Karlovy Vary, West Bohemia, July 5 (CTK) – A Havel’s Place was unveiled in a park outside the Imperial Spa during the 50th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Sunday.
The ceremony was attended by Havel’s widow Dagmar Havlova, Culture Minister Daniel Herman, Karlovy Vary Mayor Petr Kulhanek and Vaclav Havel Library head Marta Smolikova.
The Havel’s Place, designed by architect Borek Sipek, is a memorial to the late president, thinker and playwright, consisting of two garden armchairs and a round table with a lime tree growing in the middle. The lime tree is a symbol of the Czech Republic.
Havel (1936-2011), a former dissident, was first Czechoslovak post-communist president in 1989-92 and first Czech president in 1993-2003.
Herman said setting up Havel’s Places was one of the ways in which Czech society claims allegiance to Havel who opened the space of freedom for the Czechs.
Smolikova said there were nine Havel’s Places in the world now. The first one was located in Washington, D. C.
