Museum of Book in Žďár nad Sázavou (Muzeum knihy)

My trip to the Museum of Book in the city of Žďár nad Sázavou was my first solo trip outside of Prague for this internship, and getting to this historic museum was an adventure in itself. My lasting impressions of the museum are very positive, however, I just wonder how many people out there plan to make the time and visit this slightly remote location.

 

How to get there

By checking out the IDOS site for transportation within Czech Republic, there are direct trains from the Prague Main rail station (Praha hlavní nádraží) to the Žďár nad Sázavou train station. It seems that during the weekday, there are 3 departures from Prague (08:00, 10:00, and 12:00) so make sure to get an early start, as the trip one-way is just about 2.5 hours long.

I enjoy riding the older style trains, mainly due to the windows sliding down half way for some good airflow. It’s also fun to stick your head out (with caution) and watch the surroundings speed by. It is certainly relaxing to see the transition from busy city metropolis to sprawling country fields and landscape.

Upon arriving at the Žďár nad Sázavou station you will see that it doubles as a train terminal. At this point, you have 3 options to get to the Museum of Book (Muzeum knihy).

 

 

1) Taxi (look for the taxi zone at the far end of the bus terminal to the right)

2) Bus 2A to stop Zámek: fare 11 CZK (Bus stop #1 outside of the station building. Beware, this bus only runs once an hour, at xx:40)

 

 

Return journey: Bus station just across the street from Zámek. Bus 2A also runs once an hour, xx:05

 

3) Walking. At about 3.6 km, it takes about 35-45 min depending on your pace. I ended up taking this route (as I missed the bus by mere minutes) and had the chance to see more of the city itself. Overall, not a necessary trek, so try and catch that bus!

 

The area

Zámek was actually a Cistercian monastery, and has a church and chateau within its grounds. It is free to enter and walk around the complex, but entry to the buildings requires ticket purchases. The Museum of Book is within the complex, and you can purchase an entry ticket at the ticket office just within the entrance gate. There are signs pointing out the way, hard to miss. Tickets run at 50 CZK regular, and 30 CZK reduced.

  

Side note: This place is not so far from the UNESCO location, the Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk on Zelena hora (Poutní kostel Svatého Jana Nepomuckého) so you can hop on over the bridge to the south and walk along the small creek to find it

 

By walking up the lone path in the complex, you’ll first see the large tower on your right, and then the church directly ahead.

  

 

The Museum of Book is to the left of the church, tucked within the yellow building. You’ll see the landscaped hedges and deer statues first, then the sign for the museum’s entrance 🙂

   

 

Museum of Book

While walking up the stones steps to the start of the exhibition, you can already feel the history and appeal of the building. The more that I learned throughout the exhibit, the more impressed I was with the preservation efforts here to retain the monastery and written works. The museum holds an extensive collection of manuscripts, old prints, literature from the national revival period, Slavic literature, newspapers, and journals (collection mainly from the Bohemia region). I respect the collection efforts here, because apparently the permanent exhibition wasn’t opened until 1957, making it relatively young. Despite that, the overall arrangement and displays felt very thought out and well organized. The English translation handouts the museum provides gives a great background on not only the collection itself, but all sorts of historical insights on the legacy of writing and printing around the world.

  

The museum has a pretty family friend vibe for the first couple of rooms, as the displays are filled with colorful stories, graphics, dressed mannequins, videos, and trivia for patrons to test themselves. As you go in deeper through the exhibit, however, it does get more toned down and becomes more geared toward true museum and book lovers.

    

   

 

One of the above pictured library rooms was a preserved piece based off of the Cistercian monastery library, so it had a cool historical feel to it. You’re unable to walk through it, only observe through a glass wall from the hallway.

There are many rooms branching off from the long hallway, each based off time periods. This allows the patron to see the origins of print making (back to hieroglyphics, stone carvings, and later papyrus paper) and the transgression to bound book making.

  

I was easily entertained while walking throughout every room, and I can see an interested person spending the better of 2 hours perusing the collection. Even though the city of Žďár nad Sázavou is quite lacking in major attractions, the Museum of Book was a sort of diamond in the rough. I really enjoyed my solo trip here, but it is hard for me to imagine many others having the violation to make the trip themselves. All I can really say is that this is a trip and museum visit that would stick out from the rest. For those that are spending quite some time in the Czech Republic, consider making this a day trip and see more of the country outside of Prague. It would never hurt 😉