In 1965, I promised myself I would never go to the barber again, and I haven’t since
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Karel Lang was born on 5 March 1947 in Čelákovice. He grew up in a family marked by post-war changes. His grandfather, Antonín Štok, had his fur trade nationalized by the communists and both grandparents had to work in the heavy plants of the TOS. The witness’s father, Karel Lang Sr., joined the Communist Party after the war, a conviction he retained throughout his life, although he did not benefit from membership. The family acquired an apartment in the so-called Marx Houses, built according to the original plans of the industrialist Volman. At primary school, which Karel attended from 1953, he experienced strong political indoctrination and automatic membership in Pioneer. Karel Lang trained as a wood modeller at TOS in Čelákovice, the former factory of Josef Volman. In the 1960s he began listening to Western radio and devoted himself mainly to Anglo-American rock music. Music became his escape and his passion - he played drums, later added singing, performed in Prague and Central Bohemia and adopted the nickname Charlie. His long hair was an expression of defiance against the regime, and he had it cut only once, and for the last time before his apprenticeship exams. He experienced August 1968 in a dramatic way - on the train to Prague he witnessed chaos and looting by Soviet soldiers. He worked at TOS for twenty years, from 1982 he worked in the workshops of the National Theatre, and after two years he began to travel as an assembler at Building Insulation. During the Velvet Revolution he acted as a liaison between the Civic Forum (OF) in Čelákovice and Prague. After 1989 he became self-employed and continued to produce furniture until he was seventy-four. He published on his own cost, among other things, a book about Volman’s Villa and music in Čelákovice. In 2026 he lived in Čelákovice and was engaged in local history and writing.
