Museum

On the occasion of this year, which was by the international organization UNESCO and the OSN proclaimed as the year of astronomy, the museum of Johannes Kepler is going to open in Karlova street. The founder of the museum is the Czech Astronomical society, which made an agreement with the flat owner about renting the room, where Johannes Kepler lived and formed his laws about planetary movement.

This year is also 400th anniversary of the fundamental piece by Kepler; the book Astronomia Nova was published in Prague in 1609. The publication is concerned with deduction and formulation of the first two laws of orb movement in the solar system. The museum is going to display historical objects or their copies, information desks about Kepler and his work and laws about planetary movement.

The National Technical museum at Letna has changed quite a lot by its last reconstruction. The visitors have a lot to look forward to – among others for spaces, which have never been publicly accessible. Levels, which were for many years occupied by interior and defense ministers and cartographers.

The museum has been closed for two years now. The first visitors can come in probably in September 2010 at the 100th anniversary of its opening. The reconstruction worth 600 millions czk aims to return the building its later-functionalist shape, given to it in 30’s by the architect Milan Babuska, and lately changed by the communists.

The museum has over 800 archive funds, wide set of photographs, designs and graphics. The specialized technical library has over 200t volumes of technical literature. The collection jewels are e.g. the Spitfire used by Czech pilots during WWII, and a plane from 1911, with which the first long-distance flight over the Czech land was made.

Masarykovo Nadrazi in Prague is being repaired, and the train depo from 19th century is being turned into a Railway museum. It is another confirmation of the new trend: interest in historic industrial, factories, railway stations, manufactures and service stations. The raw remains of human work since the industrial revolution up to recent past are in focus of the conservationists, who try to open it up to as many people as possible. In Prague itself, there are two famous industrial buildings – Vodarenske museum (The Water-House Museum) in Podoli or Cistirna vod (Water Cleaning facility) in Bubenec.

There are going to be for example valuable steam locomotives, the oldest diesel and electrical locomotives or so called saloon-caches. One of these was used by e.g. Edvard Benes or Franz Ferdinand. “We want an interactive project, where the visitors could test out the individual trains in business.” The museum director explains. The Masarykovo nadrazi museum is to be opened in 2014.

The study rooms of the Library of the National Museum situated in the main building of the National Museum on the Wenceslas Square is closed from yesterday until 17th August 2007.

The permanent exhibition of historical pharmacies in Nerudova street no. 32 is closed from yesterday till 30th July and from 13th August till 20th August 2007.

The opening times change also in the National Museum in Lobkowitz Palace at the area of Prague Castle from Wednesday 1st August 2007. The museum there will be open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 to 18:00. Visitors can look forward to a new exhibition called Celtic Woman.

The research rooms of the Archive of the National Museum and the study rooms of the Czech Museum of Music will be closed from 1st August till 31st August 2007.

About 5,000 people took advantage of the International Days of Museums and Galleries and visited several museums and galleries in Prague that were open for free last weekend. Most of the people visited the main building of the National Museum at the top of Wenceslas Square.

One of the biggest attraction at this museum is the exhibition The Hunters of Mammoths that presents the prehistory in the Czech lands. Visitors could exceptionally take a photograph of the most precious item of the exhibition – The Venus of Dolni Vestonice. The museums offered a rich additional programme.

Another chance to visit museums and galleries in Prague for free will be on 16th June 2007 during the Museum Night. Museums and galleries will be open till late at night to create a special atmosphere.

Langweil’s model of Prague, more than 170 years old and one of the most popular exhibit of the Museum of the City of Prague (Na Porici 52), is on display again. Visitors can admire the details of the model that shows more than 2,000 buildings in Prague at the beginning of the 19th century. The wood and paper model was made in 1829-1837 by Antonin Langweil. Read more about Langweil’s model of Prague.

The model had been cleaned and digitized since last October. From today the model is back but in a new showcase. A new system takes care of the optimal temperature, humidity and UV radiation. A rotating camera shows the details of the middle part of the model.

The model is illuminated from 140 points. Visitors can chose from several options of lighting. They can see the simulation of the sun or they can illuminate only some parts of the model and keep the rest in the darkness.

If you are interested in more than one museum in Prague, we recommend to buy a ticket which enables you to go into 12 museums within 3 days. The full price of the card is 160 CZK. Students, seniors and disabled people pay 80 CZK, families 200 CZK.

With this card you can enter 12 buildings of the National Museum: the main building of the National Museum in Prague, Czech Museum of Music, Historical Pharmacy in Nerudova street, Lapidary in Prague Exhibition Ground, Lobkowicz Palace by Prague Castle, Musaion – Kinsky Folly, Antonin Dvorak Museum, Bedrich Smetana Museum, Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, National Memorial at the Vitkov Hill, Frantisek Palacky and Frantisek Ladislav Rieger Memorial and Jaroslav Jezek Memorial (Blue Room).

You can visit, for example, a very popular exhbition The Hunters of Mammoths in the main building, Orbis Pictus in Czech Museum of Music, Antonin Dvorak Society – 75 years of activity in Antonin Dvorak Museum, or Bedrich Smetana Museum 1906-2006 – Uniques, News, Curiosities.

