The premises of the NTM’s Railway Museum
 

The premises of the former locomotive shed and workshops of Prague – Masaryk station were built in 1845 when the first train drawn by a steam locomotive came to Prague. The main buildings on the premises of the future Railway Museum have served railway transportation for over 155 years without major construction modifications. The buildings of the station, locomotive shed and workshops were designed by Antonín Jüngling, the yard by Jan Perner. The main building of the NTM’s Railway Museum is the largest Classical industrial building in Central Europe. The location of such a large and important monument of a technical nature in the capital’s centre is also unique.
 

The construction-historical research of the buildings of the future museum brought with it a number of new findings. The exhibit’s classification of the history of the individual buildings can be adapted based on these findings. A functioning steam engine will thus be installed in the former hall of the steam hammer; renovations will be made to some of the original tracks into the hall and a number of minor findings will be used to create an authentic atmosphere of this magic place.
 

The positioning of the Masaryk Station foreshadowed its link with the fate of Prague and the country as a whole. The station and its facilities were involved in the revolution of 1848, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Prague Uprising in May 1945. Harsh battles were waged there and the Nazis executed more than 40 civilians and railway workers against a wall of the locomotive shed there.
 

Where else then to tell the story of the railways than in spaces that themselves are a historical chronicle. The aim of the Railway Museum is to show the railway as part of the entire society, as a phenomenon that for over 160 years has belonged to our everyday life.