National Technical Museum (Prague)

The National Technical Museum (Czech: Národní technické muzeum) (NTM) in Prague is the largest institution dedicated to preserving information and artifacts related to the history of technology in the Czech Republic. The museum has large exhibits representing approximately 15% of its total collection. The museum also manages substantial archives consisting of approximately 3,500 linear shelf meters of archival material and about 250,000 books. The museum was founded in 1908 and has been in its current location (adjacent to Letná Park) since 1941.

History

The collections originate from the professional engineering school (founded in 1717 in Prague), continued by the Prague Polytechnical Institute (founded in 1806) and finally the opening of the Czech industrial museum, founded by Vojtěch Náprstek in 1874. Further parts of his collections were transferred to the museum later in the 20th century. The modern origin is the Technical Museum of Bohemia, opened to the public in 1910 in the Schwarzenberg Palace, renamed the Czechoslovakian Technical Museum in 1918 (with the founding of the state of Czechoslovakia) and moved to its present building in 1942. It was designed by Milan Babuška, the winner of an architectural competition in Functionalist style. The collection moved out during Nazi occupation, then was gradually returned, only fully occupying the main building in the 1990s.

In 1995 three new galleries were opened: Industrial Design, Single Building, and Fine Arts. Industrial design particularly featured early Czech motorcycles and light fittings, and their processes of manufacture. The Single Building Gallery is used for...