Travelling through Eastern Europe, Tim Richards came across ten very different reminders of the Communist era from palaces to parks.
“I suppose you expect me to talk?”
“No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!”
Yes, they’re famous lines from a James Bond film you may have seen on DVD, but probably not in a cinema.
Most backpackers are too young to remember the Cold War, that period of nuclear-tipped tension between the democratic West and the communist East that ran from the end of World War II to the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991.
For today’s happy hostellers, their only gateways to this period are dated movies like the one quoted above, and their parents’ reminiscences of their nuclear war anxieties. A mention of the Cold War will more likely prompt thoughts of Californian indie band Cold War Kids than the dark days of the Berlin Wall.
However, all is not lost. The Wall fell 20 years ago, but Central and Eastern Europe are littered with remnants from the strange, increasingly distant era of the Iron Curtain. That’s the beauty of this part of Europe: you still get all the goodies associated with Western Europe, like art treasures and ruined castles, but with the bonus of weird and cool traces of the communist past.
Here are ten memorable communist-era relics to visit when travelling through former communist Europe:
The Palace of the Parliament, Bucharest, Romania: Second only in size to the Pentagon, this vast parliamentary building is an enduring monument to the similarly outsized ego of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who ended up at the wrong end of a firing squad after his regime was overthrown in 1989. Commenced in 1984 and still unfinished, its 3000 rooms (which you can tour) are packed with vast amounts of plaster, marble, crystal, steel and chandeliers.
Slovak Radio Building
Slovak Radio Building, Bratislava, Slovakia: When communist architects weren’t making things blocky, they were making them strange. Just outside the pleasant Old Town district in the Slovak capital stands this very odd building, a huge rust-coloured inverted pyramid. Yep, that’s right, each floor is wider than the one below, and it’s quite a sight. Afterwards grab a beer at the nearby Krcma Gurmanov Bratislavy (KGB) bar, amid more communist memorabilia.
Memento Park, Budapest, Hungary: In the 1990s, after Hungary’s communist regime was swept away, its many communist statues and memorials were gathered together into this open-air museum in the city’s southwest. You can wander among communist icons such as Lenin, Marx and Stalin, and watch a movie about Hungary’s dreaded secret police. It’s an intriguing day trip from the central city.
Astronomical Clock, Olomouc, Czech Republic: The Czech capital Prague is rightly famous for its beautiful astronomical clock; but in the east of the country lies a much more interesting chronometer. Destroyed in a Nazi attack in WWII, this 15th century timepiece was rebuilt after the war in a curious Socialist Realist artistic style, with images of mechanics, scientists and factory workers arrayed alongside the little blacksmith figures which ring bells at noon.
National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria: This convention centre was opened in 1981, and looks unnervingly like a giant old-fashioned camera squatting at the end of a long ornamental lake. After you’ve marvelled at its monumental greyness, head to the hip Studentski Grad district, itself a communist-era relic, to sample its lively bar scene.
Museum of Genocide Victims, Vilnius, Lithuania: Not the most fun you’ll have in a day out in the otherwise attractive Lithuanian capital. This former KGB headquarters is now a fascinating museum bearing witness to the Soviet secret police’s sinister methods. Located off a fashionable shopping street, the museum’s exterior is dotted with plaques remembering those who disappeared into its depths.
Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Germany: East Germany may be well and truly gone, but this lively square still retains its socialist-era ambience. The communist government rebuilt it thoroughly in the 1960s, to provide a modern plaza for the eastern half of the city, divided by the Berlin Wall. Its central feature is the World Time Clock, a gigantic mushroom-shaped mechanism that tells the time around the globe.
Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw, Poland: This simultaneously sprawling and soaring structure is still one of Europe’s tallest buildings. It was present from Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in the 1950s... the sort of gift you can’t say ‘no’ to. Built over an entire city block, it’s completely out of scale with historic Warsaw but impossible to take your eyes off. Sense, a bar on nearby Nowy Swiat Street, will serve you drinks in a scientific beaker they call a ‘Palace of Culture’, in tribute to the building.
Chernobyl Museum, Kiev, Ukraine: If you want to understand more about the communist era in a country that was once part of the Soviet Union, drop into Kiev’s Chernobyl Museum, which will fill you in on the harrowing history of the disastrous 1986 nuclear accident. Then ponder what you’ve seen beneath the massive metallic Friendship of Nations Arch, dedicated in 1983 to the somewhat chequered relationship between Russia and Ukraine.
Metelkova, Ljubljana, Slovenia: Where soldiers once marched, hip young things now dance all night. Metelkova was once a sprawling military barracks in then-communist Yugoslavia. Then the nation split up into its constituent parts, and newly independent Slovenia found itself with a big crumbling complex on its hands. Artists moved in, followed by musicians, and now Metelkowa is a semi-official cultural hub, crammed with galleries, nightclubs, and an energetic post-communist vibe.
NOWA HUTA
Individual communist-era buildings are one thing; but for the advanced traveller, here’s a whole suburb...
Beautiful Krakow, in Poland’s south, is a perennial favourite with backpackers, with hostels dotted through its attractive Old Town. For a communist-era shock, however, grab a tram east to Nowa Huta. The communist authorities built this entire suburb from scratch in the 1950s to accompany an immense steelworks, and labelled it a working man’s paradise. Stroll among the huge concrete housing blocks and eye up the main square where a statue of Lenin once stood. Step into the nearby Restauracja Stylowa (“stylish restaurant”) for a coffee, and you’ll swear you’ve been transported back to 1952. For a different way of seeing this unique area, visit www.crazyguides.com to book a tour of Nowa Huta in a Trabant, the lightweight car which was once an icon of East Germany.
