Prague, National Avenue

One of the main streets of central Prague dividing the Old and New Town, it has always been an important place for Prague society. It wrote itself into our modern history on 17 November 1989, when it was witness to the brutal repression of a peaceful student demonstration by the communist police force. Official and independent organisations had called for a manifestation on 17 November to honour International Students’ Day. After completing the approved section of the procession from Albertov to Vyšehrad, the majority of the thousands-strong crowd wanted to head to St Wenceslas Square. Because the other routes were blocked by security forces, the crowd headed along the Vltava river bank, past the National Theatre and on to National Avenue. The demonstrators were stopped before the crossroads with Spálená Street by a cordon of policemen; another line of policeman in riot gear was advancing from the National Theatre. Some of the demonstrators managed to slip out by the side streets, but in the end the crowd was completely surrounded and brutally thrashed by the riot police. This resulted in dozens of light and heavy injuries. The following day a rumour spread that the extraordinarily brutal police intervention had caused the death of one student, Martin Šmíd – this led to nation-wide protests which ended in the collapse of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.