Photo: ŠJů (cs:ŠJů) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Muzeum T. G. M. Rakovník

The main building of the Rakovník museum by the Prague Gate is under reconstruction; the museum also manages the Vysoká brána tower with a viewing platform, which is open seasonally.

Temporarily closed

Website Directions

Temporarily closed. The main museum building on Žižkovo náměstí is under reconstruction and not accessible; the website gives no date for reopening. A separate project is being prepared for the new exhibitions. The Vysoká brána can be visited seasonally.

About the museum

The Rakovník museum was founded in connection with preparations for the 1895 Czechoslovak Ethnographic Exhibition in Prague, and was solemnly opened on 24 July 1898 in the boys’ school building, on the 100th birthday of František Palacký. In 1907 the collections moved into the premises of the town savings bank. After the bequest of the Rakovník citizen Jaroslav Petrovec to the town, the Petrovec villa also proved too cramped, so the town bought the so-called old post office by St Bartholomew’s church, originally a house of the Cistercians of Plasy from 1781. From 1936 the building has served the museum.

In 1984 the museums in Nové Strašecí and Jesenice, and the Joachim Barrande Memorial in Skryje, became branches of the then District Museum. After the museum took over the T. G. Masaryk Museum in Lány and built the Alice Masaryková memorial hall, the name was changed on 1 February 2002 to Muzeum T. G. M. Rakovník.

The main building in Rakovník offers permanent exhibitions, two exhibition halls, a lecture hall and an outdoor geological exhibition in the courtyard; the neighbouring Prague Gate is also part of the visit. The building is currently under reconstruction, and a separate project is being prepared for the new exhibitions. The museum also manages the Vysoká brána, which is open as a viewing tower in the summer season.