Hradec Králové Region has announced a tender for the position of museum director

Hradec Králové - The Hradec Králové Region has announced a tender for the position of director of the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové. Interested parties can apply until September 15. Today, the deputy governor for culture, Martina Berdychová (East Bohemians), informed ČTK. The previous director, Naďa Machková Prajzová, was dismissed by the regional council on July 10 due to personnel issues at the museum, where some employees complained of bullying and intimidation. According to Machková Prajzová, who had led the museum since January 1, 2011, her dismissal does not have a real justification and is a fabricated case.

Applicants for the director's position must also submit proposals for the management and development concepts of the museum for the upcoming six-year period with their applications. The term of office for the new director will be six years, whereas it was previously unlimited. The candidate for the museum's leadership should, among other things, be able to navigate the state and EU grant policies and should also be familiar with legal issues in the field of culture and museology.

Until the appointment of the new director, the museum is led by the current deputy director, Jaroslav Zámečník, who was previously the head of the department for the protection and presentation of collection items.

The suspicion of bullying in the museum was addressed by a psychologist who examined 41 out of 59 employees. According to the results, 64 percent of them complained of repeated bullying. Mobbing, which is workplace bullying, and bossing, which is bullying by a superior, were acknowledged by 88 percent of them. Machková Prajzová rejected the psychologist's report, stating that it is full of inaccuracies, mathematical nonsense, and misleading information. Last week, she stated that she would defend herself against false accusations.

The history of the Hradec museum dates back to 1880 when city councillors approved a proposal to establish a museum. The collections were first exhibited in 1885 in the chapel of St. Wenceslas in a building on Žižkov Square. The museum, which quickly expanded its collections, originally was housed in several buildings throughout the city. From 1909 to 1912, a new museum building was constructed on Eliščino nábřeží according to a design by architect Jan Kotěra. Since 1993, the museum has also included the memorial of the Battle of Chlum from 1866.