Large Svitavy’s  mechanical nativity scene

About the exposition

The Municipal Museum and Gallery in Svitavy is a professional institution mapping the history of the city and its surroundings. There is a permanent exhibition “Search for the Star of David” about the Holocaust, the largest collection of washing machines in the Czech Republic with the exhibition “Grandmother’s Great Laundry” and the history of the city, which includes the large Svitavy mechanical nativity scene. Art exhibitions are held in the gallery spaces. The most valuable collection is the Great Mechanical Nativity Scene, entered in the register of cultural monuments of the Czech Republic. It is a collection of several family nativity scenes of Svitavy woodcarvers left in the town after the expulsion of Svitavy Germans, and consists of almost 650 pieces of polychrome wooden figures and buildings, most of which are truly epic. A significant part of the nativity scene is mechanical systems – 50 complex sets.
The oldest exhibits date back to 1826, the youngest to 1942, and thus the collection maps the nativity scene-making tradition of Svitavy for nearly 120 years. The nativity scene is undergoing extensive restoration, which will end in 2022, when it will be housed in representative premises on the historic square, opened and made available to the public.

Gallery