Těšín Museum

The Těšín Museum is based in the nearby town of Český Těšín, and was founded in 1948. It has a branch and exhibition hall in Karviná, on the western side of the main square (Masarykovo náměstí). The Karviná branch is used as a venue for various temporary exhibitions documenting historical events in the local region and throughout the Czech Republic. Těšín has always had a rich tradition of museums, and it was the home of the oldest museum in the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown. In 1920 the city was split in two, with the river forming the border between the Czech part and the Polish part. Now the Těšín Museum has a total of nine branches; its collections rank among the most extensive, complete and valuable in the entire country (e.g. the collection of traditional local silver jewellery and folk costumes is internationally renowned). The museum’s library has an extensive collection of historic Silesian documents and an unrivalled collection celebrating the works of the locally born Jiří Třanovský (Georgius Tranoscius, 1592–1637).