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Squat Milada
General information
Location	Na Kindlovce 1903/8, Libeň, Prague, Czech Republic, 182 00
Coordinates	50°07′01″N 14°26′35″E / 50.11694°N 14.44306°E / 50.11694; 14.44306

Squat Milada is a First Republic villa in the Libeň district of Prague. Milada was intended to be demolished in the 1980s and deleted from the cadastre. Therefore, it was a house which officially did not exist. It became one of the Czech Republic's best known squats, occupied from 1997 until 2009, and reoccupied for a day in 2012. Acting as a self-managed social centre and infoshop hosting concerts and events, Milada was also home to a number of people. Despite various plans for the site, as of 2023, the building was standing derelict.

History

Milada is a First Republic villa located in the Libeň district of Prague, next to two blocks of flats (Kolej 17. listopadu) housing university students. As part of plans for its demolition, Milada had been removed from the cadastre and thefore no longer existed officially. Left derelict in 1988, Milada was occupied in 1997, along with the neighbouring villa, Miluška.

Social centre

Milada was raided twice by the police in the summer of 1998 and was also attacked by representatives of the owner. In October 1998, a private security firm attempted to evict the building but was repelled, with two squatters remaining on the roof for four days. The security guards trashed the house but were unable to evict it. Students from a nearby housing block strung a line of rope across so that they could supply the occupiers with food and drink.

Originally occupied as a "Point of Free Culture and Resistance", the project then changed into a residential community. Over time, the number of events being organised declined until in 2007, a new collective was formed. The self-managed social centre was used as an infoshop, a bicycle repair workshop, a cafe, a meeting space and a venue for punk gigs and experimental music. A Food Not Bombs collective cooked out of the building, which also housed people. Milada had become one of the longest-lasting and well-known squats in the Czech Republic, alongside Ladronka.

In March 2009, the building was re-registered by the owner, the Institute for Information in Education (ÚIV), as a first step before selling it. ÚIV decided to evict the squat in early July 2009. It sent a private security firm supported by the police to clear the building. The squatters resisted the eviction and eight of them sat on the roof. This resulted in a standoff, with the fire brigade being called to negotiate with the last occupiers. It became a controversial story in the mainstream media and prompted a response from Michael Kocáb, the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities.

Post-eviction

Shortly after the eviction, two squatters re-occupied the building for a short time in order to highlight concerns that it was going to be demolished. Protests against the eviction were held in other Czech cities and in Prague a former spa was occupied in Albertov. The occupation was evicted the next day, with over 70 arrests. The people who had gone inside the building were charged with trespassing and in 2011, the charges were dropped. After the eviction, Kocáb offered the squatters a place to stay at Truhlářská Street in the Old Town. This became known as Truhla, hosting events until June 2010.

A party at Milada to mark three years since the eviction was broken up by the police on 30 June 2012. A helicopter and 100 police arrested 25 people for various offences. In 2015, there was a debate in the media as the Supreme Administrative Court considered an appeal regarding the legality of the eviction of Milada. Two complaints by activists concerning their treatment during the eviction went to the European Court of Justice and were dismissed in 2022.

Charles University had planned to set up a small campus at Milada, but failed to transfer the ownership of the building from the Institute for Information in Education in 2010. After the eviction, the university tried again, without success. In 2019, the building was still standing derelict; it was owned by the Office of Government Representation in Property Affairs (ÚZSVM) and there were no plans to restore the villa. In 2021, the university was able to buy the Milada site for CZK 56,753,000. It made plans to redevelop it into a campus. As of 2023, the building remained derelict.

