History of the Postal Museum

At the Postal Museum in Prague's Vávrův mlýn, visitors can learn about the rich history of the Postal Museum in a small exhibition, thanks to a detailed chronological line and displayed small artifacts. The museum was established by decision of the Ministry of Post and Telegraphs on December 18, 1918, as the first museum institution of independent Czechoslovakia.

Initially, the museum had neither its own collections nor exhibition spaces. The primary task was therefore to acquire items, which was done mainly through levies from post offices, donations, and a document separation with Austria. Negotiations for the transfer of archival materials, however, were only partially successful. Nevertheless, the collections gradually grew and allowed for the creation of the first permanent exhibition, opened in 1928 in Prague's Karolinum.

Soon, however, a lack of space became apparent, which was solved by moving the museum to the former monastery of St. Gabriel in Smíchov. A new exhibition was opened there in early 1933, and the museum, in terms of the scope and quality of its collection, ranked alongside renowned domestic museums and galleries.

The successful development was interrupted by the German occupation in 1939. The museum was involved in propaganda activities, and its operations stagnated. It was closed to the public in September 1944. Restoration followed after liberation in May 1945, but a full-fledged exhibition was only gradually made accessible. During the socialist era, the museum primarily fulfilled an ideological role, while the expert processing of postal history was sidelined. This led to the closure of exhibition halls, the storage of collections in depositories, and their transfer to other institutions.

Positive changes occurred in the second half of the 1960s. A significant step was the opening in 1976 of an extensive exhibition on the history of postal administration in a part of the former Cistercian monastery in Vyšší Brod. Another challenge was the construction of a new Prague headquarters in Vávrův dům, where an exhibition of stamp production was opened in 1988.

After 1989, the museum gained new development opportunities. In 1993, it became part of the state-owned enterprise Česká pošta, and from January 1, 2026, it was incorporated into the National Technical Museum, whose professional focus closely matches the character of the museum's collection. Both museums met in history. The Technical Museum was interested in postal collections from the beginning, and in 1955, part of the telecommunication collections was transferred to the National Technical Museum.