After years of commitment, the conversion of the former Prague-Bubny railway station has commenced. The ‘Bubny Centre for Remembrance and Dialogue’ is being developed on this site, which will preserve the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and simultaneously serve as a vibrant place for exchange and education.
Between 1941 and 1945, nearly 50,000 Czechoslovak Jews and people considered Jewish under the Nuremberg Laws were deported from this station. From here, they were taken to ghettos in Łódź and Theresienstadt, which in many cases were only stopovers on the way to the Nazi extermination camps.
The plans for the conversion are the result of an architectural competition. The project was designed by ARN STUDIO from Hradec Králové, led by Jiří and Michal Krejčík. The original station building will be extended, and its characteristic features preserved as a testimony to history. The deliberate contrast between old and new is intended to encourage engagement with the past in the present. The aim of the revitalisation is not only to preserve the memory of the place but also to create modern premises for a cultural and educational institution. Among other features, exhibitions, a lively programme, a café, and the upgrading of the adjacent public space—which is directly connected to the residential areas of Holešovice and the so-called ‘Little Berlin’—are planned.

“The Bubny Centre for Remembrance and Dialogue (Centrum paměti a dialogu Bubny) represents a modern approach to cultural memory in an active transport hub,” explains Transport Minister Martin Kupka. “Prague-Bubny station will remain an important transport hub, with trains running daily and people rushing to work or school. It is precisely amid this busy everyday life that a space for reflection is being created. It is not a museum on the outskirts of the city, but a living memorial in the heart of life that combines everyday activity with historical reflection.”
Construction of Prague-Bubny station began in 1866 to create a connection between Prague-Dejvice station via the Negrelli Viaduct to what is now Masaryk station. The current station building was constructed between 1928 and 1933 and remained in operation until 2022. Subsequently, extensive modernisation of the Prague-Bubny – Prague-Výstaviště line began, including the construction of a new modern station closer to the Vltavská metro station.

In March 2015, the artwork Gate of Irreversibility by sculptor Aleš Veselý was unveiled next to the station — a monumental symbol commemorating the dark history of the place and providing the impetus for the establishment of the memorial. In 2021, the Ministry of Culture established the institution under the name ‘Memorial of Silence’. In autumn 2024, management changed and the organisation was renamed the ‘Bubny Centre for Remembrance and Dialogue’. The non-profit organisation Památník šoa Praha has also been operating under the name ‘Memorial of Silence’ since then.
In September last year, a footpath and cycle path connecting Veletržní and Dělnická streets was opened in the vicinity of the railway station. The path is dedicated to Sir Nicholas Winton, to whom a mural depicting rescued children by artist Toy Box is also dedicated.