Almost three months after the death of Karel Gott, his wife Ivana Gottová made the final resting place of the greatest Czech legend public. It was Ivana and Karel's daughter Lucie who lit the first candle at his resting place. Since Saturday morning people from all over the Czech Republic and Germany have been coming here to pay their respects.
The place was supposed to be as close as possible to Gott's idea of his final resting place. It is situated on the corner of several paths, thanks to which there's plenty of room for visiting fans.
The Golden Nightingale is buried on the western edge of Smíchov, as the crow flies, about a kilometer from the house where he lived and worked for 40 years. Karel himself chose the location before his death. He wanted his family to be close to him.
Luxusní byt na prodej s terasou a výhledem, Praha 1
Show property
According to spokeswoman Aneta Stolzová, Ivana Gottová cooperated with academic architect Jiří Deyl and engineer Pavel Štrunec on the overall concept of the grave and its surroundings.
Open in gallery (2)
Ivana zveřejnila mapku k hrobu zpěváka. Source: archiv rodiny Gottových
The family is suffering
In addition to the map, the widow also published her thanks to the supporters.
"Once again, I would like to thank all those, who have expressed and are still expressing our family words of support and comfort. Thank you for all your emails, messages, letters, condolence books, cherubs and gifts. I really appreciate your kind words, they are a soothing caress for our sore hearts,"
said Gottová, who otherwise refuses all contact with journalists. Thanks to the completion of the Master's grave, no candles are burning outside of the house on Bertramka. The neighbors are undoubtedly happy about this developement, because ever since the singer's death, the one way street near Karel Gott's house has been overcrowded and people couldn't drive their cars out of the garage due to the candles.
Open in gallery (2)
Přímo u náhrobní desky stojí andělíček. Source: archiv LP-life.cz
German fans
Not only fans from all over the Czech Republic, but also our German neighbours are flocking to Prague. They've always envied us Gott and loved his songs as much as we did.
“We came from Dresden. We loved Karel, we have this band, we meet in a pub and we sing his songs. But we only know them in German,"
said one of the foreign fans. Next to him, several people from Chrudim, Teplice, Uherské Hradiště, but also from Prague took turns at the grave on Monday morning.
The Prague Cemetery Administration emphasizes on its website that the opening hours of the cemeteries remain unchanged during the Christmas holidays. If you wish to light a candle on Gott's grave, you can come daily from 8am to 5pm.
