A Place of Memory and Commerce: Prague’s Lennon Wall, 1980–2025

In the early 1980s a monument to John Lennon appeared on Prague’s Velkopřevorské Square, where fans would gather on the anniversary of his death on 8 December. Originally small, spontaneous assemblies grew into anti-regime demonstrations marked by police intervention. The annual gatherings, which were taken over by the Central Committee of the Socialist Union of Youth in 1988 on the instructions of the Ministry of the Interior, were even discussed by the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. This seminar will also focus on the post-1989 tradition at the Lennon Wall and changes at this place of remembrance, which has gradually taken on a distinctly commercial character. It has been repeatedly repainted for various reasons and used for a number of projects. It has also become a model for similar places in other cities and countries.