Prague National Museum
The National Museum is the largest museum in the Czech Republic. It covers a range of disciplines and collecting fields from the natural sciences to specialized areas of the social sciences. It brings together collections of materials documenting the development of nature, and the history and prehistory of both Czech and foreign origins. The museum’s exhibits are located in a number of buildings around Prague. The National Museum also organizes a range of cultural and educational programs.
Main building
The Main Building of the National Museum (Historical Building) is located on the upper end of Wenceslas Square and was built by prominent Czech neo-renaissance architect Josef Schulz from 1885 - 1891. With the construction of a permanent building for the museum, a great deal of work, which had previously been devoted to ensuring that the collections would remain intact, was now put toward collecting new materials.
New building
The New Building of the National Museum (former Federální Shromáždění Building) is located next to the Main Building of the National Museum. The former Prague Stock Exchange was built in 1937. The building was extended in 1968–1973 for meetings of the Federal Assembly (parliament), the bridge girder was used there and at that time it was the largest hanged glass wall in Czechoslovakia. Between 1995 and 2009 it was used by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
In 2000, the Ministry of Culture declared the building a cultural monument. In 2009, the building was assigned to the National Museum for its permanent extension and is used for short-term exhibitions. In 2019, the building was connected to the historical building through an underground tunnel. In 2020, the permanent exhibition History of the 20th Century should be opened here.