Natural History Museum

Since the foundation of the National Museum in 1818, the natural history collection has been amongst its largest collection. We care for over 15 million collection items, dating from several billion years ago to the present day.

Anthropology collection

Anthropology collection

The collection consists of the following sub-collections: skeletal remains of past populations,…
Mycological collection

Mycological collection

The major part of the mycological collection consists of herbarium mushroom specimens, wet…
Geological collection

Geological collection

The geological sub-collection holds a wide variety of rock specimens, which illustrate both the…
Petrographic collection

Petrographic collection

The petrographic collection holds over 24,800 recorded items. The core of the collection consists of…
Collection of tectites

Collection of tectites

The collection of tektites, bodies of natural glass formed by the impact of meteorites on the…
Collection of mammals

Collection of mammals

The collection of mammals contains numerous specimens from all around the world. It holds over…
Collection of fish

Collection of fish

This is a collection of vertebrate fishes, which contains about 26,000 catalogued items from around…
Collection of birds

Collection of birds

Collections of skins, skeletons, eggs, nests, stuffed birds and anatomical parts of birds.

The premises of the Natural History Museum in Horní Počernice serve as a modern research and collection facility equipped with advanced specialized instruments. These include a CAMECA SX 100 electron microprobe, a Bruker D8 Advance powder X-ray diffractometer, a Hitachi S-3700N scanning electron microscope, a ThermoScientific DXR Raman spectrometer, a Micro-CT SkyScan 1172 computed tomography system, a Keyence VHX-2000 digital microscope, a Cosmos X-ray imaging system, and a dedicated biomolecular laboratory.

The museum is also involved in the SYNTHESYS project, which supports research infrastructure among European institutions and connects 20 museums, universities, and botanical gardens across Europe. Thanks to EU funding, natural scientists from around the world can visit these institutions to study and process collection materials. In recent years, the museum has also been involved in other international projects, such as the European Migration Atlas and Europeana Creative.

In 2017, staff of the Natural History Museum published 167 research outputs recorded in the national RIV database, including 106 peer-reviewed journal articles. They presented their scientific results in 55 contributions at domestic and international conferences. Within project activities, they collaborated on 17 research projects and worked on 19 research objectives supported through institutional funding (IP DKRVO).

From the very founding of the National Museum, Count Kaspar Maria von Sternberg played a significant role in the development of its natural science collections. A versatile naturalist and a leading figure among the museum’s founders, he generously donated a wide range of materials. Thanks to his contributions and those of other founders and members of the Society of the Patriotic Museum in Bohemia, the museum possessed an extensive natural history collection from the very beginning.

In the 19th century, alongside the university, the museum became the main center of natural sciences in the Czech lands. It was closely associated with many leading scientists of the time—including, in addition to Count Sternberg, August Carl Joseph Corda, Karel Bořivoj Presl and Jan Svatopluk Presl, Franz Xaver Maxmilian Zippe, Maxmilian Dormitzer, August Emanuel Reuss, Jan Krejčí, Antonín Frič, and others. Since January 28, 1851, the museum has had a dedicated Natural Sciences Committee, which unites various natural science disciplines and coordinates both scientific and public engagement activities.

The Natural History Museum became an independent organizational unit within the National Museum on May 1, 1964.

Today, it comprises eight departments (see Departments section) and is one of five divisions of the National Museum. It is located in Horní Počernice, a district of Prague, where the museum’s collections, laboratories, and staff facilities are housed. The large-scale relocation of all natural history collections took several years and was completed in 2014.

The Natural History Museum fulfills three main roles. The first is the expansion and management of its natural science collections, along with the ongoing documentation of nature both within the Czech Republic and abroad. The second is the scientific processing of the collections and the organization of independent research on both national and international levels. The third is the presentation of the collections and research results to the public through exhibitions, lectures, popular science publications, and other outreach activities.

Arguably the most striking highlight of the natural science collections is the 22.5-meter-long, over four-ton skeleton of a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). The skeleton was first presented to the public on 28 November 1888 and has been on display in what is now the Historical Building of the National Museum since 1893.