The marketing campaign launched by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic ahead of the upcoming centenaries of the national geographic museums in Prague, Brno and Opava (1814–1818) is a most suitable starting point for a long overdue critical discussion of the current approach to the history of museums in the Czech Land in particular and Central Europe in general. The concept of a museum‘s foundation, establishment or first opening must be viewed historically because of the difference in its content in a society divided into estates (pre-1860) and in a civil society (post-1860). This paper is a call for a more fine grained analysis of the history of museums as institutions and a detailed comparative treatment of this concept with the aim of achieving a more objective phenomenology of the museum in 1800-1945 Central Europe.
The bicentennial of the Gymnasium Museum (which existed as an independent institution in 1814–1939) calls for an analysis on the topic of science and museums in the modern era. Sources of information include library catalogues and infrequent reports about collections, which were mostly destroyed by 1945. The paper focuses on a selection of examples of scientific activities (particularly geology, palaeontology, and the social sciences) which were developed in relation to the Gymnasium Museum in the region of Czech Silesia. Unlike the Joanneum in Graz or the Brno museum, in which history held the dominant position, Opava was the backdrop for the thriving of natural sciences, particularly geognosy; i.e. geology, entomology, and botany. Since the collections are no longer intact, the intellectual settings have been reconstructed from the layout of the library. The same library also reveals value preferences in the domain of social sciences.
Václav Šílený was a lawyer, Moravian politician, member of the Moravian Diet and Imperial Council and organisation official. Based on the preserved fragments of written remnants and period media reports, the author highlights his relationship to the region of Czech Silesia and Ostrava, in particular, to the important issues of education and economy
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.