Communist Heritage Tour

Flipping through a tourist brochure in Bratislava, I noticed that nestled between the "Small Carpathian Wine Tour" (notable because it was unclear whether there was a larger wine tour available and this was the small version, or because it was taking place in the Small Carpathians) and the "Bratislava Food Tour," there was a "Communist Heritage Tour." The tour description was worded so accommodatingly that it was unclear whether or not communism was missed (communist candy would be, if it weren't still being produced, according to the brochure). The tour covers Soviet architecture in Bratislava, including the Slovak Radio building (pictured above) and Slavin, which is a monument to Soviet soldiers who died in WWII that overlooks Bratislava.

This raised the question in my mind of what to do with Soviet monuments and architecture. Budapest dealt with this question after the fall of communism by removing Soviet monuments to a park, called Memento Park. Evidently, according to a Slovak friend of mine, immediately after the Velvet Revolution, there was a move to begin to pull down Soviet monuments in Slovakia. However, the people were convinced to not react in this way and left them standing. While they are certainly not the most attractive part of Bratislava's architecture, it is remarkable that Slovaks are able to recognize that this was part of their past, rather than seeking to hide it (which is precisely the move that communism itself made, when, for instance, it tour down the oldest synagogue in Bratislava, which is precisely what happened in order to facilitate the construction of the "UFO" bridge in Bratislava [below]).