The Open Door Day at NTM was accompanied by extraordinary interest

Prague - The National Technical Museum in Prague at Letná (NTM), where the exhibition on the history of transport is currently being finalized, welcomed 4,800 visitors yesterday. The open house event reminded everyone that alongside it, other exhibitions will be accessible from February 15. They will cover the development of astronomy, photography studio, architecture, construction, design, and also the history of printing. The museum, which closed in September 2006, is still undergoing renovation, with the third phase scheduled to be completed in spring 2012.
Even an hour before opening, eager visitors were waiting in front of the building. When the doors opened at ten, about 1,000 entered the hall in the first wave. Others had to wait outside, and their line extended around the corner of the building. The interest continued to grow throughout the day.
Older visitors could see for themselves in the transport hall that the impressive display has lost none of its attractiveness. Children, who do not remember it, were particularly amazed by the suspended aircraft. Among them was the one in which the pioneer of Czech aviation Jan Kašpar made his famous flight from Pardubice to Velká Chuchle in May 1911. He covered the distance of 121 kilometers in 92 minutes at an altitude of about 800 meters. This was the first long-distance flight in the history of Czech aviation. Kašpar donated his aircraft to the technical museum two years later.
For the first time, both young and old could view the legendary fighter Supermarine Spitfire, with which Czechoslovak pilots who fought in Britain returned to their homeland. In the ground floor of the spacious hall, two steam locomotives amazed visitors with their majesty; the others were removed from Letná and will become part of the collection for the upcoming railway museum at Masaryk Station. The polished veterans also drew attention, including a Benz car from 1912 that once belonged to the grandfather of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.
    "It was in the garage in Orlík, we kept it as a relic, and no one was allowed to touch it," Schwarzenberg told ČTK in September 1990, when he saw the dusty car again after 43 years in the museum's depository. He did not request it back in the restitution, believing it would be in the right hands.
The reconstruction has so far cost a total of 353 million crowns. "To that, we must add 130 million for the realization of exhibitions," said Miloš Josefovič, the deputy director, to ČTK. The repairs are funded from a special fund of the Ministry of Culture.
For the museum's centennial anniversary, a representative photographic publication by Jan Hozák was published two years ago, which is to be complemented by a similarly designed catalog. By the end of next year, the museum will open an exhibition on engines and motors as well as a permanent exhibit titled Technology in Everyday Life. Then, the renowned ore and coal mine in the basement of the building will be addressed.
The National Technical Museum also manages unique items such as astronomical instruments from the 16th century that were used by Tycho Brahe, the first Czechoslovak car, some of the oldest daguerreotypes in the world, the Tatra of travelers Hanzelka and Zikmund, and other treasures. The collection of railway vehicles, which will be part of the museum being established at Masaryk Station, is extensive.
The influx of visitors to NTM ultimately benefited the adjacent National Agricultural Museum, which attracted 400 people, most of whom were there for the first time. In addition to the collection of historical agricultural machinery, one of the most complete of its kind in Europe, visitors also saw an exhibition dedicated to the logging of timber. This was historically the most common way of transporting wood, especially in mountainous forest areas. Until January 30, there will be an exhibition featuring hunting trophies from the Sallač collection, which was first presented in Prague a hundred years ago. The second part highlights the travel and hunting activities of Adolf Schwarzenberg and his wife Hilda in Africa in the 1930s.