Natural History Museum

About

The Natural History Museum (Czech: Přírodovědecké muzeum) is a museum in Prague in the Czech Republic. It is one of the five components of the National Museum and currently consists of eight departments: the Mineralogical and Petrological, Paleontological, Mycological, Botanical, Entomological, Zoological, Anthropological, and the Ringing Station. The Natural History Museum employs over 80 people, and its collections contain more than 15 million objects, of which only a fraction are exhibited. Ivo Macek has been the director of the museum since 2015. The museum's activities fulfill three main tasks:

It expands and manages natural history collections and continuously documents nature in the Czech Republic and abroad. It scientifically processes its collections and organizes its own research at the international level. It presents its own collections and scientific activities to the general public through expositions, exhibitions, popular educational publications, lectures, and accompanying programs to expositions and exhibitions. It also involves the public in scientific research through citizen science projects.

Natural sciences, with their rich collections, have been one of the main focuses of the National (originally Patriotic) Museum since its foundation in 1818. Kaspar Maria von Sternberg, a versatile naturalist and a leading figure among the founders of the museum, played a significant role in this.

Thanks to the generous donations of the founders and members of the Society of the Patriotic Museum in Bohemia, the museum has had an extensive collection since its foundation. In the second half of the 19th century, the museum could already be described as a major European institution. Its collections consisted of natural objects from practically all over the world. Next to Charles University, the museum was the main center of natural sciences in the Czech lands, and the names of leading natural scientists are closely connected with it (besides Kaspar Maria von Sternberg, August Carl Joseph Corda, Carl Borivoj Presl, Jan Svatopluk Presl, Franz Xaver Maximilian Zippe, Maxmilian Dormitzer, August Emanuel von Reuss, Jan Krejčí, and Antonín Frič ).

On January 28, 1851, an independent Natural Science Board started functioning at the museum, bringing together the various natural science disciplines and organizing scientific and popularization activities. One hundred years later, a group of departments focusing on natural sciences was established within the National Museum. However, the Natural History Museum was not formally established as an independent organizational unit of the National Museum until 1 May 1964.

A distinctive landmark of the zoological exhibitions in the historical building of the National Museum is the 22.5 meters long, over four-ton skeleton of the whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ). The whale's body washed up on the southwest coast of Norway in November 1885. The complete skeleton was later offered by the Norwegian Whaling Society to European museums for the relatively high price of 2,500 guilders. Václav Frič, brother of the then director of the zoological and paleontological collections, Antonín Frič, helped raise the necessary funds by organizing a collection among prominent Prague townspeople. The skeleton was presented to the public in November 1888 in the then Náprstek Industrial Museum on Betlémské náměstí. Since 1893, the skeleton has been exhibited in the present-day Historical Building of the National Museum.

A distinctive landmark of the zoological exhibitions in the historical building of the National Museum is the 22.5 meters long, over four-ton skeleton of the whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ). The whale's body washed up on the southwest coast of Norway in November 1885. The complete skeleton was later offered by the Norwegian Whaling Society to European museums for the relatively high price of 2,500 guilders. Václav Frič, brother of the then director of the zoological and paleontological collections, Antonín Frič, helped raise the necessary funds by organizing a collection among prominent Prague townspeople. The skeleton was presented to the public in November 1888 in the then Náprstek Industrial Museum on Betlémské náměstí. Since 1893, the skeleton has been exhibited in the present-day Historical Building of the National Museum.

The current headquarters of the Natural History Museum is located in the Prague district of Horní Počernice on the site of the former wintering ground of the Czechoslovak State Circus and Variety Theatre. Following the reconstruction of the Historical Building, the collections and workplaces were moved to the existing premises in 2001–2011, where the construction of new buildings in 1996–2001 increased the capacity of the premises. Currently, there are seven departments of the Natural History Museum in Horní Počernice (excluding the Ringing Station), including depositories and technical facilities. The premises are not open to the public.

The Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, which manages six separate collections, has been operating under this name since 1893. The department includes the mineralogical collection, which represents the oldest collection of the National Museum. The collection was built and managed by such prominent personalities as Franz Xaver Maxmilian Zippe and Professor Karel Vrba.

The mineralogical collection of the National Museum includes about 1,800 mineral species and is traditionally ranked among the ten most important mineral collections in the world.

The petrological collection comprises 25,000 rock specimens, mostly from Czech and foreign localities, documenting the rock composition of the Earth's crust.

The geological collection contains more than 3,700 rock specimens, which can be used to demonstrate various geological processes.

The collection of cut gemstones includes 4,850 inventory items of cut gemstones from all over the world.

The meteorite collection contains 500 examples of Czech and world meteorites of various types.

The collection of tektites includes 23,000 specimens of mainly Czech and Moravian vltavins and foreign tektites.

In addition to managing and replenishing the collections, the staff of the Mineralogical and Petrological Department are engaged in research, scientific, and publication activities. Museum mineralogists are authors or co-authors of descriptions of 25 new mineral species. They also publish popularization articles and books, which are supplemented with photographs of objects from the collections managed by the Mineralogical and Petrological Department. The department staff provides consultations to the public, closely cooperates with the mineralogical section of the Society of the National Museum, and participates in the preparation of exhibitions of natural science and historical interest.

The Paleontological Department was established in 1864, but for many years it operated in association with the Zoological Department and as the Geological and Paleontological Department. The modern history of the Paleontological Department began in 1964.

The collections of the department comprise about five million specimens, mainly from the Czech Republic, but there are also important foreign collections. The collections are continuously replenished both by collections of the department staff and donations and purchases from institutions, scientists, and private collectors. Among the most important collections of the Paleontological Department are, among others, the paleobotanical collection of Kaspar Maria von Sternberg, the collection of protohistoric invertebrates of Joachim Barrande, and the collection of fossil animals of the Czech permocarbon by Antonín Frič. The most scientifically valuable part of the collection is the extensive collection of material comprising over 2,500 pieces.

In addition to fossils, the department also preserves a large amount of field and collection documentation, documents for paleontological works, personal equipment of leading personalities of Czech paleontology, and an extensive collection of scientific illustrations and pictorial reconstructions.

Paleontology Department staff is engaged in the study of the taxonomy, morphology, ontogeny, and phylogeny of animal and plant groups throughout their geological history (from the Protohistoric to the Quaternary) and in the reconstruction of the environment in individual geological periods. The workload, in addition to the actual management of the collections, also includes field research in the Czech Republic and abroad, development of methods for the protection of the collections, and digitization of the collections and popularization of natural sciences.