Museums

The Antonin Dvorak Museum in Prague is part of the Czech Museum of Music and since 1932 it has been housed in a Baroque villa designed by K. I. Dietzenhofer. Its permanent exhibition centres on Dvorak’s life and work, the museum also organises discussions and concerts, and visitors may also purchase Dvorak CDs. The museum contains a unique collection of the maestro’s autograph scores, representing almost eighty percent of the composer’s surviving manuscripts. 

This memorial is located in the former chateau (mansion) which Count Vaclav Kounic, Dvorak’s brother-in-law, presented as a wedding gift to his wife Josefina, nee Cermakova. It was built in 1878 in the Neo-Renaissance style, and designed by architect Cenek Gregor. It opened as a memorial during the 1960s, in 1990 the building and grounds were closed for extensive reconstruction, and in May 1994 it was again made accessible to the public. The new permanent exhibition provides a testimony of the composer’s life and work, and of his time in Vysoka. Completely newly designed and curated, the memorial focuses on the significance of the site and surrounding countryside for Dvorak’s work and inspiration. The auditorium (music lounge) offers an opportunity for visitors to listen to more than eighty recordings of Dvorak’s works. The venue also organises short-term exhibitions, concerts and lectures, and visitors may purchase CDs, various publications etc. Situated 400m from the memorial is Rusalka’s Lake, where Dvorak drew inspiration for his most famous opera. 

Permanent exhibition on the composer’s life and work focusing in particular on his childhood spent in Nelahozeves. The memorial was opened to the public in 1951. The current permanent exhibition designed by Karel Mikysa in 1971 was modernised in 1991 to mark the 150th anniversary of Dvorak’s birth. The memorial’s second building (a former shop) was reconstructed in 1997 and now resembles the house as it would have looked during the composer’s lifetime. While very few authentic articles from Dvorak’s childhood have survived, the sense of the environment which influenced Dvorak all his life is still very tangible. The handsome Baroque house was returned operationally to the Lobkowicz family in May 2019 after years of being operated by the National Museum. The plans are to bring the house back to life with a new museum about the composer. The project will involve experts in museum design and the life & times of Antonín Dvořák.

The Antonin Dvorak Memorial in Zlonice was constructed in 1954 and is part of the former infirmary. The adjacent building (known as the “varhanikovna”, or organist’s house) – where Antonin Liehmann lived with his family and where Dvorak acquired his basic music instruction – was reverently restored and opened to the public in 1984.

The Dvorak Exhibit is located on the second floor of the clock museum founded in Spillville by the Bily brothers. The exhibits housed here recall Dvorak’s stay in the town in the summer of 1893; these include Dvorak’s manuscripts and the harmonium he played on during his time here.