Exact sciences

Astronomy

The collection of astronomy has been created uniformly since 1910, beginning with the donation of Frantisek Fiala, founder of the geodetic group of the Museum. In the 50s and 60s, a collection of the Klementinum observatory and several other collections were taken over. Astronomical instruments in the collection date back to the 16th – 20th centuries, one was even made in the 15th century. These instruments were used in the past for astronomical measurements and also as demonstrational objects for education of astronomy. Total number of instruments is 407, of them 174 telescopes and 139 sundials. The collection is divided into respective groups: gnomonic instruments, protractors, space models, telescopes, pictures, and miscellanea. An unique exhibit of the collection is a late Gothic astrolabe from the mid-15th century, instruments of Erasmus Habermel from the turn of 16th and 17th centuries. The National Technical Museum has in its possession a world famous evolution series of astronomical instruments, beginning with two so-called Tychonian sextants from the period of sojourn of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler on the court of Rudolf II in Prague. The first of them was built by Jost Bürgi around 1600, the second one by E. Habermel in Prague in 1600. The series continues with two quadrants from the 18th century, whole-circle instruments (alt-azimuth, passage instrument) from the 19th century and is completed with a Zeis telescope from the early 20th century. In addition to an outstanding collection of sundials from the 16th – 19th centuries, the Museum owns also a cabinet horologe of P. Engelbert Seige from the late 18th century.

Geodesy

The geodetic collections were founded by Frantisek Fiala who had been creating his private collection since 1875. He donated the whole file comprising 250 geodetic instruments to the Technical Museum in 1910. Important acquisitions were eight drafting sets from the late 16th century from the workshop of Erasmus Habermel bought at the Muller auction in Amsterdam in 1911. In 1913 the Museum acquired the hereditaments of the Rozmital woodreeve and designer K. Gangloff. After the World War II, the Museum took over the collections of Prague Klementinum where an astronomical and meteorological observatory was located. The most important acquisition was taking over of 231 instruments from the Department of Geodesy of the Czech Technical University. The collection contains mainly geometric measuring instruments, cartographic drafting devices and geographic globes. The geodetic instruments fall into the period 1585–1970. The collection is quite extensive and counts almost 1300 objects. Unique instruments are, for instance, aids from the Habermel workshop from the turn of 16th-17th centuries. The oldest theodolite in the collection is the instrument of Heinrich Stolle. The half-circle instruments by D. Lusuerg, Richer, Langlois and Canivet and the theodolite by Dollond represent the most precious protractor instruments before 1800. The collection also contains some original designs of instruments made by professors of the Prague Technical University.

Mathematics

The collection of mathematics (mechanical computing technique) is relatively young. Until 1960 it comprised 30 exhibits only. In the period of 1960s to 1980s it was completed with discarded computation technique from offices and enterprises. It contains various calculating devices, from the most simple ones to electronic office machines and calculators. The collection is divided into aids (logarithmic, summing machines of the type Produx, Comtator, Adix), manual and electric calculators. The collection comprises 183 exhibits. Interesting machines include calculating drums Blitz, Cubus and mechanical calculators from the 19th century.

Physics

The first physical instruments were acquired into the collection in 1911. In the mid-40s the collection contained about 150 objects. A great increase in number of items came in 1949 and during the 50s. The collections include, above all, demonstrating and educating aids, experimental instruments and instruments of practical use. The instruments originate from the period of 18th – 20th centuries. The collection of physics is divided into the following groups: mechanics, acoustics, optics, thermique, electricity and magnetism, meteorology and quantum physics. The collection of physics comprises almost 1300 objects. Interesting items of the collection are historically precious meteorological instruments from the observatory of Prague Klementinum and a collection of mercury barometers. The largest group in the physical collection is devoted to electricity. A high quality collection of microscopes contains more than 100 pieces. Dominating in the collection of measures and weights are sets of half-an-ounce weights, e.g. the set from Augsburg from around 1725. The collection contains also several Czech inventions, for instance, the first polarograph by Heyrovsky from 1924 and a prototype of the equipment for manufacturing of contact lenses by Otto Wichterle from the early 60s.

Map collection

The collection was founded by Frantisek Fiala in 1910 within the geodetic collection. He donated his private collection of 266 maps and atlases to the Museum. After 1945 the collection was systematically extended to document the contemporary state of Czech cartography. The collection is divided into maps and atlases according to historical and geographic keys. Currently, it comprises about 7500 inventory numbers, which corresponds to about 20,000 map sheets and 417 atlases of astronomical, geographic, economic and historical types. The map collection documents, above all, a map picture of Bohemia and Moravia since the 16th century. The oldest exhibits are the map of Bohemia by Mikulas Klaudyan from 1518 represented by copies of cosmographer Sebastian Munster. The collection also contains maps of Bohemia by the authors Johann Criginger (1568), Pavel Aretin and Petr Kaerius from the early 17th century. Rarities are represented by the map of Bohemia in the shape of rose by Christiph Vetter from 1677. The collection also includes the oldest maps of Moravia by Pavel Fabricius and Jan Amos Komensky.

Musical machines

The first musical machines appeared in the collection in 1929. Systematic acquisitions were made in the 60s when the collection received its rounded-off character. Currently, 119 musical machines are deposited in the National Technical Museum. The collection is systematically divided according to the principle into glockenspiels, pipe machines, comb machines with barrel and disk, reed machines and combined musical machines (orchestrions). The collected musical machines were created in the period from the mid-18th century to the World War II and were manufactured mainly in Czech, German and Swiss workshops that dominated this field. The greatest part of the collection comprises comb machines, barrel-organs and reed automatic machines. Rarities of the collection are represented by the machines with movable figurines: barrel-organ with a boy figurine (Polyphon 1894), barrel-organ with an ape band (Netherlands, 1840), a Negro playing flute (Halle, 1900), automatic machine with puppets Amorette (Leipzig, 1890), cylindrical music box with Chinese, automatic machine with bees (Switzerland, 1880). Pieces made in Czech workshops are represented by comb musical machines and production equipment from the workshop of Frantisek and Gustav Rebiceks from the last century. The collection of barrel-organs from Prague (Hrubes, Kamenik, Rubes) and country workshops (Gall – Hostinne, Reimer – Chrastava, Kolb – Pekarov) is quite numerous.