Vaclav Havel Library
Vaclav Havel Library
3.5
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Friday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Saturday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
About
The Vaclav Havel Library is located at the address Ostrovni 13, Prague 1. The building’s ground-floor spaces is dedicated to an exhibition "Vaclav Havel or Havel in a nutshell" and used for VHL club events – all kinds of seminars, readings, exhibitions, lectures, concerts and theatre performances. The Library’s archive, constantly expanding library, and reading room are located on the first floor.
Duration: < 1 hour
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The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Nove Mesto (New Town)
Nearly 700 hundred metres long, Wenceslas Square represents the most frequent and buzzing crossroads of the city. The National Museum in the upper part of the square watches over your spending spree in countless shops and retail stores lining the entire square, which ends at Na Příkopě, the most famous shopping street. When tired or broke, you can explore the city's underpasses, which can take you to the Old Town or to the courtyards of art nouveau houses with secret gems of greenery, white benches and rose bushes that provide unexpected peace in the midst of the city. Be sure to pay a visit to the traditional cafés, classic Czech pubs, cinemas and theatres. National Theatre near the river has a lot to offer to foreigners. Go to the river bank and enjoy live music and drinks while watching a sunset behind Prague Castle.
How to get there
- national Ave • 3 min walk
- bridge • 7 min walk
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3.5
4 reviews
Excellent
2
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Average
1
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Terrible
1
Paramita S
Jakarta, Indonesia66 contributions
Aug 2022
I was so curious about this place, since i have heard about Vaclav Havel' s achievements, when i was a university undergraduate student.
But it seems this place was not so open for public so I was in doubt to enter the building.
But i was glad to know this is one of historical sites in Prague
But it seems this place was not so open for public so I was in doubt to enter the building.
But i was glad to know this is one of historical sites in Prague
Written 27 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
G Unit
13 contributions
Mar 2019 • Couples
After reading a favourable review in lonely planet and being someone interested in Czech history I sought this place out. You have to ring a buzzer and are then asked what you are there for. You are then shown to a tiny room without any explanation or introduction.
On the walls is some basic information about havels life and work which you can read in about ten minutes. There are no other facilities and you can’t even read or buy his books.
I’m sure they do some useful work there but it is not inviting or interesting to normal visitors. It is a huge missed opportunity with all the visitors to Prague when you could showcase his work and why it mattered. It should be a museum of democracy showing how the struggle was waged and why it matters today. At the moment it is a total irrelevance.
MUST DO BETTER
On the walls is some basic information about havels life and work which you can read in about ten minutes. There are no other facilities and you can’t even read or buy his books.
I’m sure they do some useful work there but it is not inviting or interesting to normal visitors. It is a huge missed opportunity with all the visitors to Prague when you could showcase his work and why it mattered. It should be a museum of democracy showing how the struggle was waged and why it matters today. At the moment it is a total irrelevance.
MUST DO BETTER
Written 5 May 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dmitriy B
Moscow, Russia19 contributions
Aug 2018 • Solo
Vaclav Havel - a playwright, poet, intellectual and the first post-communstic President of Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic. I did not know too much about Vaclav Havel except for the fact, that Czech people respects him. That is why, on my Czech trip (20-25 of August) I have decided to explore more about him.
The Library is a little house with Knihovna Vaclava Havla billboard. You should press the call and the door will be opened by a very pleasant woman - Karolína Stránská (an ex protocol aide to Vaclav Havel, employee of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affair, Defence).
Compared to enormous JFK Library, Vaclav Havel Library have a rather small exposition, including an interactive guide to the important years and places in Vaclav Havel's life, picture gallery, little copy of Vaclav Havel's childhood house and some personal belongings (for example, a typewriter).
But the most interesting part of the visit was a half-hour discussion with Carolina (I wanted to take a picture with her, but did not have a chance) and some German man. We discussed different themes and it was a rather open, deep and intelligent discussion, and also I got a chance to find out a few facts about the late President. Because of that, the visit inspired me to discover something more about Havel, so I went to the bookstore and bought Vaclav Havel's Prague and Open Letters, and on Friday I bought Letters to Olga and To the Castle and Back.
So, if you want to know more about playwrite-president, don't miss the Library!
The Library is a little house with Knihovna Vaclava Havla billboard. You should press the call and the door will be opened by a very pleasant woman - Karolína Stránská (an ex protocol aide to Vaclav Havel, employee of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affair, Defence).
Compared to enormous JFK Library, Vaclav Havel Library have a rather small exposition, including an interactive guide to the important years and places in Vaclav Havel's life, picture gallery, little copy of Vaclav Havel's childhood house and some personal belongings (for example, a typewriter).
But the most interesting part of the visit was a half-hour discussion with Carolina (I wanted to take a picture with her, but did not have a chance) and some German man. We discussed different themes and it was a rather open, deep and intelligent discussion, and also I got a chance to find out a few facts about the late President. Because of that, the visit inspired me to discover something more about Havel, so I went to the bookstore and bought Vaclav Havel's Prague and Open Letters, and on Friday I bought Letters to Olga and To the Castle and Back.
So, if you want to know more about playwrite-president, don't miss the Library!
Written 28 August 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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