Olšany Cemetery

Olšany Cemetery is the largest cemetery in Prague. It consists of 12 burial areas which have been differently dated, but the two largest ones, marked as Cemetery VIII and Cemetery IX, which represent the core of Olšany Cemetery, were consecrated in 1889. Olšany Cemetery acquired their current appearance and size as late as the 20^th century. Its graves and the names of people buried there provide a unique way of following Czech modern history. The cemetery’s design is the basis for the unique composition of its graves. Members of the Austrian-Hungarian navy, as well as legionnaires executed as a result of their struggle against Austria-Hungary, were buried in the same cemetery. While an entire section is reserved for members of the Soviet Red Army, the nearby graves of the so-called “Russian” or Orthodox section are the place of burial of the pre-revolutionary Russian emigration, who sought asylum in Czechoslovakia after 1918. The first Czechoslovak Prime Minister Karel Kramář, who advocated Czech-Russian political and cultural ties, was also buried there.

Graves of famous Czech actors are among the most visited. Olšany Cemetery also have the so-called “graves in the distance”, symbolic tombstones of fallen soldiers in the world wars, whose remains could not be transported to their homeland and given a proper burial. The first crematorium in Prague was opened in 1921 at Olšany Cemetery. The finance minister Alois Rašín was cremated there after his tragic death in 1923. The New Jewish Cemetery, where Franz Kafka was buried, is a part of Olšany Cemetery as well. The grave of the Czech Jan Palach, who self-immolated in 1969 in protest against the Soviet occupation, was declared a national cultural monument in 2019. Olšany Cemetery thus represents a truly diverse place of piety.