Military History Institute Prague

Adress: U Památníku 2, 130 05 Praha 3, Phone: +420 973 204 900, e-mail: muzeum@vhu.cz, fax: +420 222 541 308

Headquarters: Brigadier general Mgr. Aleš Knížek – Director of the Military History Institute Prague, Phone No: +420 973 204 900 – the Director’s Secretariat

The Board: +420 973 204 903 – decides upon export licenses, loans, gifts or purchases

Library: +420 973 20 49 28 – Head Librarian. Study room: +420 973 20 49 44. Lending library: +420 973 20 49 46

The Historie a vojenství Magazine: David Pazdera – Editor-in-Chief. Phone No: +420 973 204 941

The Army Museum Žižkov

U Památníku 2, Praha 3 - Žižkov, Phone No: +420 973 204 924 (museum reception - only basic information, not specialist issues).
The museum is open every day except Monday from 10.00 AM to 6 PM. Admission is free of charge. To get to the museum take bus No. 133, 175, 207 from metro station Florenc (line B and C), stop U Památníku.

The Aviation Museum Kbely

Mladoboleslavská ul., Praha 9 - Kbely, Phone No: +420 973 207 500. The museum is open in the summer season, i.e. from May till October, every day except Monday from 10.00 AM to 6 PM. Admission is free of charge. To get to the museum take bus No. 185, 259, 280, 302, 375, 376 - 10 minutes from Letňany underground station, stop Letecké museum.

The Military Technical Museum Lešany

Lešany near Týnec nad Sázavou, Post Office Krhanice, 257 42, Phone No: +420 973 296 161. The museum is open during the summer season in the following hours: in June and September 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM (weekends only), in July and August 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM (daily except mondays). Admission is free of charge. How to get to the museum: by car Prague - highway D1 direct to Brno - exit Velké popovice - Babice - Lešany u Týnce nad Sázavou. By train: from station Praha Hlavní nádraží, direction Týnec nad Sázavou, to the Krhanice station. Then walk 500 meters over the bridge to the museum.

The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror

Resslova 9a, 120 00 Praha 2. Contact: tel.: +420 720 988 421, office: +420 222 540 718, e-mail: pamatnik-heydrichiady@vhu.cz. Opening hours: Year round: Tuesday – Sunday 9.00 – 17.00. Guided school programs from Tuesday till Friday: Email reservation: pamatnik-heydrichiady@vhu.cz.  Transportation: Metro station Karlovo náměstí (Palackého náměstí direction); Tram no. 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 22, 24, Karlovo náměstí station;  Tram no. 5, 17, Jiráskovo náměstí station.

About The Military History Institute Prague

Military History Institute

The Military History Institute Prague is a military institution, governed by the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic. The Military History Institute consists of the headquarters and three specialized departments (the museum and administration department with the restoration section, the history and documentation department that manages also the military history library, and the operational/economic department. The research activities focus particularly on the issues of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd resistance, and the personal issues of top military personalities. The Czech and Czechoslovak militarism, especially in the 20th century, is subject to the thorough and long-term research.

The Institute is the research center, museum, library and archive facility of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. Its mission, as defined by law, is to gather constantly and purposefully the written and material relics related to the history of our militarism and army; to take the expert care of these funds and collection; and to research them scientifically. The results are presented by the exhibition activities, archive and library services, at expert conferences and seminars, in books and magazines, and by other services provided for the army units, institutes and general public.

Museums and exhibition areas are integral part of the Military History Institute Prague. They include the Army Museum Žižkov, Air Museum Kbely, Military Technical Museum Lešany and The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror in Prague.

International contacts. Abroad, the military history is represented by the Czech Committee for the Military History, the member of the International Committee for the Military History (Commission Internationale d'Histoire Militaire, CIHM). The Military History Institute Prague is a member of the committees at the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the International Committee for Museums of Arms and Military History (ICOMAM) with UNESCO.

The Army Museum Žižkov

Army Museum Žižkov

The exposition of the Army Museum Žižkov is divided into seven main parts, according to the individual historical periods that map the military history of the Czech territory and Czech statehood. 1/ The period from the beginnings to 1740. 2/ The period 1740-1914. 3/ The First World War 1914-1918. 4/ The trenches of the First World War. 5/ Czechoslovakia 1918-1938. 6/ The period 1938-1948, World War II. 7/ The period from 1948 to the present.

In total, there are over seven thousand exhibits from the collection of the Military Historical Institute Prague. The exhibits are placed in almost three hundred showcases, but also in the free space of the exhibition halls. The halls are located on four floors, in some halls there are also smaller mezzanines. The visual presentation of the artefacts, including the lighting, has been created in the spirit of the latest trends and with the most advanced lighting technology. A speciality are the "objects with a story", where the visitor is informed about the fate of the object and the people connected to it. Numerous exhibits are also equipped with QR codes, so the visitor can read comprehensive and extended information about the object using modern technology.

The museum is open every day except Monday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission is free of charge. To get to the museum take bus No. 133, 175, 207 from metro station Florenc (line B and C), stop U Památníku.

