John Amos Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod

1898, 1945 

The John Amos Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod is today an important documentation centre for the work of this theologian, pedagogue and philosopher, whose reflection on the natural sciences was a natural part of his pansophic writings. Comenius was born in southeast Moravia in 1592 and died in Amsterdam in 1670. He is one of the most important figures of the world of science of the 17th century. The Museum was founded in Uherský Brod in 1898 and the focus of its professional work gradually shifted to professional Comeniology. It became one of the most important Comeniology workplaces with international impact. 

 

The museum in Uherský Brod, which was founded in 1898 under the name of the Jubilee Landscape Museum, also included the Comenianum Department from the beginning. The museum therefore focused not only on the regional history, but also collected Comenius`s original writings, new editions of his works and literature about him. The current name - the John Amos Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod - has been borne by this institution since 1945. In the 1960s, Comeniological research intensified at the museum and in 1957 a commission was established to study the archives, focusing on the life and work of J. A. Comenius. In 1950 the first exhibition on the life and work of Comenius was opened here, and this exhibition became the basis for the permanent exhibition John Amos Comenius Memorial, which was in the museum until 1970. A specialised workplace for Comeniology is established over time in the museum in Uherský Brod, which cooperates with a number of domestic and foreign experts. In 1971, the philosopher and historian of philosophy Pavel Floss began working at the museum, thanks to whom the tradition of organizing international colloquiums on Comenius was established. Floss also instigated the creation of the new museum journal Studia Comeniana et historica, which is still published today. At the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s, the J. A. Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod became one of the most important Comenius centres with international impact. Pavel Floss is one of the authors, along with, for example, Zdeněk Horský or Jaromír Červenka, who in their publications also focus on the scientific dimension of Comenius`s work. This dimension is made of the field of broadly understood physics, i.e. chemistry, biology, physiology or optics and mechanics, but also astronomy, geometry or cartography. Comenius`s works on the natural sciences naturally reflect his philosophy of nature and cosmological insights, which are largely inspired by the Italian Neo-Platonic philosophers and reflect his tendency towards a holistic understanding and knowledge of nature. 

 

A new exhibition called John Amos Comenius to Humanity, which also highlights Comenius`s work in the field of cartography and other natural sciences, was opened at the museum on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his birth, 28 March 1992. The role natural sciences played in Comenius`s life and work, continues to be addressed in the Uherský Brod Museum both in individual lectures and in the journal Studia Comeniana et historica. 

 

 

References

Floss, P.: Meditace na rozhraní epoch. Brno 2012.

Váňa, J., Červenka, J. a kol.: Vybrané spisy Jana Amose Komenského. Výbor ze spisů o filosofii a přírodě, sv. 5. Praha 1968.

 

Internetový zdroj:

Neznámý autor: Historie muzea. In: Muzeum Jana Amose Komenského v Uherském Brodě. URL: https://www.mjakub.cz/historie-muzea?idm=5 [21.9.2021].

LeO

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