Military parades have been taking place in Prague ever since the Austrian empire. This tradition continued during the First Republic when such parades were organized in many places picked according to the situation – Karlín with its big barracks, Vypich, Strahov, Invalidovna and also Letná. The parade as a celebration of victory was organized by the Wehrmacht during the occupation of Czechoslovakia. It took place at the Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square). The most common place of parades was on Letná plain, when it was hosting them both before and after 1989, including the one in 2005. The largest parade Prague ever witnessed was probably the one in 1955 with more than 200 tanks rumbling across Letná plain.