Café Slavia: Meeting Place of Dissidents

This grand café opposite the National Theatre became the most dangerous coffeehouse in the city during Communist rule. While secret police watched from the street, dissidents sat by the large windows overlooking the Vltava River, openly discussing freedom and human rights. Café Slavia opened in August 1884 as a meeting place for artists and theatregoers. Writers like Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Kafka spent hours here. Composer Bedřich Smetana stopped by after performances. The elegant space with marble tables quickly became the heart of cultural life. Everything changed under Communist control. When most people were too afraid to speak freely, playwright Václav Havel made this café his regular meeting spot. He and other dissidents, including poet Jiří Kolář, gathered here throughout the 1970s and 1980s. They discussed banned books, planned underground theatre productions, and drafted human rights documents. Everyone knew Havel sat at the same table near the window. It was always kept free for him. In 1992, authorities forced the café to close. By then, Havel had become president after the Velvet Revolution. He fought hard for the café's return. When it finally reopened on November 17, 1997, Havel was in the hospital but sent a message. He called it a victory of reason over stupidity and a place where different voices could meet again.