Nazism and communism in Prague: history and free walking tour (2026)

The history of the 20th century in Prague does not begin in 1939 or end in 1989. It starts in 1918 with the First Czechoslovak Republic, the most stable democracy in Central Europe between the two World Wars, and does not end until 1993, when Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two countries. For the full context, see our guide to the history and culture of the Czech Republic.

Between those two dates: Nazi occupation, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, deportations, Terezín, the boldest assassination of the Second World War, forty years of communism, the Prague Spring, Jan Palach, the Velvet Revolution and the first government without a communist majority since 1948.

All of that, or the best part of it, is in Prague's New Town. In the buildings you can see as you walk. In the plaques on the walls. In the basements where it happened.

The Nazism and Communism free tour

ODISEA's Nazism and Communism free tour covers the part of Prague's history that standard tours leave out. While the Old Town free tour focuses on medieval Prague, this one walks through 20th-century Prague: Nazi occupation, resistance, communism and its fall.

• Meeting point: in front of ZARA, Na Příkopě 15
• Duration: about 2 h 30
• Price: free tour, with a voluntary tip at the end
• Language: Spanish
• Times and booking: on the tour page

The tour is not chronological; it is spatial. The route follows the physical places where events happened, and the guide builds the historical context as the group moves through the city.

The route: tour stops

Wenceslas Square and the National Museum (Václavské náměstí)

Wenceslas Square is where the tour starts and the stage for the three great moments of the 20th century in Prague.

1968: the Prague Spring ended with Warsaw Pact tanks, which rolled into the city on the night of 20 to 21 August. Citizens surrounded the tanks, argued with the soldiers and placed Czechoslovak flags on the gun barrels. The resistance could not stop the invasion, but it was captured in photographs that went around the world.

1969: on 16 January, the student Jan Palach, aged 20, doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire at the top of the square, in front of the National Museum. He died on 19 January. It was not an act of despair: it was a calculated protest against Czech society's resignation to Soviet occupation. He left a letter with concrete demands. The plaque in the pavement, on the exact spot, always has flowers.

1989: on 17 November, police violently broke up a student demonstration on Národní Street. In the following days, hundreds of thousands of people filled Wenceslas Square every evening, jingling keys: the sound of keys became the sound of the Velvet Revolution. On 29 December, Václav Havel was elected president. Six weeks, without a single death.

Jungmann Square and the Adria Palace

In the basement of the Adria Palace, at the Laterna Magika theatre, Václav Havel's Civic Forum met in November 1989. The fall of the regime was organised from there, a few metres from Wenceslas Square.

Kafka's head (Hlava Franze Kafky)

David Černý's rotating head of Franz Kafka was installed in 2014 next to the Quadrio shopping centre, at the exit of Národní třída metro station. It is made of 42 steel layers that rotate independently and, at certain points in the cycle, form Kafka's face.

Kafka was born in Prague, wrote in German and never fully identified with Czech, Jewish or German culture. The ambiguity of identity that runs through all his work, the character who does not know what crime he has committed and does not understand the system judging him, is also the ambiguity of 20th-century Prague: a city that was Czech, Austrian, German, Jewish, Soviet and Czech again, without any of those identities ever being complete or final.

The rotating head is the perfect metaphor: depending on when you look at it, you see a different face.

Národní Street: the butterfly planes and 17 November

On Národní Street there is a work that fuses Spitfire planes with butterflies, in memory of the Czechoslovak RAF pilots: they fought the Nazis from Britain and, after the communist coup of 1948, many were persecuted and imprisoned by the new regime.

A few metres further on, under the arcade at number 16, a relief of raised hands marks the spot where police charged the students on 17 November 1989. It was the spark of the Velvet Revolution.

The National Theatre (Národní divadlo)

The National Theatre is the symbol of the 19th-century Czech National Revival, the cultural movement that asserted Czech identity against Austro-Hungarian domination. It was built with popular donations, Czech by Czech, crown by crown. It burned down during construction in 1881, was rebuilt in two years and reopened in 1883.

In the context of the tour, the National Theatre stands for Czech cultural identity: what the Nazis tried to suppress and what survived. Next to it is the corner dedicated to Václav Havel's heart.

The Dancing House (Tančící dům)

By the river stands the Dancing House, the Frank Gehry and Vlado Milunić building completed in 1996 on the site of a building destroyed by the American bombing of February 1945 (the aircrews mistook Prague for Dresden, which was being bombed in those same days).

The Dancing House has a popular nickname: Fred and Ginger, the glass building that dances above the concrete figure holding it up, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is the symbol of postmodern Prague, a city that built something entirely new over the scars of the 20th century. Read more in our article on the Dancing House.

