Prague's Letná ice rink opens Nov. 14 with retro makeover for Czech hockey film

Prague’s Letná ice rink will open to the public Nov. 14 with an unusual feature: wooden boards replacing its familiar plastic barriers, installed for a film shoot before the skating season begins.

The period production will tell the story of Czechoslovak hockey champions persecuted by the communist regime in 1950. After filming, visitors will be able to skate on the same ice through March 7.

“This year’s Letná rink will be a little retro,” Prague 7 Mayor Jan Čižinský wrote in a Facebook announcement, explaining the temporary transformation into a movie set.

The 43-by-20-meter rink on Letná Plain will open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with shorter hours over Christmas and on New Year’s Eve.

Facilities will include a heated tent for changing and resting, toilets, skate rentals and a refreshment stand. Individual visitors will not need reservations, but schools and other groups must book ahead.

Children who live in Prague 7 or attend school in the district will receive free admission. Parents should bring something demonstrating eligibility; a photograph of the document is sufficient, according to the district’s rink information page.

Accepted documents include a child’s identity card, confirmation of school enrollment, an ISIC card, a school record book or a school club membership card.

The opening comes a day before the Nov. 15 demonstration planned for Letná Plain. Čižinský jokingly suggested that some protesters might want to bring their skates.

The rink’s scheduled closing date, March 7, coincides with the end of Prague’s spring school vacation period.

Before welcoming recreational skaters, the rink will help recreate the era of Czechoslovakia’s world championship-winning hockey teams of 1947 and 1949.

Players from those teams were arrested by the communist secret police in March 1950. That October, they were convicted of treason and espionage in a fabricated political trial and received combined prison sentences totaling 74 years and four months.

The harshest sentences went to goaltender Bohumil Modrý, who received 15 years, Augustin Bubník, sentenced to 14 years, and Stanislav Konopásek, given 12 years. The persecution included imprisonment and forced labor in uranium mines.

The wooden rink barriers will provide a period setting for the production while giving this winter’s public skating sessions a different appearance.

Letná has regularly hosted a seasonal rink from November through the end of the spring school holidays. Other locations that traditionally offer winter skating in Prague include Na Františku, Černý Most, Wenceslas Square, Smíchov and Střížkov, although their individual opening schedules vary.