In the summer, Svitavy wants to announce a competition for the construction of a museum of nativity scenes

Svitavy - During the summer holidays, Svitavy intends to announce a competition for the construction of a museum of nativity scenes. The city hall plans to hand over the construction site to the selected company around the turn of the year, said Mayor David Šimek (Association for the City of Svitavy) to ČTK. According to the project, the costs are estimated at approximately 100 million crowns excluding VAT.

The building for the nativity scenes is to be erected on the site of a dilapidated residential building adjacent to the Ottendorfer House near Náměstí Míru. The main exhibit of the museum will be the 15-meter-long Svitavy Mechanical Nativity Scene. The city has already received a promise of a 60 million crown grant from the European Integrated Regional Operational Program.

In the first phase, an extension to the Ottendorfer House and barrier-free access paths should be constructed. At the same time, an exhibition of the Svitavy Mechanical Nativity Scene will be created in the interior. The next phase involves equipping the first and second floors of the museum exhibition. In the future, a viewing octagonal tower could also be added in the third phase, which would also serve as a signpost for the nativity museum. Another mechanical nativity scene is to be placed in it, with figures appearing in the tower's windows. It would be possible to enter the astronomical clock and observe the mechanics from the inside.

The city published a visualization of the future museum on its project portal. According to the original schedule, it is supposed to be opened at the end of 2027, but the project has experienced delays due to modifications.

The main exhibit of the museum will be the 15-meter-long Svitavy Mechanical Nativity Scene. There is no suitable place for this extensive collection in the city museum. The entire nativity scene, with its rich architecture, is a collection of works by several nativity-making societies from 1826 to 1942. It made its way to the Svitavy museum after 1945, where it seems that four nativity scenes were combined into one large one. Originally, the rural part was movable, and the urban part was static. It measures approximately 15 meters in length and 2.5 meters in height, has 692 polychromed figures and buildings, six painted backdrops, and 62 mechanics. In the 1960s, the nativity scene was transported to the East Bohemian Museum in Pardubice, where it was partially restored. In 2015, the city reacquired it, and at that time, it was also registered in the list of cultural monuments of the Czech Republic.