Museum of the Cold War

One of the newest museums in the Czech capital is the Museum of the Cold War. It opened quite recently, in 2013, and is located in the very heart of Prague, on Wenceslas Square. The museum was set up on the initiative of the Hotel Jalta management together with the Society of Czechoslovak Armed Forces. 


The location was chosen for a good reason: the museum sits beneath Hotel Jalta, in what used to be a bunker built for the country's top officials. Designed to hold 150 people, the bunker was built to withstand a nuclear blast. It comes complete with a backup power unit, a tank of drinking water, and an operations room.


At present only one floor is open to visitors, but it already offers plenty to see — including equipment once used to eavesdrop on hotel guests, medical supplies, and uniforms of the Czechoslovak security service.


The museum also features interrogation and customs-inspection rooms, and its tunnels once made it possible to leave the bunker unnoticed and emerge on the opposite side of Wenceslas Square.