Means of transportation

This sub-collection contains materials originated in the area of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Austria, Italy, England and Germany. The bulk are cars, coaches and sleighs dating back to between the second half of the 18th and first half of the 20th century. The sub-collection is based on materials from the estate of former Žamberk postmaster Kamil Schopf, purchased in 1926. The 26 hippomobile vehicles makes it one of the largest museum collections of its kind in the Czech Republic.

Photogallery - Means of transportation

A landauer coach with folding roof from the property of the Schwarzenbergs and later Wallensteins (built in the first third of the 19th century by London-based firms Barker&Co. and Thrupp) and a Berlingot coupé used by Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I during his long-time stay at Prague following his abdication in 1848 are the highlights of the sub-collection. An 1860 coach from Žamberk built to carry both passengers and mail or a classic mail coach built in Milano some ten years later belong to the typical postal vehicles. Some of the preserved parcel cars were used by the Austrian Post as early as around 1900; the next-generation cars were produced in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

The sub-collection also includes a separate set of several types of sleighs. The large horse-drawn postal sleigh, originally also from Žamberk, was built to carry both mail and passengers; the hand sled, used by the Bakov nad Jizerou post office to carry mail, was built in the 1930s and represents the most common type of sleighs, particularly in mountainous regions. The seahorse-shaped sled, cut from a single piece of wood, represents the type of leisure sleighs. Further materials held in this sub-collection include horse gear (e.g. an 18th-century ceremonial breast plate and harness for a team of four horses) and smaller things, such as coach lanterns, traveller luggage and models of horse-drawn cars and postal buses.

  • Berlingot coupé used by Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I the Benign Berlingot coupé used by Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I the Benign
  • Victoria-type pleasure coach Victoria-type pleasure coach
  • Luxury aristocratic coach Luxury aristocratic coach
  • Italien-made stagecoach Italien-made stagecoach
  • Mail coach from Žamberk Mail coach from Žamberk
  • F 5054 00-20 065-3 travelling post office (TPO) van • F 5054 00-20 065-3 travelling post office (TPO) van
  • Parcel mail coach used by the Czechoslovak Post Parcel mail coach used by the Czechoslovak Post
  • Hand-drawn mail sled Hand-drawn mail sled