Prague City Museum

The Prague City Museum (Muzeum Prahy, formerly also called Muzeum hlavního města Prahy) is a museum that preserves collections devoted to the history of Prague.^[3] It holds more than four million collection items.^[5] The museum was founded in 1881 and marks the 145th anniversary of its founding on 3 October 2026.^[1] Its director since 2023 has been Ivo Macek, who succeeded Zuzana Strnadová after her 23 years at the head of the museum.^[5]*

History and main building

The collections were first housed in a former café pavilion in the municipal park Na Poříčí. The first director was the archaeologist Břetislav Jelínek.^[2] The Neo-Renaissance main building was designed by Antonín Balšánek after Antonín Wiehl withdrew from the project. It was built in 1896–1898 and opened to the public in 1900. The relief on the façade is by Ladislav Šaloun.^[2] The building stands at Na Poříčí 1554/52 in Prague 8, and admission is free.^[1]

Collections and exhibitions

The best-known exhibit is the paper replica of Prague built by Antonín Langweil over eleven years from 1826. It covers about 20 m² at a scale of 1:480 and shows more than two thousand buildings of the historic centre. In 1840 it entered the collections of the National Museum and was later transferred to the Prague City Museum.^[4] The main building houses the exhibition City in Time (Město v čase).^[1] The collections also include archaeological finds, decorative arts, furniture, paintings and photographs, and one of the largest collections of guild artefacts in Europe.^[2]

Other sites

The museum also runs the House at the Golden Ring, Villa Müller, Villa Rothmayer, the Podskalí Customs House at Výtoň, the Ctěnice Chateau complex and the Clam-Gallas Palace, which is closed until spring 2028.^[3] The museum reopened Villa Müller after repairs on 1 October 2026.^[6]

Sources

1. Muzeum Prahy
2. Prague.eu (Prague City Tourism)
3. Muzeum Prahy
4. Muzeum Prahy
5. Artalk — 2026-01-21
6. ČTK / České noviny — 2026-09-30