• Museum of Romani Culture
The museum, which is located in the Moravian capital of Brno, presents the history and culture of the Roma. It was the first of its kind when it was opened in 1991.
Image: Brno, 2003, Exterior view of the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Brno, 2003, Exterior view of the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Roma have inhabited what is today the Czech Republic since the 14th century. The Roma were valued as skilled craftsmen, especially as blacksmiths, and appreciated for their oriental music. Soon, however, they fell victim to persecution: they were considered »godless« and suspected of spying for the Turks. In 1710, a decree was introduced in the Habsburg empire permitting the killing of male Gypsies and the slicing off of ears and nose of women and children at the mere suspicion of criminal activities. Although these measures were rarely implemented, they contributed to the growing social exclusion of the Roma people. The indiscriminate persecution came to an end from the mid-18th century, under the rule of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, and the process of assimilation was pressed ahead instead. Roma were forced to settle down and received parcels of land. Many children were given to Christian families and young adults were forced to marry Christians. A more or less settled Roma community evolved. However, industrialisation from the mid-19th century led to a social degradation of the Roma people, who were for the most part craftsmen. When Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918, a majority of the Roma living there were illiterate and impoverished. During the Second World War and under German occupation, »Gypsies« were racially persecuted and designated for extermination. Only about ten per cent of the Roma from Bohemia and Moravia survived. In Czechoslovakia after the war, many Roma from the Slovak part of the state were relocated to the areas which had previously been inhabited by the Sudeten Germans. The situation of the Roma hardly improved under communist rule. After 1989, their situation further deteriorated in several aspects as they frequently fell victim to discrimination and racial violence.
Image: Brno, 2003, Exterior view of the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Brno, 2003, Exterior view of the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
The museum presents the history and culture of the Roma people in the Czech Republic and abroad. It is especially committed to informing about the National Socialist genocide of the Sinti and Roma and keeping the memory of the victims alive.
Image: Hodonin, about 1943, Children in the »Hodonin Gypsy camp«, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Hodonin, about 1943, Children in the »Hodonin Gypsy camp«, Archiv Muzea romské kultury

Image: Brno, 2004, Exhibition in the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Brno, 2004, Exhibition in the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
The museum was founded in 1991 in a predominantly Romani part of Brno. The establishment of the worldwide first institution of this kind was initiated by a group of Romani intellectuals. Independent until 2005, the museum is now administered by the Czech state. Part of the permanent exhibition deals with Romani culture worldwide, part is dedicated to the history of Roma in Bohemia and Moravia. The museum has lobbied for the erection of several monuments to the Roma who perished during the Second World War. The most famous of these are the memorials at the former »Gypsy camps« at Lety (dedicated in 1995) and at Hodonin (1997).
Image: Brno, 1990s, President Václav Havel vistis the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury
Brno, 1990s, President Václav Havel vistis the museum, Archiv Muzea romské kultury

Name
Muzeum romské kultury
Address
Bratislavská 67
60200 Brno
Phone
+420 (0)545 581 206
Web
http://www.rommuz.cz
E-Mail
sekretariat@rommuz.cz
Open
Tuesday to Friday: 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., Sunday: 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Possibilities
Permanent exhibition, library and study room, archive containing testimonies and photographic documentation, yearly commemoration on March 7, the anniversary of the first and largest transport of Roma from Moravia to Auschwitz-Birkenau