Czech people especially loved John Lennon, a singer, songwriter and guitar player for The Beatles.
John Lennon's music was about ending war and giving people back their freedoms. He said things like, "Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." Words like this gave the Czech people hope that one day they would be free to speak and travel and be a part of the world.
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot and killed in New York City. People everywhere were shocked and hurt by the loss of this artist and activist for world peace. In the Czech Republic, people could not believe what happened. In Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, people who were upset about Lennon's death, began to sneak out at night and paint pictures of John Lennon on a wall outside of the police station and government buildings. Every day, the police woke up to find a painting of Lennon and lyrics from his songs on the wall. Every day they found a new painting, the police painted over it. But this didn't stop people from sharing their ideas and love through art and words. This was a peaceful protest for freedom that could not be stopped.
Finally, in 1989, the Czech Republic's government changed. People were free to say and write and paint whatever they wanted. The wall, now named the Lennon Wall, was no longer needed to share secret messages and demonstrations for peace. It is still a special place, though. Many people from all over the world visit it today. It is the only place in the Czech Republic where graffiti art is legal. People paint or write whatever they want to on the wall. Sometimes people paint beautiful murals.