Langweil model, one of the most popular item of the collection of the Museum of the City of Prague (Na Porici 52), will be displayed again from 11th April 2007. The model has been repaired and cleaned since October.

The model of historical Prague will be put into a new showcase with good lighting. Visitors can better see the central parts of the model in detail thanks to a new revolving camera. Langweil model is now being digitized, his 3D version will be ready next year.

The model was made between 1826 and 1837 from cardboard and wood. The model is in many cases the only witness of how some parts of central Prague looked almost 200 years ago.

The main building of National Museum on the top of Wenceslas Square in Prague is temporarily closed due to regular upkeep of its collections. The collection of the museum will be sprayed with insecticide.

The museum is closed from today’s morning. It will open its gate again on Saturday 17th March at 13:00. On Saturday 21st March the museum is open only until 14:00 and on Friday 30th March until 15:00.

On Sunday 18th March visitors have the last chance to visit two exhibitions of the National Museum. The first one shows a piano connected with the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The second exhibition focuses on Charta 77 and its 30th anniversary. The exhibition The Hunters of Mammoths is open till 2nd September 2007.

Langweil model of Prague is a unique work documenting the historical appearance of the Prague city centre before it was radically changed. The author, Antonin Langweil, an university librarian, worked on the model from 1826 to his death in 1837. There are about 2000 objects, half of which does not exist in real any more. The model is made from cardboard and wood.

Digitizing started at the end of the last year. More then half a million of pictures will be taken, which is the capacity of about 3000 DVD discs. Digitizing will cost about 12,5 million CZK. The model should be on internet within 2 years.

The real model is now the most famous exhibit of the Museum of the City of Prague. When the photographing of the model is over (mid March) it will move to a new showcase with better lighting and a camera which will show the central part of the model.

The Museum of the City of Prague (Na Porici 52) is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 18:00. Full entrance fee is 80 CZK. Every first Thursday of the month it is open until 20:00 and the entrance fee is only 1 CZK.

National Museum in Prague is going to be under reconstruction. At the same time it will get a new building just next to the museum – the seat of present Radio Free Europe.

The reconstruction of the National Museum into a modern complex suitable for exhibitions, lecture-rooms or restaurants will start soon. Also the exterior of the National theatre in Prague will be restored.

Special care will be given to one of the symbols of the National theatre – two statues of horses driven by the goddess of victory on the roof of the theatre. The experts say that the statues need to be fixed on the roof, because the transport down the roof would be too complicated.

The statues are 6 meters long and had to be supported by textile bands. On of the horses stands on his left leg, the right leg is breaking. Also the golden crown on the roof is in bad condition. The new facade is estimated to cost 160 million CZK.

The National Museum on the upper part of Wenceslas Square may get the building where Radion Free Europe seats now. The connection of these two buildings promises a large area for exhibitions and other cultural projects. The Ministry of Culture want the goverment to decide about it before the end of this month.

The Radio Free Europe next to the National Museum is going to move to a new building in Hagibor which is better protected. New spaces in the old building in Wenceslas Sguare can be used as large lecture-rooms, labs, administration offices and also as exhibition halls or restaurants. This building can be connected with the National Museum with a tunnel, which will create a unique museum complex.

Also the National museum is going to change. First phase of restoration works will start in spring next year. In four years the historical building of the National museum will be totally empty and waiting for restoration that will last from 2011 to 2015.

National Technical Museum at Letna will be closed from 12th September to 1,5 years. The building has first general repair since 1942. The last opening day is this Sunday. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. is prepared for visitors large programme.

The visitors can also see history and information about the museum as well as planned reconstruction. The museum will present functional steam engine or a new Jawa motorcycle.

Visitors can expect more space for museum after the reconstruction with new expositions like an architecture, an astronomy, an industrial design, a polygraph or a communication.

Czech palaeontologists returned to Prague after spending almost one month in the area of Gobi desert, Mongolia. Their stay was a part of Expedition Gobi 06-09 and brought success. The experts discovered several skeletons of dinosaurs as well as hundreds of bones belonging to these primeval creatures in the valley Nemegt.

The discoveries are, for the time being, to stay in Mongolia but the scientists noted down their location carefully. The aim of the expedition, lasting till the year 2009, is to bring back to the Czech Republic a skeleton of a dinosaur. It should find its home in a new Prague museum devoted to history of the Earth. The museum will be associated with the famous Charles University – more specifically with its Faculty of Science.

There will be therefore future cooperation between Czech palaeontologists and their Mongolian colleagues so that the objective of the participants of the expedition can come true.

National museum in Prague is in desolate state and today it museum shown. A piece of sculpture decoration fell right in front of entrance into the building. This act is a great example of museum problems. Luckily no one was harmed.

The museum will be closed until Thursday afternoon at least. National museum need general repair for a years. This terrible status is caused by a past and a present. Nazi used a museum as a target in lat days of World War II as well as Soviets in year 1968. Today the museum is in pliers of two parts of Prague artery and continual vibrations with a smog is certain building killer.

Expected repair cost is 4,5 billions CZK and museum hasn’t got this money of course. A museum administration present this horrible condition in exposition showing fallen part of museum. It is undignified behaviour to one of our most important national monuments. It is expected that National Assembly building where Radio Free Europe yet will be for some moths become a property of National museum.