František Křižík: Knight of Electrical Engineering
The exhibition takes visitors into an imaginary electrical engineering factory in Prague’s Karlín district, set around 1920. It presents František Křižík as a man who was able to turn technical visions into reality and whose legacy remains an important part of Czech history of technology.
The fascinating life story of František Křižík is set against the broader context of the technological and social developments of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition shows how electricity gradually became part of everyday life and how the Czech lands contributed to the shaping of modern society. It tells the story of a man who sought practical solutions, improved existing technological principles and believed in electricity as the energy of the future.
The central feature of the imaginary Křižík factory in Karlín, set around 1920, is the workshop, which serves as the main exhibition space. It contains a range of innovative features and interactive elements that allow visitors to explore and try out many of the exhibits and technical principles for themselves. Visitors can also step into Křižík’s office, where they will discover the many places where he introduced electric lighting. An animated story introducing the exhibition summarises his greatest achievements, while another animation presents his life after 1920.
Among the original exhibits are portraits of František Křižík and his wife Pavlína, as well as a wedding bowl presented to the couple on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary. Křižík’s technological achievements are illustrated by an arc lamp, displayed alongside a Yablochkov candle for comparison, a gold medal awarded at the International Exposition of Electricity held in Paris in 1881, and other awards.
The exhibition was created with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic as part of the institutional funding for the long-term conceptual development of the National Technical Museum as a research organisation (DKRVO, MK000023299), and with contributions from the ČEZ Foundation, Jan Barta and Pale Fire Capital.
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