A walk in Ostrava’s Komenského sady (Comenius park), the largest city park in Moravia: 3 km
- On 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler and his new wife Eva Braun committed suicide in a Berlin bunker. For most of Europe, WWII seemed to be drawing to a close. However, for the residents of Ostrava, on the borders of the German occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the war was about to reach their doorsteps.
- Over the previous two months, the Red Army had slowly pushed its way into the Opava district of the historic territory of Silesia. A force of well over 200,000 Soviet troops, supplemented by brigades of Czechoslovak soldiers (who had fled east at the beginning of the war and joined the Red Army in 1941), had battled a German army of some 150,000, who were dug into the border fortifications ironically constructed by the Czechoslovaks in 1938 to keep out the Nazis.
- Just before dawn on 30 April, Red Army T-34 tanks rolled across the railway bridge that spanned the river Oder to begin the liberation of Ostrava. The first to reach the main square were units of the 1st Independent Czechoslovak tank brigade. This brigade had been created in February 1943 and seen some serious action as the Red Army marched across Ukraine and Poland to the borders of the Protectorate. Less than ten tanks out of more than sixty were still operational by the time of the Ostrava liberation.
- With the center of Ostrava secured, the tanks advanced to attempt a crossing of what is now the Miloš Sýkora bridge into the Moravian-Silesian region. The first T-34 tank to cross, numbered 051, was hit by Panzerfaust fire. Its commander was killed and the remaining crew wounded. Covering fire from other Czechoslovak tanks secured the embankment and the residents of Ostrava were finally able to celebrate the city’s liberation.
- More than 100000 Soviet troops and over 1000 Czech and Slovak soldiers were killed or wounded during the campaign across the Opava region and during the liberation of Ostrava. Well over half of the German defenders were killed, captured or wounded. This was the bloodiest series of battles ever fought on Czech territory.
- Tank 051 was repaired and today stands proudly on a pedestal overlooking the Miloš Sýkora bridge. It is worth including on a longer walk around Ostrava. However, the principal memorial to the liberation is located in Ostrava’s Komenského sady, located on the Moravian side of the river Ostravice. It is an impressive monument (featured in the header photo) and is adorned with stirring tributes to the liberating armies. Whether or not interested in seeing the memorial (it remains controversial due to the Communist period of rule), the park itself is well worth a visit. This English-style park area is the second largest in the country (after Prague’s Stromovka park) and is nicely shady!
- At the far end of the park is the New City Hall, a landmark of the city. Completed in 1930, this functionalist building apparently boasts the tallest city hall tower in the country. There is a fine view from the top. It is approximately a 3 km (flat) round trip to circumnavigate the park, starting and finishing at the City Hall. There is a café in the park and a pub at the tennis courts in the middle.
Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.
Directions
- Take a trolley bus (or walk) to the Nová radnice stop. After visiting the city hall, take the central path in the park to reach the memorial
- Circle back to Nová radnice, by following the cycle path, which overlooks the river
