Historická výstavní budova Slezského zemského muzea Museum building

Historická výstavní budova Slezského zemského muzea in Opava is a monumental non-Renaissance building that serves as one of the main exhibition sites of this museum. The building was built in 1893- 1895 and is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The building was built for the purposes of the Museum of Arts, founded in 1882 at the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade. The institution also financed the construction that took place on the land donated to the princes of Liechtenstein. Originally, the building was designed as the Museum of Emperor Franz Joseph for arts and crafts.

The project was developed by Vienna architects Johann Scheiringer and Franz Kachler. The building has an almost square floor plan and its texture is based on a late Renaissance. The decoration of the dome was created by the Viennese sculptor Theodor Friedel, who produced the statue of Genius and the sculpture of Pegasus. The richly decorated facade, turned into a city park, decorated with allegorical figures Painting, Sculpture and Architecture by Viennese sculptor Karl Schwerz. The side facade is situated on Komenský Street.

The fate of the building was complicated during the 20th century. In the spring of 1945, the construction was seriously damaged during the bombing. The subsequent ten-year reconstruction led to a modernist interior that respected the original layout and outer mantle of the building. In 1955, the first post-war exhibition was made available and in 1981 the second, focused on the development of nature and society in the North Moravian Region. In 1985, the building was declared a cultural monument.

Before 2010, the building faced serious technical problems such as rain water leak or the state of the dome over the street track, and its use was often temporary. The necessity of a comprehensive solution was a result of the physical state of the object and the absence of conceptual use which would reflect the current state of research in the field of the history and culture of Czech Silesia. After extensive reconstruction, the building was reopened to the public in May 2012 with a new exposure to Silesia.

This exhibition uses all three floors and for the first time includes cellar spaces. The content is divided into four main sections: Nature Silesia, Wings of Ideas, Encyclopedia Silesia and History Silesia. The Department of Nature of Silesia draws closer to the geological development, where the Czech Masiv and the Carpathian System meet. Within the geologic part is presented the Hornosley pelvis with the deposits of coal in Ostrava-Karvinsky region. Silesia is also an important area of the quarter-top glacier and there are Silesian volcanoes, such as the Great Rage, Carbon Hill, Interona and Bílčice.

The fossils in the exposure show the development of plants and animals from primordial to quarter mountains. The second-upper sediment in the mountains of the Moravian-Silesian Beskyd are also rich. Strutber limestone with coral reef and gypsum deposits in the Kobeřice area are unique. The botanical part presents the mesozoists, lichens and mouths, along with herbarians from protected areas such as the Great Kotlina, Pradad, Mionší or Radhosti. The zoological part represents the development from single-celled forms to molluscs and arthropods to vertebrates.

Part of the Wing of Ideas focuses on the period from the end of the 18th century to the First World War, which was a period of intense intellectual and rational development for the current Czech Silesia.

The historical exhibition building is a key point for understanding the history and nature of the region. Her visit offers a deep insight into Silesia's wealth through a modern museum presentation.