After a three-year renovation, the Northwest Bohemian Museum in Liberec reopened today

Liberec – After nearly three years of reconstruction, the North Bohemian Museum in Liberec reopened yesterday evening, but only virtually for the public. Interested parties could watch the ceremonial opening online on the museum's Facebook and YouTube channels. Due to coronavirus measures, the building will have to wait some more time for visitors. The modernization of the interior spaces and exhibitions cost 143 million crowns, with a large part of the expenses covered by the European Union. It will open to the public only in February, said Liberec Governor Martin Půta during the ceremonial opening.

The museum has been closed to the public since February 1, 2018; originally, the work was supposed to be completed by the end of last year. However, some parts of the museum were in worse condition than initially expected. For example, in the large exhibition hall, only minor repairs of the original terrazzo floor hidden for decades under the carpet were planned. In the end, however, they had to remove it and redo it, including the subfloor. The project did not account for a complete replacement of the electrical wiring for the security system and fire signaling, and the coronavirus also affected the work. Consequently, the construction took a year longer and was a third more expensive.

The North Bohemian Museum in Liberec was founded in 1873 as an applied arts museum and is the oldest museum of its kind in the Czech lands. The building, which houses it today, was completed in 1898 in a romantic-historic style. The depositories hide over 700,000 collection items. It has a rich library and three collection departments – natural sciences, history, and art history. The exhibitions were outdated, the building needed significant modernization and accessibility, and it received air conditioning, modern security, and lighting, for example.

The entrance staircase is now guarded by bronze statues of a lion and lioness from the workshop of the renowned Czech artist Jaroslav Róna. "They were already included in the original project, but there was not enough money for them at the time of construction," said museum director Jiří Křížek to ČTK. The building waited for them for 122 years. The museum’s exhibitions are completely new. "We were inspired by Germany, presenting collections in a European context," he added. According to him, the museum also has a completely new permanent exhibition called Fragments of Liberec, dedicated to the history of the regional city and the region. "Some exhibits have never been displayed, such as the oldest bell from Liberec," said Křížek. The museum does not shy away from the dark period of Nazism. "It is not a taboo; it is part of Liberec," added the director.