most qualified of the president's associates and co-author of Dalajláma – Havel – Praha 1990 (The Dalai Lama – Havel – Prague 1990), about preparations for the Dalai Lama’s first visit. He will present the book alongside photographer Stanislav Doležal, ethnologist Zuzana Ondomišiová, businesswoman Dagmar Havlová and writer Eda Kriseová.

The evening will begin with a screening of David Ondříček’s documentary Om. The programme is dedicated to His Holiness’s 90th birthday and his unusual friendship with Václav Havel.   

New Biography of Václav and Kamila Benda

New Biography of Václav and Kamila Benda

  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: May 29, 2025, 19:00 – 21:00

The author Alice Horáčková has written Václav a Kamila Bendovi (Václav and Kamila Benda), a biography of Václav (1946–1999) and Kamila (1946) Benda, who were leading figures in the Czech dissent. In her history of one extraordinary relationship, she draws on archival documents, correspondence, texts from his estate and the recollections of friends, fellow prisoners and leading politicians. The evening will include a screening of video footage from 1978. At that time, Václav Benda, a doctor of philosophy and cyberneticist, was sweltering in a boiler room in Spálená St., having ideas for one of his greatest texts, Noční kádrový dotazník (The Night Cadre Questionnaire), and observing as the talented mathematician Kamila ran a household with five young children. The book’s protagonists Kamila Bendová, Jiří Gruntorád and Štěpán Benda will take part in a debate with the author.

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.

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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.

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Conferences & prizes

Illustration

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.

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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.

Illustration

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.

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Václav Havel

Václav Havel
* 5. 10. 1936 Praha
† 18. 12. 2011 Hrádeček u Trutnova

1936
Foto
Václav Havel grew up
in a well-known, wealthy entrepreneurial
and intellectual family.
1951
Foto
Václav Havel completed primary schooling. Because
of his "bourgeois" background, options for
higher education were limited.
1951
Foto
Václav Havel worked as a chemical laboratory technician
while attending evening classes at a high school
from which he graduated in 1954.
1955
Foto
Václav Havel studied at the
Economics Faculty of the Czech
Technical University in Prague.
1960
Foto
Václav Havel began working at Prague's Theatre on
the Balustrade, first as a stagehand and later as
an assistant director and literary manager.
1963
Foto
Havel´s first play The Garden
Party was staged at Prague's
Theatre on the Balustrade.
1964
Foto
Václav Havel
married Olga
Splichalova.
1966
Foto
VH finished studies at at the
Theatre Faculty of the Academy of
Performing Arts in Prague .
1968
Foto
Václav Havel played an active role in
democratization and renewal of culture during the
era of reforms, known as Prague Spring.
1969
Foto
Havel's work were banned in Czechoslovakia. He
moved from Prague to the country, continued
his activities against the Communist regime.
1974
Foto
Václav Havel worked as a manual laborer
at a local brewery near Hrádeček in
the north of the Czech Republic.
1975
Foto
Václav Havel wrote an open
letter to President Gustav Husak,
criticizing the government.
1977
Foto
Václav Havel co-founded the Charter 77
human rights initiative and was one
of its first spokesmen.
1978
Foto
Václav Havel co-founded The
Committee for the Defense
of the Unjustly Prosecuted.
1979
Foto
Václav Havel was imprisoned several times
for his beliefs, his longest prison
term lasting from 1979 to 1983.
1989
Foto
Václav Havel emerged as one of the
leaders of the November opposition movement, also
known as the Velvet Revolution.
1990
Foto
Václav Havel is elected
President of Czechoslovakia on
December 29.
1993
Foto
Václav Havel is elected, after the
dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the first President
of the Czech Republic.
1996
Foto
On January
27, Olga
Havlova died.
1997
Foto
Václav Havel married Dagmar Veskrnova,
a popular and acclaimed Czech theatrical,
television and movie actress.
1999
Foto
Václav Havel enabled the entry of
the Czech Republic into the North
Atlantic Treat Organisation (NATO).
2003
Foto
Václav Havel left office after
his second term as Czech
president ended on 2 February 2003.
2004
Foto
Foundation of Václav
Havel Library in
Prague.
2004
Foto
The Czech Republic became the 35th
member State of the Council of
Europe on 30 June 1993.
2010
Foto
Václav Havel directed
a film adaptation of
his play Leaving.
2011
Foto
Václav Havel died at his
summer house Hrádeček in the
north of the Czech Republic.
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Educational projects

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Archive / Documentation centre / Research projects

Dokumentační centrum

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.

  • 78061 records in total
  • 32330 of events in the VH's life
  • 2831 of VH's texts
  • 2125 of photos 
  • 407of videos
  • 569of audios
  • 6583of letters
  • 15100of texts about VH
  • 8602 of books
  • 43779of 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.

Illustration

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”.

Illustration

Gallery of key figures of Oldřich Škácha

The Gallery of Key Figures of Oldřich Škácha presents unique and previously unknown photographs of Ludvík Vaculík, Jan Werich, Milan Kundera, Marta Kubišová and many other important personalities as an authentic and original source of knowledge about our modern history.

Illustration

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.

Illustration

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.

Illustration

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.”  

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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
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Support us

We are well aware that freedom and democracy must be nurtured. Here at Ostrovní 13, but also on the audiovisual platform Havel Channel, we strive to do so through our own educational programmes, talks, discussion meetings, books, exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances. We honour Václav Havel's legacy and wish that the Library be a living organism and open to all. That is why our programme is free of charge for everyone. This would not be possible without regular financial support from our supporters. Become one of them...
Václav Havel

Support us with a financial donation

Does our work make sense to you and do you want to support the activities of the Vaclav Havel Library?

You can easily make a one-time payment by scanning the QR code.

Would you like to contribute regularly? Then we invite you to become a member of the Vaclav Havel Library Friends Club. What are the benefits of membership? Find out more.

I want to support: Darujme.cz Friends club

Help us expand the archive

The Vaclav Havel Library manages an archive of writings, documents, photographs, video recordings and other materials related to the life and work of Vaclav Havel. This archive is predominantly in digital form. If you or someone close to you owns any original texts, correspondence, photographs, speeches or any other work by Vaclav Havel, we would be grateful if you could contact us.

ArchiveContact

You can donate in other ways too

Supporting a specific charitable or public benefit organization whose activities you appreciate or have been supporting for a long time is also possible through a will. This form of donation is quite common abroad, but in the Czech Republic this tradition is only just taking root.

Share information about us

The Vaclav Havel Library is open to media and promotional cooperation, mutual sharing of links, publishing our banners or information about our events.

For more information, please contact us.

Contact for PR & media

Donations have their rules

At the Vaclav Havel Library, we uphold a transparent, responsible and ethical way of dealing with all those who contribute to fulfilling our purpose and implementing our strategy. Our code of ethics summarizes the basic rules of donations.

Code of conduct

Get involved in volunteering

Would you like to get involved as a volunteer? That's great. We welcome anyone who wants to help our work.

Contact for volunteers

Partners

Strategic partner

Bakala Foundation

Main partners

Karel Komárek Family FoundationMoneta Money BankAsiana Group

Our projects are financially supported by

Ministerstvo zahraničních věcí ČRMinisterstvo kultury ČRHlavní město PrahaStátní fond kulturyUS Embassy

Supported by

VŠEMP3chemRockefeller Brothers FundČtení pomáháRicohJan BartaSekyra Foudation

Cooperating with

Česká centraNadace Charty 77Václav Havel Centre