Prague - National Museum

(Local Name: Národní Muzeum) The Prague National Museum (Národní Muzeum) houses a broad range or collections representing a variety of fields with literally millions of items. Displays encompass the areas of mineralogy, paleontology, mycology, botany, entomology, zoology, anthropology, and archaeology. The entomology collection alone numbers over 5 million specimens. The archaeology exhibit has extensive collections of 1st and 2nd Century Roman artifacts, Neolithic and Eneolithic artifacts, as well as Bronze age and Early Iron age finds.

The Prague National Museum is the oldest museum in the Czech Republic. It was established in the early 1800s under the name "Patriotic Museum". The building which currently houses the musuem was built in the late 1800s and opened in May of 1891. The institution suffered financially during the world wars and was damaged physically at the hands of the armies of the Warszaw Pact in 1968. The building has further deteriorate and is in need of repair but no such plans are in the works.