The North Bohemian Museum was founded in 1873 by the manufacturers of Liberec as a museum of arts and crafts — a place to show their designers and workers the best that Europe could make. It is one of the oldest museums of its kind in the Czech lands, and its collections of glass, porcelain, jewellery, textiles and furniture are of national importance.
Since 1898 it has occupied a romantic, castle-like building on Masarykova avenue whose tall tower is a copy of the tower of Liberec’s demolished old town hall. Facing it across the street, the former city spa has been turned into the Regional Gallery.
What to see and do: North Bohemian Museum & Regional Gallery
Applied arts
The core of the museum: European decorative arts from antiquity to the present, with particular strength in Bohemian glass, costume jewellery from nearby Jablonec, tapestries and historic textiles.
Regional history and nature
Further galleries cover the archaeology and history of the Liberec region and the natural history of the Jizera Mountains — a good primer before a day on the plateau.
The building
Designed in the 1890s by Friedrich Ohmann and completed by Hans Grisebach, the museum is a monument in itself. It reopened after a thorough renovation around 2020.
Regional Gallery in the old spa
The neo-Renaissance municipal spa of 1902, named after Emperor Franz Joseph I, became the Liberec Regional Gallery in 2014. The former swimming-pool hall is now the main exhibition space; the collection includes Dutch, French and German painting — partly from the Liebieg family’s bequest — and Czech modern art.
Technical Museum
Enthusiasts of old cars, motorcycles and trams should add the Technical Museum in the former exhibition grounds a few minutes’ walk away. Opening is seasonal; check before you go.
How to get to North Bohemian Museum & Regional Gallery
- Both buildings stand on Masarykova avenue, on the tram line to Lidové sady; get off at the Muzeum stop.
- From the town hall it is a 15-minute walk.
- The zoo and botanical garden are a further 10 minutes up the avenue.
Insider tips
- Both the museum and the gallery are closed on Mondays.
- Allow about an hour and a half for each.
- Ask about days with reduced or free admission.
- The gallery café, in the old spa, is a pleasant stop even if you skip the exhibitions.
Tours that fit: North Bohemian Museum & Regional Gallery
These GetYourGuide experiences pair well with North Bohemian Museum & Regional Gallery:
Private walking tour from €82 per group Liberec / Reichenberg Guided Tour in English or Czech
The only bookable guided walk in the city itself, and a well-reviewed one. A local guide takes your group through the historic centre of Liberec — the town the German-speaking world knew as Reichenberg — in English or Czech. Because the price is per group rather than per person, it is excellent value for families and friends travelling together.
- The historic centre with a local guide
- Offered in English or Czech
- One price for the whole group, up to 20 people
Private day trip from €910 per group Bohemia Tour: Turnov, Liberec, Ještěd Mountain, Škoda Museum
A private day out of Prague that follows the road north: the Škoda Museum, the gem-cutting town of Turnov, the summit of Ještěd and time in Liberec, with pickup and a meal included. The price is per group of up to three, which makes it a premium option, and as a new listing it has no reviews yet.
- The Škoda Museum in Mladá Boleslav
- Turnov, gateway to the Bohemian Paradise
- Views from Ještěd and free time in Liberec
