The Museum of the Bohemian Paradise

The Museum of the Bohemian Paradise belongs to the oldest museums of the regional type in the Czech Republic. At the beginning, the collecting activities focused on archaeology, history and ethnography. These collections formed the basis of the regional national history and geography centre. The current specialization of the Turnov Museum in the documentation and presentation of the precious stones deposits and the history of stone cutting and jewellery making stemmed from the collections of geology, mineralogy, precious stones working and jewellery making that date back to the 30s of the last century. In these areas, the Museum currently owns a collection of European dimensions and corresponding exhibits. The expansion of the specialised collecting areas is supported by the present activities of the Museum, such as the cooperation with art schools, organization of international jewellery making symposia oriented at the development of relations with the contemporary world works, international scientific conferences, foreign expeditions, exhibitions both in the Czech Republic and abroad and precious stones trade days. Through this programme, the Museum of the Bohemian Paradise reaches not only beyond the regional boundaries but also beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. Ensuring the archaeological conservation care in the region is of the same importance. In the recent years, the Museum has been one of the main organizers of cultural activities and feasts in the region.

The Museum was founded in 1886. Historical exhibits, monuments of arts and guilds, archaeological findings and the municipal archives materials formed the base of the collections. Permanent exhibitions of mineralogy, history, living nature, Turnov stone working and ethnography were made accessible to the visitors in the year 1963. This increased significantly the interest in the Museum and resulted in the growth in the number of visitors too. In 1966 the Museum acquired the status of a District Museum. In the same year it also took over the administration of the Dlask Farm in Dolánky. After completing the necessary repairs, an exhibition was open on the ground floor of the residential building. The exhibitions were considerably enriched by the construction of a gallery in 1974 and by installing the painting by Mikoláš Aleš, called The Defeat of the Saxons at Hrubá Skála. The gallery functions not only as an exhibition hall but also as a lecturing and cultural hall. In the 80s and 90s of the last century it was significantly expanded and the permanent exhibitions in the Museum and on the Dlask Farm in Dolánky were given a new concept. The Museum increased the number of specialized employees, which meant a notable shift in the work with the collections and in their presentation. In the year 1992 a large reconstruction of the former prison building was completed, which enabled the proper deposit of approximately 130 thousand collection items. Besides the permanent care for collections, registration, expert assessing and preserving the collections, the Museum organizes approximately 30 exhibitions a year, develops its own scientific, research and publishing activity, organizes specialized conferences and seminars, international symposia of jewellers and cutters, provides extensive research services for the general public and organizes the rich cultural activity of the region. The Museum focuses on the cooperation with specialized institutions both at home and abroad. The prerequisites for cooperation are in particular the specialized areas and collection of precious stones from the world and Czech deposits, collections of historical garnet jewels and collections of the contemporary designer’s jewels. These collections enable the cooperation with a whole range of foreign institutions and with individuals too. They resulted in the expositions of jewels from the symposia in the Netherlands and the United States of America or in the exhibition In the Glow of the Bohemian Garnet during the Europalia 1998 festival in Brussels. In the year 2001 the Museum of the Bohemian Paradise Turnov was awarded the Annual Award of the Turnov town culture and was nominated to the international award in the EMYA competition – European Museum Forum in Pisa, Italy.
Starting with January 1, 2003, the administrator of the Museum of the Bohemian Paradise in Turnov is the Liberec Region.

The Museum of the Bohemian Paradise
Skálova 71
511 01 Turnov
GPS:  50°35'20.108"N, 15°9'28.738"E

Tel: +420 481 322 106, +420 481 321 148
Fax: +420 481 325 577
E-mail: mail@muzeum-turnov.cz
http://www.muzeum-turnov.cz