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Ladronka

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Coordinates: 50°04′43″N 14°21′23″E / 50.0785°N 14.3563°E / 50.0785; 14.3563
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Ladronka
Front of the building
Ladronka in 2019
Map
General information
StatusFormerly vineyard, flats and self-managed social centre, now activity centre
TypeHomestead
AddressTomanova 1028/1
Town or cityPrague
CountryCzech Republic
Coordinates50°04′43″N 14°21′23″E / 50.0785°N 14.3563°E / 50.0785; 14.3563
Renovation cost80 million CZK (2005)

Ladronka is a homestead (usedlost) situated in a park in Břevnov, Prague 6, in the Czech Republic. Built by Charles IV in 1340, it was bought by an Italian count, then owned by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta before being broken into flats during the communist period. It was then squatted in 1993, becoming an internationally famous anarchist, self-managed social centre. The squatters organised gigs, exhibitions, readings and theatre, before being evicted in 2000 following the anti-globalization protests in Prague. After several years of renovation, Ladronka was re-opened as an activity centre in 2005, serving the surrounding park.

History

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Ladronka is located at Tomanova 1028/1 in the Břevnov district of Prague 6.[1] It was built as a homestead (usedlost) in 1340 by Charles IV, who later became Holy Roman Emperor. It was a vineyard and stopping point on the road to Karlštejn castle.[2][3] An Italian nobleman, Count Filip Ferdinand de la Crone (or Lacrone), bought the farm in 1688 and it came to be known as Ladronka, deriving from a Czech mispronunciation of his name as "Ladron". Ladronka was subsequently owned by the Catholic religious order the Sovereign Military Order of Malta until World War II. Afterwards it was used as a warehouse and then divided into flats under communism. Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, it stood derelict and was squatted.[2][3]

Self-managed social centre

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Ladronka was occupied by anarchists in 1993 and became a self-managed social centre.[4] Among the people living there was rapper Vladimír 518 [cs].[5] The squatters organised events such as gigs, exhibitions, readings and theatre, also publishing the magazine Autonomie.[3]

The squat was raided by police in February 1994 and the squatters mustered support with demonstrations and petitions. A year later in January 1995, police conducted a second raid in which they searched the entire building and arrested eight squatters. The squatters were not evicted but there were plans to turn the building into a hotel, so the squatters gathered support again. At a public meeting, local people voiced their opposition to the development plans. An eviction date had been set and on the day the squatters symbolically handed over a paper model of the building to the municipality and continued the occupation.[6]

The social centre became internationally famous as a hub for counter-cultural activities and anarchist organisation. The squatters formed the Ladronka Foundation and successfully negotiated with the city of Prague to legalise the occupation.[7] Hundreds of people attended concerts and events at Ladronka.[8] By the late 1990s, the focus of the centre was shifting from politics to cultural activities, as part of a general downturn in anarchist activity in the Czech Republic.[7]

By this time, the city had signed a contract with the Santé group, which planned to develop Ladronka into a luxury medical centre.[3] The social centre was evicted on 9 November 2000 by private security and police as part of a moral panic following the anti-globalization protests in Prague.[9][7] The eviction was not mandated by any judicial decision.[10] Social centre projects which followed in the tradition of Ladronka have included Squat Milada and Klinika.[11]

Activity centre

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After the squatters were evicted, Ladronka was used as a training facility for police dog handlers. Reconstruction plans were delayed by various factors such as the floods across Europe in 2002 and the discovery of archaeological remains on the site. Since the park surrounding the building, now known as Ladronka Park, was used for recreation, a plan was devised to use the Ladronka homestead as an activity centre.[12]

At a cost of 80 million CZK, financed by Prague 6 and the city of Prague, Ladronka was renovated. It now houses facilities for cycling, inline skating and other sports, including equipment hire, as well as a restaurant. Later, beach volleyball and football courts were added.[2] The activity centre was opened in September 2005, marking the 85th anniversary of Prague 6. The following year, the centre was voted Czech Building of the Year [cs].[3][11] Between 2009 and 2010, the facilities of the park were expanded to include a 4.2 kilometre skating course.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "Kontakt". www.ladronka.com (in Czech). Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Horáková, Pavla (16 November 2011). "Prague's Ladronka park offers something for everybody". Radio Prague International. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Eichler, Pavel (21 August 2006). "Bývalý squat Ladronka bojuje o titul Stavba roku [Former squat Ladronka competes for Building of the Year]". iDNES (in Czech). Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  4. ^ Pixová, Michaela (15 November 2019). Contested Czech Cities: From Urban Grassroots to Pro-democratic Populism. Springer Nature. p. 94. ISBN 978-981-329-709-8. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  5. ^ Bernáth, Nikolas (18 December 2017). "I just do what I want and I'm a kid in a candy shop. Vladimír 518". The Invisible Mag. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. ^ Trnka, Jan; Novák, Arnošt (2018). "Squatting in Prague". In Squatting Everywhere Kollective (ed.). Fighting for spaces, fighting for our lives: Squatting movements today (1 ed.). Münster: edition assemblage. pp. 151–166. ISBN 9783942885904.
  7. ^ a b c Novák, Arnošt; Pixová, Michaela (2016). "Prague Post-1989: Boom, decline and renaissance" (PDF). Baltic Worlds. 9 (1–2): 34–45. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  8. ^ Heller, Jakub (9 January 2019). "Ladronka, Milada či Klinika. Připomeňte si známé squaty a jejich neslavné konce [Ladronka, Milada and Klinika: Remembering the famous squats and their infamous endings]". Aktuálně (in Czech). Retrieved 27 November 2023. Ve vile se podobně jako v Ladronce pořádaly koncerty, festivaly a další setkání, které navštěvovaly stovky návštěvníků.
  9. ^ Steen, Bart van der (September 2014). The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present. PM Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-60486-683-4.
  10. ^ Novák, Arnošt; Kuřík, Bob (17 February 2020). "Rethinking radical activism: Heterogeneity and dynamics of political squatting in Prague after 1989". Journal of Urban Affairs. 42 (2): 203–221. doi:10.1080/07352166.2019.1565820. S2CID 159082940.
  11. ^ a b Heller, Jakub (9 January 2019). "Ladronka, Milada či Klinika. Připomeňte si známé squaty a jejich neslavné konce [Ladronka, Milada and Klinika: Remembering the famous squats and their infamous endings]". Aktuálně (in Czech). Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Současná Ladronka [Contemporary Ladronka]". ladronka.cz (in Czech). 22 February 2005. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  13. ^ Krupka, Jakub (17 May 2014). "Ladronka: Z centra alternativní kultury ráj in-line bruslařů [Ladronka: From the centre of alternative culture to a paradise for in-line skaters]". Deník (in Czech). Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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