Statue of Antonín Zápotocký in Zákolany

The statue of Antonín Zápotocký in Zákolany is a bronze monument to a Czechoslovak communist politician, standing in a small park in the middle of this village near Kladno, in the Central Bohemian Region. The location is sometimes listed under the neighboring village of Kováry, but the statue itself physically stands in Zákolany — the village where Zápotocký was born.

Why is the statue here, of all places?

Antonín Zápotocký was born in Zákolany on 19 December 1884. It was in his home village that the Czechoslovak communist authorities chose to honor him with a monument: on the centenary of his birth, 19 December 1984, a bronze statue was unveiled, the work of sculptor Viktor Dobrovolný (1909–1987). The choice of location was deliberate — unveiling the statue in his birthplace on the anniversary date was meant to tie his political career back to his origins.

Who was Antonín Zápotocký?

Zápotocký is sometimes called Czechoslovakia's "second workers' president" — he succeeded Klement Gottwald as president in 1953 and held the office until his death in 1957. Before that he was part of the top leadership of the Communist Party and one of the figures responsible for building the totalitarian system after the February 1948 coup. He took part in organizing the political show trials of that period and co-decided on death sentences handed down against opponents of the regime. That part of his biography is why the monument still stirs strongly mixed feelings in the Czech Republic today.

Where did this particular statue come from?

The Zákolany statue is not the original — it's a copy of a monument that stood from 1971 in Kladno, on Sítná hill, a town closely tied to Zápotocký's career as he began his trade-union and party activity there. The original Kladno statue was removed after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989, part of a broader wave of dismantling monuments to communist officials across Czechoslovakia. The copy in his home village survived, however, and remains one of the few surviving monumental public depictions of this politician.

What does the statue and its surroundings look like today?

The statue stands in the middle of a lawn in a small village park, without any information plaque or explanation of who the man depicted actually was. To a passer-by unfamiliar with the history, the well-preserved, monumental figure looks like a silent trace of a bygone era, stripped of context — and that is roughly how it is perceived by the villagers, for whom the statue is simply part of the landscape rather than a source of pride.

Is it worth visiting?

This is a stop for people interested in 20th-century Czechoslovak history and communist-era monuments, not a conventional tourist attraction with visitor infrastructure or signage. Zákolany lies close to Kladno, so a visit is easy to combine with other sights in the area. The statue itself, though, is more a point of interest for those curious about the region's difficult history than a destination in its own right.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly does the statue of Antonín Zápotocký stand? In Zákolany, a small village in the Kladno district of the Central Bohemian Region, in a park in the middle of the village, standing on a lawn.

When was the monument unveiled? On 19 December 1984, the centenary of Antonín Zápotocký's birth — he was born in Zákolany.

Who made the statue? Sculptor Viktor Dobrovolný (1909–1987).

Is this the original statue? No — it is a copy of a monument that stood in Kladno on Sítná hill from 1971 and was removed after the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Who was Antonín Zápotocký? A communist politician who served as President of Czechoslovakia from 1953 to 1957, known as the "second workers' president" after Klement Gottwald. He was involved in the repression and death sentences of the political show trials after 1948.

Is there an information plaque at the statue? No, the statue has no plaque or description explaining the historical background of the figure depicted.