Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures

The location of this museum proved a little challenging for us as well, mainly because you need to walk a few streets further past the nearest tram or metro stop. Follow the address on the map, but make sure to take Trams 6, 9, 18, 22, or 23, to stop Národní, or Metro line B to Národní třída station to get as close as you can. Keeping a physical map of Prague on you really helps out when navigating these twisty European streets!

The entrance to Náprstek Museum is tucked away behind another building across the square from the Bethlehem Chapel (Betlémské kaple). You need to walk through a short tunnel, and the signs for the museum’s exhibits are clearly displayed. They have two temporary exhibitions, the Age of Discovery and the Land of Black Pharaohs, and only one permanent collection available, which is the Cultures of Australia and Oceania. The other permanent exhibit, America, is closed and being deconstructed.

Tunnel leading to the Náprstek Museum

Tunnel leading to the Náprstek Museum

Náprstek Museum

The story behind the Náprstek Museum is pretty cool, as Vojta Náprstek fled from the country to the United States in 1848 to escape political persecution, and returned after 10 years with a passion of sharing cultural aspects from other areas of the world with Czech society. He used his network of Czech friends abroad to increase the collection and renown, and it is now oriented towards non-European culture. Pretty cool to see these things here in Prague (especially as these are the normal collections I’ve seen in American museums).

Quick layout of the building

First exhibit we walked through was the Age of Discovery, which had a naval charm to it. Sails and nautical instruments decorated the biographies of European explorers, and there was a decent amount of outdated weaponry, ship logs, and attire. One cool thing about this floor was a replica of a cabin of a moving ship! You can walk on the wooden platform and feel the entire room sway about you, imitating the feeling of being seabound. Overall, the exhibit was very family-friendly, as there were numerous interactive items that kids could pick up and manipulate.

The next floor up housed the Land of Black Pharaohs, which was admittedly disappointing. There was a large space for the exhibit, but a lack of interest artifacts, and so to compensate the small collection was spread very thin. The cases that held the artifacts were too big and overpowering, and it made the entire floor seem very devoid of substantial content. Honestly, I felt like I could have skipped this entire floor and not have missed much.

Special exhibit

The last available exhibition kicked it up a notch, in both quantity and quality of artifacts. The Cultures of Australia and Oceania had a neat theme and decorative valor to it, and I could feel the tribal vibe as soon as we entered the exhibition. Neatly organized tribal weapons, masks, and idols were arranged around the room according to country of origin, so it was easy and interesting to have a side-by-side comparison of the the different Oceanic native cultures at the time. This was easily my favorite portion of the entire museum.

Cultures of Australia and Oceania

Cultures of Australia and Oceania

Our lasting impression of the Náprstek Museum is positive, and we would recommend it to those looking to really get the most out of the area. It is also rather interesting to see the European perspective of cultures from other areas of the world, which many tourists probably have not seen too much of.