Technical Museums
National Technical Museum
Kostelní 1320/42, 170 78 Prague 7
The National Technical Museum (NTM) is the largest Czech institution of its kind. It exhibits collections within fourteen permanent exhibitions and many temporary displays. A jewel of the NTM’s transportation history exhibit, found in the popular ‘Transportation Hall,’ is a Mercedes Benz W154 race car used by Rudolf Caracciola to win the 1938 Grand Prix. In the museum’s astronomy exhibit, visitors can see precious items like Bürgi‘s sextant, an instrument used by Johannes Kepler, a key figure of the 17th-century Scientific Revolution. Czech contributions to science are represented at the NTM as well. For example, the exhibit “Chemistry Around Us” displays the apparatus used by Otto Wichterle to produce the world’s first soft contact lenses in 1961.
Museum of the Wallachian Region
Horní náměstí 2, 775 01 Vsetín
The Museum of the Wallachian Region identifies itself as a multidisciplinary organization in the fields of social science, natural science and technology. It educates visitors through a multidisciplinary approach that includes exhibitions, expositions, events and publishing activities, including education for children and youth about the environment. The museum cares for a unique collection of furniture made of bent beech wood, as well as tapestries and glass light fixtures. Another museum highlight is a valuable collection of old prints. The museum also has an observatory, which aims to excite public interest regarding astronomy and other natural sciences.
Technical Museum in Brno
Purkyňova 105, 612 00 Brno
On January 1, 1961, the Brno branch of the National Technical Museum in Prague set off on its own to become the independent Technical Museum in Brno. The museum’s seventeen permanent exhibitions present a wide spectrum of themes, from crafts to information technology. Among its most precious collection items is an axial-flow hydro turbine designed by Viktor Kaplan, whose date of birth, November 27, 1876, has been named one of UNESCO’s world cultural anniversaries as a token of respect. One of the museum’s seventeen expositions is devoted to racing motorbikes and the Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix international competition. The museum also cares for six Technical Monuments¾five in the South Moravia region and one in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands.
