Winston Churchill Memorial

The Winston Churchill Monument stands on a square named after him in Prague's Žižkov district (Prague 3). It is a bronze statue of the British wartime prime minister — one of the few such monuments on the European continent and the only one of its kind in Prague.

Where exactly is the monument located?

The statue stands on Náměstí Winstona Churchilla (Winston Churchill Square) in Žižkov, right next to the building it faces. The address is Praha 3, náměstí Winstona Churchilla 1938/4, making it an easy stop to combine with a walk between Žižkov and the city centre.

Why is this particular square named after Churchill?

The name is no accident. Before 1990 the square carried the name of the communist president Antonín Zápotocký, and a statue of Zápotocký by sculptor Jan Simota once stood in front of the building here. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989, the square was renamed in 1990 in honour of Winston Churchill — a British leader associated with resistance to totalitarianism. Both the renaming itself and the later erection of a new monument carried a clearly demonstrative character, reflecting the public mood of the first years after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.

When was the statue erected, and who unveiled it?

The Churchill statue itself was only placed on the already-prepared pedestal in 1999, nearly a decade after the square's renaming. It was ceremonially unveiled on 17 November 1999 by Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister — a choice that further underlined the symbolic, political weight of the occasion.

Who created the statue?

The figure is one of several casts of a work by the renowned British sculptor Ivor Roberts-Jones. The first cast of this composition stands in front of the Houses of Parliament in London, on Parliament Square, and another is located in Oslo, Norway. Roberts-Jones had originally been commissioned to create an entirely new, distinct statue specifically for Prague, but his death in 1996 prevented that plan from being realised. As a result, Prague received another cast of the existing statue instead, produced by the M.S. Meridian Foundry.

Has the monument ever been at the centre of controversy?

Yes. In June 2020, during the global wave of Black Lives Matter protests, graffiti appeared on the statue and its pedestal challenging Churchill's legacy and referencing criticism of his views on race and colonial policy. The incident was widely reported by Czech media, and the monument once again became a reference point in the wider public debate about how historical figures commemorated in public space should be judged today.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the Winston Churchill Monument stand in Prague? On Náměstí Winstona Churchilla in the Žižkov district (Prague 3), at náměstí Winstona Churchilla 1938/4.

When was the monument unveiled? On 17 November 1999, by Baroness Margaret Thatcher.

Who designed the statue? British sculptor Ivor Roberts-Jones, whose work also stands in front of the Houses of Parliament in London and in Oslo.

Why is the square named after Churchill? Because in 1990, after the Velvet Revolution, the square's communist-era name honouring president Antonín Zápotocký was replaced with Churchill's.

Is this the only Churchill monument in Prague? Yes, it is the only monument of its kind dedicated to the British prime minister in the Czech capital.