The Palach family, the Riegrovs, and the Bráfs on the road

Lecture followed by a guided tour of the F. Palacký and F. L. Rieger Memorial.

The lecture will focus on the travel activities of four generations of well-known Prague bourgeois families from the 19th century: Měchura, Palacký, Rieger, Červinka, and Bráf. They considered the palace on Pasířská Street (later Palackého) in New Town Prague as their main home. However, they spent a considerable amount of time in other destinations, both in Czech lands and in other European countries. The most common reasons for their travels were work and study activities, family and friendly visits, and last but not least, recreational and therapeutic stays. Members of the extended family maintained regular and intense correspondence, kept diaries, and preserved travel accounts and other personal documents. The written sources are managed by the Archive of the National Museum, while everyday items, souvenirs from travels, photographs, drawings, etc., are handled by the Department of Older Czech History of the Historical Museum of the National Museum. Based on these sources, it is possible to reconstruct their travels and stays outside Prague to a certain extent and thus gain a more general idea of the mobility of the bourgeois classes during the long 19th century.