All that glitters: Prague's National Museum reopens its oldest collection to the public

In the Historical Building of the National Museum, visitors can once again see the exhibited minerals from the collections of the National Museum in the original historical showcases, which have undergone demanding restoration.

The newly opened part of the exhibition called Hall of Minerals presents its visitors with more than 4,000 items from the collection, which totals an incredible 100,000 minerals from all over the world.

“The collection of minerals of the National Museum is the largest in the Czech Republic and contains a number of mineralogical examples, which are among the best of their kind in the world. The Hall of Minerals was one of the first exhibitions opened in the Historic Building after its construction and, next to the skeleton of Plejtvájek Myšok, is one of the symbols of the National Museum,” says Michal Lukeš, General Director of the National Museum.

This collection is the oldest in the National Museum and has been constantly expanded for more than 200 years. Visitors will now see the most interesting and beautiful minerals in the completely restored so-called Schulz showcases, which were named after the architect of the Historical Building of the National Museum, Josef Schulz.

The exhibition showcases several forms of gold, silver, diamonds, and graphite in their raw form. Visitors can see how many colors fluorite or agate have as well as large pieces of crystal. Fans of glittering stones will certainly not be disappointed by amethyst or interestingly structured antimony.

Among other things, you can see about a hundred minerals from one of the founders of the National Museum, Count Kašpar Šternberk, and dozens of examples from such personalities as Prince Klemens Metternich, the abbot of the Strahov monastery, Jeroným Josef Zeidler, or the first employee of the National Museum mineralogist František Xaver Zippe.

However, more than a third of the exhibits have been altered from the original exhibition, so it will also offer a view of minerals that visitors have not yet been able to see in the National Museum.