Krkonoše Museums - a trip into history
Are you interested in history or just looking for a program for a free afternoon when you want to relax after strenuous sports? Accept our invitation to visit local museums. This time we have selected those that deal with the history and present of our beautiful Krkonoše Mountains with everything that belongs to them – nature, strong people and sports pioneers.
Visitor Centre of the Krkonoše National Park - Krkonoše Museum in Vrchlabí
The Krkonoše Museum in Vrchlabí proudly proclaims itself to be the largest exposition of the Krkonoše Mountains in the world. Since we have never heard of any Krkonoše museum in Alaska, Burundi or Sri Lanka, we will believe them :-). But seriously, the museum opened this autumn after a six-year reconstruction and has a lot to boast about. It manages 45,000 objects in its collections and visitors can walk through the history of the Krkonoše Mountains from the formation of the first rocks to the present day. Children can look forward to the Spirit of the Mountains and aquariums with live fish, and there is also interesting information about the biggest natural disasters that have ever hit the Giant Mountains. The Krkonoše Mountains influenced by people and people influenced by the Krkonoše Mountains is one of the exhibitions that is an interesting example of the transformation of the highest Czech mountains. The Krkonoše Museum also includes four charming historical houses on the Peace Square in Vrchlabí.
Skiing Museum in Dolní Branná
If you are interested in the history of white sport in the Giant Mountains and Podkrkonoší, we recommend a visit to the Ski Museum in Dolní Branná. The museum was built in a timbered house that is more than a quarter of a millennium old. The beautiful building has undergone a complete reconstruction and allowed the creation of an interesting museum building on three floors, including the basement, which has been converted into a museum café. The museum contains an extensive collection of skiing, sledging and skating artefacts, which were carefully collected and cared for with love and interest by the local resident Aleš Suk, a cantor and ski coach. It will show you the development of winter sports and tourism and present the historical products of local craftsmen (wheelwrights, blacksmiths, shoemakers, saddlers), which will surprise you with their unique and magical design. The skiing museum with its hall of fame with medals and trophies of former and current Krkonoše athletes reminds us of the conditions in which extraordinary sporting victories were born.
Krkonoše Museum at the Jilemnice Chateau
The Jilemnice Museum focuses mainly on the history and ethnography of the western Krkonoše Mountains and the origins and development of Czech skiing. It is located in a beautiful Renaissance castle from the 16th century. century. In the museum’s exhibition, don’t miss the unique Metelka’s sounded mechanical crib from 1883-1913, collections of prints and maps, and visit the department of weapons and hunting trophies. They also have a large collection of funerary guild shields in the Czech Republic and monuments to the Harrach family, to whom the castle belonged. Not only in the pre-Christmas period you can admire the collection of nativity scenes. The Kavanova Gallery, which is part of the museum, was founded in 1956 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Kavan’s birth. birthday of František Kaván (1866-1941), painter and local native. It shows the works of this landscape painter, whose works belong to the golden fund of Czech landscape painting today.
The museum’s permanent exhibition is complemented each year by a series of short-term exhibitions, lectures, workshops and talks.
Always check visiting hours before visiting museums:
https://www.muzeumkrkonos.cz/muzea-expozice/muzeum-krkonos
https://www.muzeumlyzovani.cz/
https://www.krnap.cz/navstevnici/muzea/krkonosske-muzeum-jilemnice/
