Perspective and criticism of urban conservation theory and practice in Czechoslovakia, with special reference to Prague. Contents: history and legislation of historic town conservation in Czechoslovakia, beginnings, development since 1950, current theoretical approach and methodology, practice in the presence of the public; monument conservators at work, Prague as pretense and field of experiment. An enlarged version of this article was published as Dokumentation Ostmitteleuropa 5/6, Marburg, December 1989 <i>Wissenschaftl. Dienst für Ostmitteleuropa</i>.