T. G. Masaryk Museum, Lany Rakovník, Czech Republic

The T. G. Masaryk Museum (Czech: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk muzeum) in Rakovník, a contributory organization established by the Central Bohemian Regional Authority, has collections thematically focused on the Rakovník Region. This region is located a short distance to the west of Prague. The T. G. M. Museum in Rakovník operates several interesting museums in this region – the Rakovník Museum, the Nové Strašecí Museum, the T.G. Masaryk Museum at Lány, and the National History Museum at Jesenice and the Joachim Barrande Museum at Skryje.

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937), was a Czech politician, gaining Czechoslovak independence as a republic after World War I. He both founded and was the first President of Czechoslovakia and so is called the “President Liberator”.

The exposition contains a representative reconstruction of the Prague apartment of the Masaryk family between the years 1895–1910, the authentic interior of a 19th century tobacconist’s shop, the reconstruction of a trench on the eastern front during the period of the First World War (1914–1918) and the long-term exhibition entitled Masaryk in Art.

The relatively new T.G. Masaryk Museum in Lány was opened in 2000 in the reconstructed granary building. Just like its parent organisation, it is named after the first Czechoslovak president, whose summer retreat was in the nearby cheateau in Lány.

The Museum of TG Masaryk in Lány was established in 2003 as a branch of the T. G. Rakovník Museum. The history of its origins began to be written in the first year after the “Velvet Revolution”.

At the beginning of 1990, the Lánska branch of the Civic Forum, in cooperation with the local organization of the Sokol Society in Lánska Sokolovna, organized an exhibition devoted to the memory of the first Czechoslovak president, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. This amateur exhibition, which consisted mainly of borrowed period photographs and documents, was a great success for both residents and visitors. It was later under the auspices of the Municipal Authority of Lány, which operated it until the end of 1997. The Rakovník District Museum (now the TGM Rakovník Museum) created in Lány in July 1998 “Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Exhibition Hall” on the premises of the Classic Hotel, where they were used Items from the original Lanis exhibition. At the end of May in 2000, the exhibition hall was closed for technical reasons. At the same time preparations for a new exhibition in the future Museum of TG Masaryk in Lány began.

Already in 1995, the municipality of Lány founded the Foundation for the establishment and operation of the Museum of T. Masaryk in Lány. The Foundation’s activity was supported by a number of important personalities of political and cultural life – Ivan Medek, Josef Wagner, Ivan Kocarnik, Jaroslav Opat and many others. In 1997 the Foundation selected an object suitable for the purpose of the museum. It has become a building of the former 18th-century sculptor, located near Lány Castle.

Thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the sponsors, this architecturally very interesting building could be purchased. The reconstruction of the building began at the end of 1997 with a roof repair. The interior of the building was partially repaired in 1999. Then the construction of the museum was suspended. Due to the change in the law, the Foundation for the Establishment and Support of the TG Masaryk Museum in Lány could not draw funds for the next phase of reconstruction. Eventually the Rakovník District Museum (now the T.M. Rakovník Museum), which was reconstructed by state subsidies for 2002, was taken over by the building.

TG Masaryk Museum in Lány was inaugurated on March 7, 2003 and today it operates as one of the branches of T. G. Rakovník Museum, whose founder is the Central Bohemian Region. The role of the Foundation for the Establishment and Support of the TG Masaryk Museum in Lány was taken over in 2006 by the Civic Association for Supporting the TG Masaryk Museum in Lány.

The Museum of TG Masaryk in Lány presents the personality of the first Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the historical event associated with his person.

The building is multi-storey and fully barrier-free. On the ground floor, the history of the region is captured in a small exposition. At the same time there is a café, a library, a research room and a showroom designed for short-term exhibitions.

The first floor is an exhibition that presents the personality of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk. It is divided into several parts that represent the most important moments and events in his life.

On the second floor there is an exhibition titled “T. G. Masaryk and the First Republic “captured Masaryk’s presidential period from the point of view of the life of the then-society. There are period objects and photographs of prominent personalities of this era. Part of the second floor is reserved for a long-term exhibition called Woman and her World at the time of the First Republic.

Part of the Museum of TG Masaryk in Lány is also a rich archive and photo archive. The museum also manages the nearby Alice Garrigue Masaryk Memorial Hall and the Czech Red Cross, commemorating the life and work of Alice Garrigue Masaryk, the daughter of President TG Masaryk.