John Lennon Wall

Lonely Planet review

After his murder on 8 December 1980 John Lennon became a pacifist hero for many young Czechs. An image of Lennon was painted on a wall in a secluded square opposite the French Embassy (there is a niche on the wall that looks like a tombstone), along with political graffiti and Beatles lyrics.

Despite repeated coats of whitewash, the secret police never managed to keep it clean for long, and the Lennon Wall became a political focus for Prague youth (most Western pop music was banned by the communists, and some Czech musicians were even jailed for playing it). Post-1989 weathering and lightweight graffiti ate away at the political messages and images, until little remained of Lennon but his eyes. Since 1998 the wall has been whitewashed several times, but it quickly gets re-painted with Lennon images, peace messages and inconsequential tourist graffiti of the 'we woz ere' variety.