The museum, originally private, was founded in 1874[1] by Czech national revivalist politician Vojtěch Náprstek in his former family brewery, as the Czech Industrial Museum. After his death the museum became the Ethnographic Museum, and since World War II it has been focused on non-European cultures.
In the 19th century the museum was one of the cultural and educational centres of the Czech intelligentsia. Much of its collection comes from Náprstek and his friends who were Czech expatriates, travellers and ethnographers. Only a part of the museum's large collection is available to the public.
