The renovated Žižkov Army Museum was ceremonially opened in Prague
Update: 20/10/2022 17:58
Issued by: 20/10/2022, 17:56
Prague – With the participation of war veterans, President Miloš Zeman and other politicians, the reconstructed Army Museum Žižkov opened in Prague. After today’s ceremony, it will not open to the public until October 28. It will offer visitors a new exhibition depicting the military history of the Czech territory from the settlement of the Slavs to the present day. The exhibition area has tripled compared to the past, the reconstruction cost more than 900 million crowns.
In his speech, out of all the exhibitions, Zeman mentioned the chronologically last one, in which he was attracted by the sign from the Czech embassy in Kabul. “I believe that this latest exposure is not a testament to victory and success, it is a testament to the shame that lies in the cowardly capitulation to international terrorism,” the president said. He added that he believes that in the future the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fight against international terrorism will be reassessed.
“The most extensive terrorist action, the attack on the New York twin towers, just came out of Afghanistan. That’s when this terrorist action got its deserved retribution, far more deserved than the legitimately questioned attack in Iraq, even more so the bombing of Yugoslavia,” said Zeman. “In our troubled times, when a nuclear power attacks its neighbor, we should not forget the fight against international terrorism. If we give up this fight, we will also give up the legacy of our military,” he said, referring to the current war in Ukraine.
The museum’s exposition is divided into seven basic parts. Experts from the Military Historical Institute (VHÚ), which runs the museum, wanted unique objects from their collection to become its focus. In this way, they set themselves against the procedures that museums apply today, which deviate from the traditional concept and replace the display of exhibits with the use of audiovisual technologies.
According to the director of the VHÚ Museum Department, Michal Burian, the method of museum presentation, where collection items are replaced by a didactic model, replica or 3D visualization, on the one hand helps to protect unique collection items, but at the same time, diminishes their importance. “Visitors sometimes expect more of a play area from museums and are disappointed by the amount of static exhibits without being able to appreciate the significance of the fact that the given object has been preserved at all,” says Burian.
After an expensive reconstruction, the museum has a new entrance that leads under the original courtyard. In the basement, which received a glass ceiling, there is a reception, from where visitors can get to the exhibits or take the elevator to the cafe. Access to the museum will also be possible from the bike path from the back of the building. In total, it offers over 5,000 square meters of exhibition space.