My 8 Favourite Museums to Learn About Prague and Czech Republic 20th‑Century History

If you’re curious about what shaped modern Prague and the Czech Republic you might like to visit Prague museums that have exhibitions specifically about 20th century history, including both World Wars, Nazi occupation, decades of communism and forming of modern politics after 1989.

The 20th century Czech history is not always a very happy one, but a very personal one to me, since my great-grandfather was a legionaries and contributed to the founding of the new Czechoslovak state in 1918. I also still remember the end of the communism as I was 14 when the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989.

If you are new to the 20th century history of Czech Republic, I’d suggest that you start in the Army Museum in Zizkov. The museum has been completely re-done in 2022 and the exhibitions are very comprehensive and brilliantly done too (including English translations). The museum focus is mainly on the World Wars, but since the museum entry is free, I really think it’s a great starting point.

On the other hand, the National Museum’s “History of the 20th Century” exhibition walks you through everything from the First and Second World Wars to the Velvet Revolution and the birth of the Czech Republic. It’s paid, but still worth visiting, especially if you want to see other exhibitions in the main museum.

1. Army Museum

The Army Museum in Zizkov has several large exhibitions about the Second World War, Lidice and life in the Czech Republic during the war. The whole museum is spread out over several floors, but the exhibitions directly linked to the Second World War are on the first and ground floors.

There are over 7,000 exhibits, which help you to learn about the World War I and the Czechoslovak Legions, the interwar period, World War II (including the Czechoslovak resistance and liberation), and the Cold War era (1948 to the present).

Insider Tip: The museum has a lovely cafe a the top floor with an outdoor terrace, where you can see the historic centre of Prague and Prague Castle.

The exhibitions are very well put together and everything is presented in an engaging way. The descriptions are both in Czech and English, so you should be able to follow everything.

• Location: U Pamatniku 2, Zizkov, Prague 3
• Opening Times: Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm (closed on Mondays)
• Tickets: Free

2. National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror and the Ss. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral

This memorial commemorates the brave Czechoslovak parachutists who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi leader, in 1942. After the assassination, the parachutists were sheltered in the church crypt, which is now the museum. Unfortunately, the Nazis discovered their hiding place and none of the parachutists survived.

You can visit the crypt, where you can still see the bullet holes and shrapnel marks visible on the walls. I found particularly haunting the experience of standing still in the crypt, listening to the distant cars and people traffic outside the church, thinking this is what the people there might have heard as well when they were hiding there.

The Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror has a small museum that exhibits artefacts related to the assassination and the resistance movement, including weapons, documents, and personal belongings of the parachutists.

It’s also worth visiting the church of St. Cyril and Methodius upstairs, where you can see the original entrance to the crypt underneath. I’ve also put together a comprehensive guide to the Operation Anthropoid places that you can visit in Prague.

Insider Tip: The memorial is open every day apart from Mondays, all year round. Because it’s free and on the educational curriculum of Czech schools, it can get quite busy. The place (as you can imagine) is very small, so if you see that it’s busy inside, it’s worth coming back later after 3 or 4 pm when the day visitors and schools have already gone.

• Location: Resslova 9a, New Town, Prague 2
• Opening Times: Tuesday until Sunday: 9 am – 5 pm (closed on Mondays)
• Tickets: Free

3. Museum of Communism

This museum focuses on the history of totalitarian Communist regime in Czechoslovakia from the 1948 coup to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. You will find displays about daily life, politics, economics, education, art, propaganda, the secret police (StB), and the army under Communism (1948–1989).

Exhibition inside the Museum of Communism also include mock-ups of a shock worker’s workshop, a school classroom, a child’s bedroom, and a stark interrogation room. Includes a documentary film, posters, and artefacts.

• Location: V Celnici 1031/4, New Town, Prague 1 (near Náměstí Republiky).
• Opening Times: Daily, 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM (last admission 30 minutes before closing).
• Tickets: Adults 380 CZK. Family and student rates are available.

4. National Museum

While the main National Museum has broad collections, the new building has a dedicated permanent exhibition on modern Czech history in the 20th Century, including political and social changes during that time.