References

1. ^ "Milada čtyři roky po odchodu squaterů dál chátrá, převod vily se vleče" [Milada continues to deteriorate four years after the squatters left, the transfer drags on]. iDNES. 30 June 2013. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
2. ^ Trnka, Jan; Novák, Arnošt (2018). "Squatting in Prague". In Squatting Everywhere Kollective (ed.). Fighting for spaces, fighting for our lives: Squatting movements today (1 ed.). Münster: edition assemblage. pp. 151–166. ISBN 9783942885904.
3. "Poslední pražský squat, vila Milada, má namále. Vyklízí ji bezpečnostní agentura" [The last Prague squat, Villa Milada, is at an end. It is being cleared by a security firm]. Hospodářské Noviny. 2009. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
4. ^ Novák, Arnošt; Pixová, Michaela. "Prague Post-1989: Boom, decline and renaissance" (PDF). Baltic Worlds: 34–45. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
5. ^ Dunn, Kevin (24 August 2012). "Anarcho-punk and resistance in everyday life". Punk & Post Punk. 1 (2): 201–218. doi:10.1386/punk.1.2.201_1.
6. Boháčová, Lucie (2008). "Aktualizováno: Psi, kteří plenili v pražské zoo, utekli při venčení" [Updated: The dogs that made an attack at Prague zoo had escaped on a walk]. Pražský Deník. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
7. ^ Kuřík, Bob; Novák, Arnošt (17 February 2020). "Rethinking radical activism: Heterogeneity and dynamics of political squatting in Prague after 1989". Journal of Urban Affairs. 42 (2): 203–221. doi:10.1080/07352166.2019.1565820. S2CID 159082940.
8. Heller, Jakub (9 January 2019). "Ladronka, Milada či Klinika. Připomeňte si známé squaty a jejich neslavné konce" [Ladronka, Milada, Klinika: Remembering the famous squats and their infamous endings]. Aktuálně (in Czech). Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
9. ^ "Nezabíjejte Miladu, volají squatteři zabarikádovaní na střeše vily" ["Don't kill Milada," shout the squatters barricaded on the roof]. iDNES. 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
10. ^ Cameron, Rob (2009). "Eviction of Milada squat becomes political cause célèbre". RadioPrague. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
11. "Squateři dnes krátce obsadili vilu Milada, dva byli zadrženi" [Squatters briefly occupied Milada today and two were arrested".]. iDNES. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
12. Falvey, Christian (2012). "Police crackdown on squatters in the Milada mansion". RadioPrague. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
13. "Soudy musí znovu řešit přiměřenost policejního zásahu ve squatu Milada" [The courts must again address the proportionality of the police intervention in the Milada squat."]. iDNES. 2015. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
14. "Evropský soud zamítl žalobu squaterů, podle kterých byl zásah ve vile Milada v roce 2012 nezákonný" [European court rejects squatters' lawsuit claiming intervention in Milada in 2012 was illegal]. iROZHLAS (in Czech). 3 November 2022. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
15. Léblová, Kristýna (3 February 2019). "Vila Milada, kterou před 10 lety museli opustit squatteři, dál chátrá" [Villa Milada, which squatters had to abandon 10 years ago, continues to decay]. Novinky. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
16. Duplák, Martin (15 January 2021). "Karlova univerzita koupila bývalý squat Milada. Zaplatila za něj necelých 60 milionů". ČT24 (in Czech). Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
17. Stodolová, Eliška (6 September 2023). "Vila Milada chátrá. Bývalý squat u kolejí Univerzity Karlovy dál čeká na změnu". Pražský deník (in Czech). Retrieved 7 January 2025.

External links

• Prazdne Domy
• Social centre (archived)

v t e Infoshops
Asia	Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme Salon Mazal
Europe	Current Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus Kulturzentrum Bremgarten Metelkova Rozbrat Ungdomshuset Sweden Syndikalistiskt Forum Kafé 44 Germany Trotz Allem SO36 Køpi Italy Cascina Torchiera Centro Sociale Leoncavallo Cox 18 Forte Prenestino Netherlands ACU Extrapool Grote Broek Landbouwbelang OCCII OT301 Norway Blitz Hausmania UFFA Spain Can Masdeu Can Vies Eskalera Karakola Former Binz Centro 73 La Ingobernable Factory Rog Kukutza Liebig 34 Patio Maravillas RHINO Seomra Spraoi Kunsthaus Tacheles Villa Amalia Czech Republic Klinika Ladronka Squat Milada Netherlands ADM ASCII De Blauwe Aanslag Ubica Vrijplaats Koppenhinksteeg United Kingdom Current 1 in 12 Club 56a Infoshop Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh BASE Cowley Club The Forest Freedom Press London Action Resource Centre Sumac Centre Former 121 Centre 491 Gallery Bank of Ideas BIT Bloomsbury Social Centre Centro Iberico DIY Space for London rampART Really Free School Spike Surplus Scheme St Agnes Place Wapping Autonomy Centre Warzone Centre Pink Peacock
North America	Current ABC No Rio Bluestockings Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore C-Squat Camas Bookstore and Infoshop Civic Media Center Firestorm Books Interference Archive Lucy Parsons Center Okupa Che Red Emma's Spartacus Books Trumbullplex Former Boxcar Books Brian MacKenzie Infoshop The Brick House Catalyst Infoshop Internationalist Books Iron Rail Book Collective Old Market Autonomous Zone
Oceania	Freedom Shop Jura Books
Related	Alternative media Autonomism Community centre DIY ethic Indymedia Library Self-managed social centre Squatting Temporary use Zine Intentional Community
Category:Infoshops

• Anarchist movements
• DIY culture
• Infoshops
• Evicted squats
• Squatting in the Czech Republic
• 2009 in the Czech Republic
• 1997 in the Czech Republic
• Buildings and structures in Prague