The Czech Mint issued silver commemorative medals on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution as the highlight of the Czechoslovak struggle against the Communist regime. A small part of them - just 80 pieces - was published in a luxurious edition supplemented by a special book.

“At the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a passer-by asked me who the gentleman next to Václav Havel was. "Mr. Johannes Rau, your president," I replied. It was not the first or the last time he traveled with Václav Havel when the locals immediately recognized him, unlike their own presidents or ministers. With these words begins the book written by Alan Pajer, who had been a photographer of Václav Havel for two decades. The 200-page book “Heart over Prague”, which is full of photographs and memories, describes the life of a man who was a key figure in the struggle against the totalitarian government of the Communist Party between 1989 and 2011.

The medal was created by an expert medal maker and teacher Mgr. Petr Horák. On the obverse side he captured the civil protests on Wenceslas Square - he surrounded the statue of the Czech patron with raised hands of demonstrating people whose fingers form a characteristic gesture - a victorious V-sign. The composition of the obverse side was supplemented by the Czechoslovak flag, together with an inscription VELVET REVOLUTION. On the reverse side there is another symbol connected with the Velvet Revolution, namely the heart that Václav Havel accepted as his own. The heart was placed above the silhouette of Hradčany and thus refers to the famous neon installation made by the artist Jiří David. The composition of the reverse side was closed by Václav Havel's famous statement TRUTH AND LOVE MUST PREVAIL OVER LIES AND HATRED.

The book “Heart over Prague” was written in cooperation with the Foundation VIZE 97 of Dagmar and Václav Havel. It is an exclusive part of the limited edition of commemorative medals. Otherwise it cannot be obtained!