On 28 September 2026 the councillors of the town of Pelhřimov decided to name a previously nameless space between the schools, the district court and the library Václav Havel Park. 12 of the 20 councillors present raised their hands for the proposal [1]. The site is in the town centre, where at the end of the 19th century a space originally conceived as a new square was created, with a girls' school building, a court and a post office [1].*

History of the naming

The area went without a name for more than 30 years. Before the Velvet Revolution a statue of Julius Fučík stood here, after which the place was informally called Julius Fučík Park; after 1989 it lost this role and remained an undefined space [1]. Renaming was demanded by a petition with about 300 signatures, which was also supported by the Pelhřimov chronicle commission [1]. The debate about a new name resumed in connection with the approaching 90th anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel [1].

Alternative proposal

Councillor Pavel Hájek (Změna pro Pelhřimov) proposed naming the space after Josef Hrubant, a Pelhřimov mayor, teacher and legionnaire born in 1878 in Nová Cerekev and died in 1937, who was instrumental in building the present-day grammar school and in landscaping the area in front of it [1]. Only five councillors voted for this proposal [1].

Legacy and planned celebration

Councillor Iva Babincová (Pirates) said before the vote that an initiative called Pelhřimovská chvilka pro demokracii had arisen in Pelhřimov, which wants to hold a happening on the spot on the eve of Václav Havel's birthday, on 4 October, recalling the democratic ideas associated with his legacy [1]. Václav Havel, a playwright, the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the independent Czech Republic, was born on 5 October 1936 and died on 18 December 2011 [1].

Appearance of the space

The look of today's park was shaped by a reconstruction costing more than 20 million crowns carried out three years ago, in which paving, gravel surfaces and seating steps prevailed, while the amount of greenery was reduced [1]. Although the space is surrounded by state, regional and municipal institutions, their addresses are tied to the surrounding streets, so the new name of the park brings them no administrative change [1].

Chronology

  • — Pelhřimov city councillors approved the name Park Václava Havla for a previously unnamed public space between the schools, the district court and the library. Ekolist.cz

Sources

  1. Ekolist.cz (ČTK) — 28 September 2026