Ladronka Explained

Ladronka
Image Alt:Front of the building
Address:Tomanova 1028/1
Location City:Prague
Location Country:Czech Republic
Building Type:Homestead
Coordinates:50.0785°N 14.3563°W
Ren Cost:80 million CZK (2005)
Status:Formerly vineyard, flats and self-managed social centre, now activity centre

Ladronka is a homestead (Czech: 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

Ladronka is located at Tomanova 1028/1 in the Břevnov district of Prague 6.[1] It was built as a homestead (Czech: 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] 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.

Self-managed social centre

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

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.

By this time, the city had signed a contract with the Santé group, which planned to develop Ladronka into a luxury medical centre. 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] 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

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. The activity centre was opened in September 2005, marking the 85th anniversary of Prague 6. The following year, the centre was voted . Between 2009 and 2010, the facilities of the park were expanded to include a 4.2 kilometre skating course.[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Kontakt . 27 November 2023 . www.ladronka.com . cs . 23 November 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231123123914/https://www.ladronka.com/kontakt/kontakt.htm . live .
  2. News: Pavla . Horáková . Prague's Ladronka park offers something for everybody . 28 September 2020 . Radio Prague International . 16 November 2011 . en . 27 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201027101553/https://english.radio.cz/pragues-ladronka-park-offers-something-everybody-8558888 . live .
  3. Book: Pixová . Michaela . Contested Czech Cities: From Urban Grassroots to Pro-democratic Populism . 15 November 2019 . Springer Nature . 978-981-329-709-8 . 94 . 28 September 2020 . en.
  4. News: Bernáth . Nikolas . I just do what I want and I'm a kid in a candy shop. Vladimír 518 . 28 September 2020 . The Invisible Mag . 18 December 2017 . 17 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220517034009/https://www.invisiblemag.sk/en/i-just-do-what-i-want-and-im-a-kid-in-a-candy-shop-vladimir-518/ . live .
  5. News: Eichler . Pavel . Bývalý squat Ladronka bojuje o titul Stavba roku [Former squat Ladronka competes for Building of the Year] ]. cs . 28 September 2020 . iDNES . 21 August 2006 . 15 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210115142304/https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/domaci/byvaly-squat-ladronka-bojuje-o-titul-stavba-roku.A060821_185639_praha_pei . live .
  6. Book: Squatting Everywhere Kollective . Trnka . Jan . Novák . Arnošt. Squatting in Prague . Fighting for spaces, fighting for our lives: Squatting movements today . 2018 . en . edition assemblage . Münster . 9783942885904 . 151–166 . 1.
  7. Novák . Arnošt . Pixová . Michaela . Prague Post-1989: Boom, decline and renaissance . Baltic Worlds . en . 9 . 1–2 . 2016 . 34–45 . 28 September 2020 . 12 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180412103404/http://balticworlds.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/BW-1-2-2016-open-access.pdf . live .
  8. News: Heller . Jakub . Ladronka, Milada či Klinika. Připomeňte si známé squaty a jejich neslavné konce [Ladronka, Milada and Klinika: Remembering the famous squats and their infamous endings] ]. 27 November 2023 . Aktuálně . 9 January 2019 . cs . Ve vile se podobně jako v Ladronce pořádaly koncerty, festivaly a další setkání, které navštěvovaly stovky návštěvníků. .
  9. Book: Steen . Bart van der . The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present . September 2014 . PM Press . 978-1-60486-683-4 . 249.
  10. Novák . Arnošt . Kuřík . Bob . Rethinking radical activism: Heterogeneity and dynamics of political squatting in Prague after 1989 . Journal of Urban Affairs . 17 February 2020 . 42 . 2 . 203–221 . 10.1080/07352166.2019.1565820. 159082940 . en.
  11. News: Heller . Jakub . Ladronka, Milada či Klinika. Připomeňte si známé squaty a jejich neslavné konce [Ladronka, Milada and Klinika: Remembering the famous squats and their infamous endings] ]. 27 November 2023 . Aktuálně . 9 January 2019 . cs.
  12. Web site: Současná Ladronka [Contemporary Ladronka] ]. ladronka.cz . 22 February 2005 . 28 September 2020 . cs . 27 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210127061233/https://www.ladronka.cz/areal-ladronka/historie-a-plany/soucasna-ladronka.html . live .
  13. News: Krupka . Jakub . Ladronka: Z centra alternativní kultury ráj in-line bruslařů [Ladronka: From the centre of alternative culture to a paradise for in-line skaters] ]. 29 November 2023 . Deník . 17 May 2014 . cs.