Displaying city and nation in the Prague City Museum (1883-1938)

Abstract

From the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, Prague transformed from the provincial hub of Bohemia to a modern metropolis, head of the Czech nation, and capital of the new Czechoslovak state. This article explores what place Prague City Museum inhabited during this process. In particular, it looks at how the role of the museum was debated concerning its location and construction, in the meaning-making practices related to its collections, and in reflections on its somewhat weak outreach to the larger public. Analysis of the museum's permanent exhibitions as well as four temporary exhibitions organised in 1895, 1916, and 1934-35, shed further light on how the city was conceptualised and its national historical narrative interwoven with that of its urban past, while also discussing various modes of representation and signification used in promoting its existence.