Hands – Velvet Revolution Memorial

3D Model

The Velvet Revolution Memorial memorial plaque commemorates the events that sparked the revolution in Czechoslovakia.

It is located in Prague at Národní třída where on November 17, 1989, a large number of peaceful demonstrators marched into the city centre to express their opposition to the then communist regime. The demonstrators were stopped by a cordon of riot police at Národní Street. They blocked all escape routes and attacked the students.

The memorial titled Hands by the authors Otakar Příhoda and Miroslav Krátký is a bronze plaque with the inscription “17. 11. 1989”. Eight human hands emerge from the board, showing various gestures, the victorious “lid” widely used in the November 1989 demonstrations, and an outstretched empty palm that refers to the November motto “We have bare hands.”

The memorial plaque is an important place for the celebration of the Day of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy. Annually, statesmen and citizens lay wreaths and flowers under it.