For more photos see this page: Expozice AM Žižkov

The Aviation Museum Kbely

Aviation Museum Kbely

The museum was founded in 1968, in the area of the historic military airfield Prague-Kbely, the first air base built after the constitution of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Due to both the quantity and quality of its collections, it is one of to the largest air museums in Europe. Currently the collections contain 275 aircrafts, 85 of which are exhibited in four indoor halls, 25 are displayed in the open air, 155 are stored in depositories, and 10 planes, fully operational, are still in service. Many aircraft are unique in the world. (Museum display only one in the world czech plane constructions and both type of the Me 262 Schwalbe).

The exposition is closely related to the history of Czechoslovak and Czech aviation, especially its military branch. Several other types of foreign important aircraft are also exhibited for comparison, together with numerous aircraft engines, parts of airframes, armament, uniforms, banners, marks of distinction and other relics related to the history of Czechoslovak and Czech aviation.

The museum is open in the summer season, i.e. from May till October, every day except Monday from 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM. Admission is free of charge. To get to the museum take bus No. 185, 259, 280, 302, 375, 376 - 10 minutes from Letňany underground station (stop Letecké museum).

For more photos see this page: Expozice LM Kbely

The Military Technical Museum Lešany

Military Technical Museum Lešany

The Military Technical Museum of the Military History Institute Prague has been located since 1996 in the former artillery barracks between Krhanice and Lešany, near Týnec nad Sázavou. Currently, the exposition contains over 350 historic tanks, cannons, motorcycles, armored vehicles, trucks and military passenger vehicles, manufactured in the period from 1890 up to present. The collections are presented in 10 halls, 6 roofed areas and also in the open air.

By the quantity and contents of its collection, with many items unique in the world, the museum is one of the most important European institutions of its kind. The unique part is particularly the collection of the Czechoslovak military transport vehicles from 1918 to 1939, and the collection of Škoda cannons. By the concept of the exposition, the museum follows new trends of presentation of technical collections. From the very start, the museum has followed the pattern of British museums that set the trends in the current development of the museology. Regular replacements of the exhibits every year, their impressive presentation in motion, and the gradual improvement of the exhibition areas – all that helps the visitors better understand the issues of the Czechoslovak military technical history. Every year, when the museum opens as well as during the summer season (every last saturday in August - Tank day), our LEŠANY ARENA hosts numerous events presenting the historic technology in motion.

The museum is open during the summer season in the following hours: In June 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM (weekends only), in July and August 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM (daily except mondays). Admission is free of charge. How to get to the museum: Car: 1) Prague - highway D1 direct to Brno - exit Velké popovice - Babice - Lešany u Týnce nad Sázavou 2) Prague– direction Jesenice - Jílové u Prahy - Kamenný Přívoz - Prosečnice - Krhanice - Lešany. Train: Take the ride from the railway station Praha Hlavní nádraží, or Praha Vršovice, or Praha Bráník, direction Týnec nad Sázavou, to the Krhanice station, and then walk 500 meters over the bridge to the museum (the popular Sázava Pacific Line goes through the picturesque valley of the Sázava River).

For more photos see this page: Expozice VTM Lešany

The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror

The National Memorial to the Heroes of Heydrich Terror is located in underground of Ortodox cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius in Resslova street. The Memorial is property of Prague City Hall. It is led and administrated by Military History Institute Prague. The Memorial exposition was designed and installed by Military History Institute Prague.

The National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror and a place for reconciliation by Ortodox cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius was established in 1995 by Jaroslav and Eva Šuvarský. Museum was built as a new space next to the original underground basement. The new hall has been connected to the crypt itself since the completion of the reconstruction project in 1995. Museum and memorial in crypt became dignified and piety place, which keeps memory of seven Czechoslovakian parathroopers of brave fightagainst great outnumbered German nazi forces. It happened on 18th of June 1942.

Seven Czechoslovakian soldier under cover found hiding place in crypt of St. Cyril and Methodius after assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, which was executed by Jan Kubiš and Josef Gabčík on 27th of May 1942 in a road junction near by Kobylisy. Both of them were among those seven men. This period of the second martial law, declared after assassination, was later called „Heydrich´s terror“.

Contemporary exibition was installed by Military History Institute Prague in 2010. In 2017 Military History Institute Prague took over whole Memorial under its management. The exhibition follows main historical events from Munich Agreement in 1938 till the fight in cathedral and crypt in 1942. Visitors can follow stories of Protectorate Bohemia and Moravie, Heydrich´s carrier, special training of Czechoslovakian soldiers in Scotland, families of Resistance members and Sokols and Ortodox church and all heplers as well same as the story of Lidice village burned by Nazis 10. 6. 1942. The exhibition is in Czech and English completed by period exhibits and audiovisual material.

Crypt itself represents a piety place and whole exposition ends there. It is decorated by seven busts of all seven parathroopers with their curriculum vitae made by sculptor Milan Benda.

Opening hours: Year round: Tuesday – Sunday 9.00 – 17.00. Guided school programs from Tuesday till Friday: Email reservation: pamatnik-heydrichiady@vhu.cz. Maximal number of students per school group is 30. Time for school program: 60-90 min. Entrance and School programs are free admission. Transportation: Metro station Karlovo náměstí (Palackého náměstí direction); Tram no. 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 14, 16, 22, 24, Karlovo náměstí station;  Tram no. 5, 17, Jiráskovo náměstí station.

Rules for Visitors to MHI Museums

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