Insider Tip: Unfortunately, you can’t buy ticket for individual exhibitions, so you’d need to buy a ticket for the whole museum to see the 20th century history exhibition.

• Location: Wenceslas Square, New Town, Prague 1
• Opening Times: Mon-Wed 9 am – 7 pm, Thursday 9 – 6 pm, Fri – Sun 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM.
• Tickets: 360 CZK adults, concessions and family tickets available

5. Cold War Museum

This museum is inside a former three-story anti-nuclear bunker built under the Hotel Jalta on Wenceslas Square during the Cold War. It was re-discovered after 1989 and gradually opened to public via guided tours. Displays include listening devices used by the Secret Police to bug hotel guests, gas masks, uniforms, military equipment and other fascinating exhibits from the life behind the Iron Curtain.

Insider Tip: You need to book in advance for this museum via www.muzeum-studene-valky.cz and meet up at the Jalta hotel reception – there are no signs for the museum, so it’s still a kind of cool secret!

• Location: Under the Hotel Jalta, Václavské nám. 818/45, New Town.
• Opening Times: accessible only by guided tour – about 4 English Tours a day, inc. weekends
• Tickets: 250 CZK Adults, concessions available for students, seniors, children free

6. National Memorial on Vítkov Hill

This monumental functionalist building was originally conceived to honour the Czechoslovak legionaries of WWI, but later it was changed into something more sinister.

During the Communist times, the National Memorial building was converted into a mausoleum for Klement Gottwald (the first Communist president) from 1953 to 1962. You can visit the underground spaces that were specially modified to preserve his embalmed body (and yes, it’s super creepy!)

Inside the permanent exhibition, “Crossroads of Czech and Czechoslovak Statehood,” focuses on the major milestones of the 20th century, including: The founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Munich Crisis of 1938, the re-establishment of the republic in 1945, and the rise and fall of the Communist regime (1948-1989).

Insider Tip: There are some amazing views of Prague from the Vitkov Hill and even better ones from the monument’s roof top – definitely worth climbing up!

• Location: U Památníku 1900, Prague 3 (on top of Vítkov Hill, near the Army Museum)
• Opening Times: open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).
• Tickets: Free

7. Museum of the Czechoslovak Legions

This museum is operated by the Czechoslovak Legionary Community (ČsOL) and provides an in-depth focus on the Czechoslovak Legions, volunteer military units that fought for the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia during World War I.

I first visited the museum a few years ago, because my great-grandfather Ferdinand Jandak was in the Italian Legionaries and was honoured by the new Czechoslovak president Thomas Garrigue Masaryk with two different medals and a certificate to thank him for helping to create the new Czechoslovak state in 1918. The museum had a record of his name and service, but I was able to supply them with a photo and fill in the details about what he did after the war. It was lovely to see it being recorded and I felt proud to honour his memory in this way.

The exhibition is focused on the first resistance movement and the history of the formation of Czechoslovak Legions and the Czechoslovak state. The museum is quite small, but packed with exhibits, examples of uniforms, photos, guns and individual stories of soldiers fighting in different legions across Europe.

• Location: Sokolska 486/33, New Town, Prague 2
• Opening Times: Tuesday until Friday: 9 am – 6 pm
• Tickets: Free

8. Folimanka Cold War Bunker

The Folimanka Nuclear Fallout Shelter was designed and secretly built during the Cold War in the 1950s and 60s to protect up to 1,300 civilians from potential nuclear attack.

The shelter is hidden underneath a small hill in Folimanka Park and it’s one of the largest shelters I’ve ever visited! The shelter is about 1,332 square meters and inside you can see labyrinth of tunnels, original armoured doors, a functional 32kW diesel generator, water wells, and air filtration systems meant to sustain life for up to 72 hours.

You can also see communal areas, medical facilities and a small exhibition with photos to learn more about civil defense strategies of the time.

Insider Tip: Dress warmly as the shelter can be cold, even in the summer.

• Location: the entrance is on Pod Karlovem Street, opposite building No. 2, in Prague 2.
• Opening Times: once a month on a Saturday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Tickets: general admission is free of charge

This blog post was originally written on 6 October 2025 and last updated on 6 October 2025