The Gas Museum celebrates 25 years

The “Treasury of Gas History” contributes to the spread of gas awareness and education, and is a sought-after object of visits by schools, experts, foreigners and ordinary citizens who are interested in history in general, or in the development of technology and energy. It introduces visitors to the history and development of the Czech and global gas industry, from its beginnings to the present, with a vision of its future.

The creation of the museum

Generations of gas workers were involved with the idea of ​​founding the Gas Museum. But it was only in 1993 that the presidency of the Czech Gas and Oil Association and the board of directors of Prague Gas agreed to establish a gas museum. The aim of this step was to preserve for future generations objects related to the development of the gas industry, this important field of energy. Pražská plynárenská became the founder and operator of the Gas Museum.

A trip to the exhibits

The beginnings tend to be difficult, and given that not much has been preserved from the past of the gas industry, many did not believe that the museum would succeed at all. Two very important periods of the 20th century were missed, in which many museum objects could still be obtained without problems. It was mainly the period of the demolition of local carbonation gas plants in the 1950s and 1960s and the beginning of the replacement of lighting gas with natural gas in the 1960s and 1970s. Many interesting appliances that could not be converted from lighting gas to natural gas ended up as scrap. However, several gems were found among the gas workers, others were added based on advertisements and the enthusiasm of museum enthusiasts.

Curiosities and rarities of the Gas Museum

The museum introduces visitors to the history and development of the world and Czech gas industry from its very beginnings to the present day. It is divided into several sections, from the extraction and production of gas to its use for various purposes. Here we can find original equipment or appliances as well as models of various gas and gas equipment. Unique in Europe is the reconstructed model of the technological part of the Michle gas plant, which was exhibited at the Gas, Water, Medical Technology exhibition in 1937 in Prague. Among the attractions and rarities of the museum are the remains of the oldest Prague gasworks in Karlín from 1847, the oval gas pipeline from Karlova Most from 1878, the neo-rococo Villeroy & Boch castle gas stove from the 1870s, the gas film projector “Bavaria” and the gas slide projector ” Laterna Magica” from the late 19th century, “Victorian” gas radiator or “Davis Geyser” gas water heaters. In addition, a gas hat shaper from England, a waffle iron from Germany, a Czech Moretta automatic washing machine with gas water heating, an Art Nouveau gas interior chandelier, a gas mandrel, a refrigerator or a series of historic gas coffee roasters, irons and curling irons. In the museum, you will find the largest collection of gas meters in our country, more than 150 gas meters of various types, from those from the beginnings of the gas industry (the oldest gas meter is from 1873) to the latest, so-called smart gas meters. The Glozar coin gas meter is also a rarity.

Visitors to the museum can also admire the largest collection of historical KARMA gas appliances in the world – iron heaters, cookers, ovens, stoves, reflector and spa stoves, radiators, various heaters or a number of wall-mounted water heaters.

Looking back over twenty-five years of the museum

The gas museum has become an important part of the technical education of students of various schools, those interested in the history of technology, gas experts, etc. The museum is also sought after by foreign gas delegations and expeditions, not only from Europe, but also from far abroad, e.g. Australia, Bolivia, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea or Malaysia.

The fact that the Gas Museum fulfills its purpose well is evidenced by the many commendatory entries in the visitor’s book. During the Gas Museum’s existence, a number of filmmakers and television crews also visited its exhibition. Various reports and promotional films related to the history of the gas industry were shot here, for example “Searching for lost time” by the film historian Karel Čáslavský.

The Gas Museum is worth seeing.