Prague Museum Night at Charles University

This Saturday saw the return of Prague Museum Night – an opportunity for visitors to visit dozens of institutions around the Czech capital – free of charge.

The 16th inception saw excellent weather compared to the previous year which saw plenty of rain. So a few minutes before 7 pm, visitors were able to meet comfortably and without umbrellas outside the heart of Charles University, the Carolinum.

Visitors were thus able to get a tour of the building which dates back to the 14th century – including its stateliest room: the Grand Hall where students, for example, take their academic pledge at the beginning of their studies.

Attendees were able to learn about the history of university sceptres belonging to individual faculties and caps and gowns worn during ceremonies, as well as to hear authentic music. It was easy to get a sense of the significance of grand occasions and long-standing traditions at the university, from beginning studies to graduation – seminal points in students’ lives.

Attendees were able to visit an exhibition entitled The Carolinum through the Ages and The Charles University Archive – Past & Present, while the permanent exhibition about the History of Charles University was also open to the public. The university publishing house the Karolinum Press has a stand on-site; there was also a children’s corner.

In other parts of the city, Prague Museum Night fans were able to visit buildings belonging to three Charles University faculties: open was the First Faculty of Medicine’s Museum of Human and Comparative anatomy and Museum of Stomatology as well as the Academic Club at Faust’s House.

The Faculty of Science is invited attendees to visit its botanical gardens and to take a night tour of its greenhouse facility with its permanent exhibition focusing on flora from the tropics and sub-tropics. Chlupáč's Museum of Earth History, the Mineral Museum, the Hrdlička Museum of Man, were also open to the public as was the faculty’s map collection.

Visitors were also able to examine up close the faculty’s remarkable interactive periodic table.

Participants were also able to visit the historic St Wenceslas Rotunda at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics which received the Europa Nostra award in 2018. The historic site, only rediscovered in 2004, remains a major draw. Faculty students also prepared an array of mind teasers and logic puzzles for visitors to try!

If you missed it, be sure to come next year! The 17th Prague Museum Night!