The original building of the Czech National Museum has closed for five years for extensive modernization.

I have fond memories of the National Museum building and some not so fond ones.  Starting with the latter I need to point out that the building is at the same location as the Muzeum metro station, a major crossroads for us.  To get to and from the station we would frequently need to walk around the huge building and through an underpass that was always dirty and smelly due to the food stalls there.  Prague and the metro stations are usually quite clean so this hike stood out like a sore thumb.

The building itself we always found interesting for its massive size looming over Wenceslas Square.  We loved the story about the bullet holes that are still visible in the facade because the Czech workman ordered to repair them by the new communist overlords in 1945 purposely made them standout by miss-matching the patch.  I wonder if they will remain after this current renovation.

This is an artists rendering of the proposed works.

The National Museum like the National Gallery can be confusing because it consists of multiple buildings.  We did go to several other exhibitions in other buildings but these rooms of prehistoric history, minerals, zoology and the like never made it to the top of our To Do list.  So when we saw a notice for a Christmas concert to be held there we bought the tickets immediately.  The performance, a selection of arias, was held on the central staircase.  We enjoyed the location and the music, the experience, very much.  For more see Christmas Concerts in Historical Buildings

The scheduled June 2016 re-opening is a life time away, but don’t worry the National Museum will be hosting a great many exhibitions at other locations.  See their web site for schedules.

Our favourite is the Czech Museum of Music.  Below is Karin’s account of our visit there.

Czech Museum of Music