Publication details
„ZAŘÍZENÍ, KTERÁ SE V ČSR DOSUD NIKDY NEVYRÁBĚLA“: K TECHNICKÉMU ZÁZEMÍ MAUZOLEA KLEMENTA GOTTWALDA
| Title in English | “Devices Which Have Never Been Produced in Czechoslovakia Before”: On the Technical Facilities of the Klement Gottwald Mausoleum |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | SBORNÍK NÁRODNÍHO MUZEA V PRAZE ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Řada A – Historie |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | „ZAŘÍZENÍ, KTERÁ SE V ČSR DOSUD NIKDY NEVYRÁBĚLA“: K TECHNICKÉMU ZÁZEMÍ MAUZOLEA KLEMENTA GOTTWALDA |
| Keywords | Mausoleum of Klement Gottwald; embalming devices; humidity; Technical Equipment of a Communist Mausoleum |
| Description | The present paper focuses on one of the most enigmatic aspects of a Communist mausoleum – the technical equipment necessary for the maintenance of constant conditions as required by Soviet experts. The mausoleum of Klement Gottwald was fitted with a number of complex appliances, e. g., the automatically controlled air-conditioning system which ensured the constant temperature of 16 C and humidity of 75 %. Some of the devices had to be devised and produced as prototypes, for Czechoslovak industry did not have any experience with the machinery and appliances used to keep a leader’s body in perfect state of preservation. Since the construction and supplies of all the special equipment was the responsibility of the Ministry of National Defence, piles of documents complying with the custom of the military to record each and every detail are preserved in Czech archives along with meticulous architectonic and technical designs. These hitherto untapped sources permit that the key phases of the construction, tests, early operation and particularly the crucial technical facilities of the Prague mausoleum be described with precision for the first time. All specifications of the main appliances are included in this study so that their function in the upkeep of the leader’s remains be better understood. |