The crypt of Saints Cyril and Methodius

This is where the tour ends. The moment groups remember weeks later.

In the crypt of the Orthodox Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, on Resslova Street next to Charles Square, the final battle of Operation Anthropoid, the boldest assassination of the Second World War, was fought on 18 June 1942.

The full story:

On 27 May 1942, the Slovak paratrooper Jozef Gabčík tries to shoot Reinhard Heydrich, "the Butcher of Prague" and one of the architects of the Holocaust, as his official car slows down on a bend in the Libeň district. The submachine gun jams. His Czech comrade Jan Kubiš throws a modified grenade. Heydrich dies of his wounds on 4 June.

It was the only successful assassination of a Nazi leader of his rank during the entire war, in a mission organised by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London with the support of the British SOE.

The Nazi reprisal is immediate and brutal: Lidice, a village 20 km from Prague accused without evidence of helping the attackers, is completely destroyed. Its 173 men are shot. Its 184 women are deported to Ravensbrück. Its 88 children are sent to extermination camps (17 survive). The village is wiped off the map: demolished, burned and the ground levelled.

Gabčík, Kubiš and five other paratroopers hide in the church crypt. They are betrayed by Karel Čurda, another paratrooper, who turns himself in to the Gestapo. On 18 June, about 750 SS soldiers surround the church. The fighting lasts hours. The Germans try to flood the crypt with fire hoses through the vent that opens onto the street. The paratroopers hold out until they run out of ammunition.

They all die. None of them surrenders.

The crypt is now a memorial and museum, one of the most sober and intense in Prague. The bullet marks are still on the façade, around the vent. There is an entrance fee: check opening hours and prices on its website before you go.

Why it is the most intense moment of the tour: the guide tells the story of how they died in the exact place where it happened. Seven people held out for hours against hundreds of SS soldiers. When the guide finishes, groups usually fall silent.

Near the route: the Lucerna passage (pasáž Lucerna)

It is not part of the route, but it is two minutes from Wenceslas Square. Lucerna, the complex of theatre, cinema, concert halls and shopping arcades built by Václav Havel's grandfather, was confiscated by the communists in 1948 and returned to the family after 1989.

Inside hangs a sculpture by David Černý: King Wenceslas riding a dead horse, hanging upside down from the ceiling of the passage. It is Černý's ironic answer to the official equestrian statue of Wenceslas on the square. The same figure, two completely different readings of national identity.

Why do this tour before the Terezín day trip

If you are doing both, do the free tour first and the Terezín day trip afterwards. The order is not random.

The free tour sets the framework: the Nazi occupation of Prague, Operation Anthropoid, the Lidice reprisal, the deportation system. Terezín turns that framework into something physical and concrete. The story the guide tells at the crypt (Heydrich, the deportation of Prague's Jews, the context of the Holocaust) hits harder when the next day you stand in the place some 140,000 people passed through. We explain it in our Terezín day trip guide.

Booking the Nazism and Communism free tour

The tour runs with groups of up to 30 people. Booking is done on the website, it is free and it holds your place; in high season it is best to book ahead.

Book your place on the Nazism and Communism free tour

Frequently asked questions

What was Operation Anthropoid? The mission organised by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile, with the support of the British SOE, to kill Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and one of the architects of the Holocaust. On 27 May 1942, the paratroopers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš attacked his car in Prague. Heydrich died on 4 June.

Where is the Operation Anthropoid crypt in Prague? In the Orthodox Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Resslova 9, Prague 2, next to Charles Square. It is a memorial and museum with an entrance fee; check opening hours and prices on its website before you go.

What happened in Lidice? Lidice was a village 20 km from Prague. It was completely destroyed in reprisal for Heydrich's death: 173 men shot, 184 women deported to Ravensbrück and 88 children sent to extermination camps. The village was demolished and burned. 153 women and 17 children survived. The Lidice memorial, on the site of the village, is about 30 minutes by car from Prague.

What is the difference between the Old Town free tour and the Nazism and Communism free tour? The Old Town tour covers medieval Prague: the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square and the Jewish Quarter. The Nazism and Communism tour covers 20th-century Prague: the Nazi occupation, Operation Anthropoid, Jan Palach and the Velvet Revolution. Both start at Na Příkopě 15 and work well on different days.

Do I need to know history to enjoy the tour? No. The guide builds all the context along the way. All you need is about two and a half hours and a willingness to hear a story that is, at several points, emotionally intense.

If you want to widen the context, the Terezín day trip is the natural continuation of this tour. And to plan the rest of your visit, see our guide to what to do in Prague in 2 days.