The Army Museum in Žižkov will reopen in the fall after renovations

Prague - The Army Museum in Žižkov, Prague, will open this fall after a demanding reconstruction. Visitors will be offered a significantly expanded exhibition space, a café, and lecture halls. This was stated by the Ministry of Defence on its website www.army.cz.

The major reconstruction of the building from the First Republic period began in 2018. The museum, which falls under the Military Historical Institute (VHÚ), transferred its collection items to storage in Lešany near Prague, and its staff moved to temporary facilities.

VHÚ has now released videos showcasing the new appearance of the museum, in which the director of VHÚ, Aleš Knížek, presented the new entrance to the museum, which leads beneath the original courtyard. In the basement, which now has a glass roof, there is a reception area from which visitors can access the exhibitions or take an elevator to the café. Access to the museum will also be possible from the bike path at the back of the building.

A completely new hall has been created in the basement, where VHÚ plans to request occasional exhibitions four times a year, according to Knížek. These could relate to historical themes or the development of weaponry. Additional exhibitions will be located in the space of the original courtyard, which has been covered. This space will also be designated for social events. Lecture halls for school groups are also prepared.

The foyer, including the former ceiling painting done in national colors bordered by gold stripes, has been restored to its original state.

According to the director of the museum department at VHÚ, Michal Burian, the new exhibition will guide visitors through the entire history of the Czech lands from the 6th century to the present. It will showcase the earliest periods of national history, the era of the Přemyslids and the Luxembourgers, as well as the Hussite wars and wars with the Turks. The exhibition dedicated to the Thirty Years' War will display the only surviving flag from the Battle of White Mountain. Other sections will address topics such as the Napoleonic Wars or the Battle of Hradec Králové in 1866. The most significant artifacts from the VHÚ collections will be displayed in a so-called treasury. Among them will be firearms made for Empress Maria Theresa and for Emperor Franz Joseph.

A significant part of the museum will be dedicated to commemorating World War I and the legions, also offering a reconstruction of World War I trenches. According to Knížek, thanks to modern technologies, this will transport visitors directly to the battlefield. Works by Czechoslovak artists who participated in World War I will also be exhibited. Other halls will showcase Czechoslovak arms production from the 1920s and 1930s or the mobilization period. A completely new exhibition located in the basement will present the era of World War II.

The reconstruction of the museum was originally supposed to cost about 724 million crowns, but according to the findings of the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), the additional work increased the price by 192 million. Part of this, according to NKÚ, stemmed from objective and unpredictable reasons, while additional work valued at at least 28 million crowns arose from errors in the project documentation.