National Technical Museum

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The National Technical Museum (Národní technické muzeum) in Prague is the Czech Republic’s largest museum focused on the history of technology and industry. It was founded in 1908 and sits near Letná Park. The museum keeps a vast collection, but only about 15% is on display at any time. The rest is stored in archives and libraries, including roughly 3,500 meters of shelves of material and around 250,000 books.

Its history goes back to earlier technical schools: a professional engineering school founded in 1717, the Prague Polytechnical Institute started in 1806, and the Czech Industrial Museum opened by Vojtěch Náprstek in 1874. The modern museum formed from the Technical Museum of Bohemia, which opened in 1910 in the Schwarzenberg Palace and became the Czechoslovak Technical Museum in 1918. It moved to its present building in 1942. The building, designed by Milan Babuška in a Functionalist style, later housed the full collection in the 1990s after World War II disruptions.

In 1995 three new galleries were opened: Industrial Design, Single Building, and Fine Arts. Industrial Design features early Czech motorcycles, lighting, and manufacturing methods. The Single Building Gallery hosts quarterly exhibitions of building models and designs tied to anniversaries or topical themes. The Fine Arts gallery shows paintings and sculptures from the 17th to the 20th century related to industry, science, and technology.

In 2001 the museum opened the Railway Museum, with about 100 railway vehicles. The 2002 European floods damaged some documents, and restoration work continued into 2013. The museum underwent major renovations from 2006 to 2011.

Notable items include aviation pioneer Jan Kašpar’s aircraft, donated and displayed as part of the collection. The most valuable single exhibits include the Mercedes-Benz W154 from 1939, associated with driver Rudolf Caracciola, and the Tatra 80 from 1935, which belonged to President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.