The master of protest songs – Karel Kryl – Kroměříž

Fact of the Czech figure „The independent culture under the communist regime”

Part of the „Culture against communism„ topic

Karel Kryl (1944-1994) was the most prominent personality of the Czechoslovak protest song genre. He drew most attention to himself during the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Kryl, then a fledgling poet and songwriter, condemned the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops with the song “Bratříčku, zavírej vrátka” (Brother, close the door), which became a popular symbol of unarmed resistance to the invasion.

However, the resistance was futile and the Czechoslovakia was dominated by the normalisation regime, which began to ban Kryl’s songs. In response, Kryl fled to West Germany, where he resided for two decades. In exile, he was employed as a journalist at Radio Free Europe. Nevertheless, his songs were still illegally listened to in Czechoslovakia and also in Poland, as some of his songs had been translated into Polish.

After the fall of the communist regime (1989) Kryl often visited his homeland, but remained permanently in Germany. He openly criticized the political circumstances in post-communist Czechoslovakia and the gradual disintegration of the common state of Czechs and Slovaks. He died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1994. His work is still popular in the Czech Republic, as evidenced by the exhibition in Kryl’s native Kroměříž, which is approached as a walk through his songs.