visitor
Ostrava street 80 years ago
Water mills and raceways in Moravian Ostrava and the Přívoz to 1920. (M.Kroček))
St. Nicholas the patron of millers, "in Czech"
Legend of the Coat of arms of the milling, in Czech"
Welcome in the Mill Museum
"MUZEUM MLEJN"
702 00 Ostrava-Moravská Ostrava, Nádražní 138A
phone: 420 596136033
Moravian Ostrava and Přívoz are historical centre of today´s Ostrava. An extensive
area of this district at the meeting of Odra and Ostravice rivers has always been
an entrance to the Moravian gate through which went many trade routes connecting
West-European and Mediterranean areas with the Baltics. The nineteenth century in
this agglomeration proved to be a significant economic growth especially because
of coal and iron but on the other hand the agricultural production which was replaced
by heavy industry decreased.
Museum is open:
Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 17.00
Guided tours on Wednesday afternoons can be arranged by calling 420 596136033, or contact us
via this site. Dates for larger
groups can be arranged individually.
Click here
to view the exhibition at the museum mills.
The Mill Museum started its activities in November 7th 2009 at the 123rd anniversary
of the groat mill Samuely & Wechsberg founding. It offers to visitors a brief history
of eight Ostrava´s mills, the Mill race and Valchařská gutter and also history of
some mills which were situated in other districts of the City of Ostrava. Information
to read are on the panels and for younger and inquiring interested people is then more
information in computer technology or on the „CD-Ostrava´s mills“.
The mills in Moravian Ostrava and Přívoz used the Mill race running from Ostravice-somewhere
at the today´s station Ostrava-střed. Under the Upper mill that used to be at the
today´s station Ostrava-střed, the Mill race split into the Mill stream and Valchařská
gutter. This gutter, in Fifejdy – near today´s Nemocniční street, split into an upper
arm which supplied ponds with water (somewhere at the today´s railway track to Přívoz),
and a lower arm – Valchařská gutter. The gutter continued in the place of today´s railway
track. The Mill stream flowed around the walled city in the west and led to the mills
in Přívoz parallelly with Nádražní street. Before the walls there was a wall moat
which turned from the Mill stream and was later filled.
Historical exhibits
Except of the information on the history of the mills there are also following
exhibits on display - millstones from the mills in Hrabová, Klimkovice, Bartovice,
hand-held millstone, from agricultural homesteads, equipment and machines used
for grain modification and its cooking, blowers, sieves, gauges, scales, flails,
scythes and more. Besides these exhibits there are other things on display like
equipment of hatchet men and carpenters, several types of lamps that were used
before the arrival of electricity, collection of oilcans and cans that were used
for machines bearings greasing. As a part of the first exposition there are also
the means of payment that were used during the reign of Franz Josef I.
In this part of the museum there are two pulverizers from the turn of the 19th
and 20th century used in the mills or larger agricultural homesteads for so called
milling „coarsely“. One machine is „Smrček brothers´ pulverizer“ made in
about 1900 in a machine and motors factory and a foundry. Smrček brothers,
Moravian Budějovice.
The second machine which is partially disassembled so that the principle of
production could be seen is the Pulverizer Wichterle from the maker:
WIKOV, Prostějov machines factories. Wichterle & Kovařík joint-stock company,
Prostějov, Czechoslovakia from about 1915.
Here in the exposition you can try to mill on the millstones as it used to be
done before on agricultural homesteads. Just for your imagination a bucket of
scrap can be milled in about two hours.
Launch of "CD" - "Ostrava water mills"
February 4, 2010, Launch of "CD" - "Ostrava water mills" was an event where
we introduced the first version of a CD with informations about the history of
the mills in Moravian Ostrava and Přívoz. There are also some data about the
mills, which were close, and today are found in the real city of Ostrava. Godfather
of CD was Mojmír Žáček from television ČT 1.
Ordained Saint Nicholas, patron of millers
On Thursday, 27 August 2009 at 11.00 am by priest Bogdan was ordained Saint
Nicholas, patron of millers, , whose icon is located in the small chapel in Mlejn.
This was done without public participation during preparation of the museum
Samuely and Wechsberg.