In Černošice today, Havel's bench will be unveiled

Havel's bench in Kroměříž

Černošice (near Prague) - Today, Černošice becomes yet another place in the world where a bench dedicated to President Václav Havel has been unveiled, who would have turned eighty years old on October 5. According to the Václav Havel Library website, two chairs connected by a round table, through the center of which a tree grows, have previously been placed at 17 locations. Now, people can also sit on Havel's bench in the square in Černošice. According to the initiator and deputy mayor of Dobřichovice, Michael Pánek, they are meant to remind everyone not only of Havel's legacy but also of the suffering of political prisoners during the communist regime.

"The current ridicule of the legacy of this Czech president led me to want to remind his legacy in a time that favors former agents of the communist secret police StB, communists, and various other elements," Pánek told ČTK.

He considers Havel's important legacy to be the willingness to sit at the same table and talk together, which is also symbolized by the aforementioned bench. "Even if we are people of different opinions, different political and religious beliefs, it is still very important that we sit at the same table and talk together and look for the truth together," said the deputy mayor.

The ceremonial unveiling of the bench, created according to the design of architect Bořek Šípek, will also be attended in Černošice by the Minister of Culture Daniel Herman (KDU-ČSL) and former director of the press department of the presidential office and senator Jiří Oberfalzer (ODS).

Building Václav Havel benches is a global project initiated by Czech Ambassador to the USA Petr Gandalovič along with Šípek. The aim of the project was to create a network of places in public spaces meant for meetings, dialogues, and debates. The first bench was made accessible in the USA at Georgetown University in October 2013; installations followed in Dublin, Barcelona, Prague, České Budějovice, Venice, Hradec Králové, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary, and Liberec. They are also located at universities in Tel Aviv and Oxford. The latest bench was installed in mid-September in Kroměříž.