Bells rang out and sirens blared on Friday for Velvet Revolution icon Vaclav Havel as world leaders and ordinary Czechs bid an emotional goodbye to the dissident playwright turned president. World figures including Bill and Hillary Clinton and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright bowed their heads for a minute’s silence that marked the start of the funeral service for Havel in Prague’s St Vitus Cathedral. Across the country, the nation came to a standstill in memory of Havel who in 1989 led his nation through the bloodless revolution that toppled Soviet-backed communism in the then-Czechoslovakia. Crowds of people, many wearing tri-colour ribbons in the Czech national colours of red, white and blue crossed by a tiny black sash of mourning, gathered in the historic centre of Prague to watch the requiem mass on large screens set up close to the cathedral. In a letter read out by Cardinal Giovanni Coppa, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the president, who died on Sunday aged 75, recalling “how courageously Mr Havel defended human rights at a time when those were systematically denied.”
Describing him as a “giant”, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he “made eastern Europe swing towards democracy” and had “always stood up for the reunification of the continent”. Many of those present on the streets of Prague had travelled long distances to pay their respects. “It’s like the loss of someone very close,” said Alena Bartonova, who drove to Prague with her husband and six-year-old son from Karlovy Vary, a town 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of the Czech capital, bringing a large bouquet of red flowers.
Neighbouring Slovakia also declared Friday a day of national mourning, with flags flying at half mast. Czechs filed past Havel’s coffin as it lay in state in Prague Castle’s Vladislav Hall late into Thursday night before authorities finally closed the doors. Tens of thousands of Czechs had paid their respects since Monday at a former church in central Prague and then in Vladislav Hall.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg and Czech-born Albright were due to speak at the ceremony at the 14th century cathedral where Czech kings were traditionally crowned. Outside the cathedral, 38-year-old Jan Zufnicek from Prague stood with his friend, both dressed in black. “Maybe people will now finally take Havel as a philosopher, not only a politician. There hasn’t been room for that up to now,” he told AFP. The playwright served as president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992 and subsequently the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003 when the former federation split peacefully into two states.
On Friday evening, a rock concert dedicated to the rock-loving Havel will be staged at the Lucerna Palace, a sprawling edifice built at the turn of the last century by Havel’s grandfather, a construction magnate. Havel’s body will be cremated after the funeral in accordance with his family’s wishes. Czech daily DNES quoted Havel’s secretary Sabina Tancevova as saying his ashes would be entombed after Christmas, possibly on December 27, at a family crypt in a Prague cemetery. The funeral is taking place in the same building where a Te Deum — an early Christian hymn of praise — was sung in Havel’s honour after his election in the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution. St Vitus’ Cathedral was founded in 1344 by Czech king Charles IV (1316-1378) of the Luxembourg dynasty, who also founded Prague’s Charles University. Meanwhile, Gdansk in northern Poland on Friday paid its own tribute to Havel by naming an avenue after him.
