In accordance with Act No. 122/2000 Coll., on the protection of museum collections and on the amendment to certain other laws, as amended, all the museum collections of the Museum in Bruntál have been listed in the Central Collections Register of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic under registry number MBR/002-05-07/155002 as the Collection of the Museum in Bruntál.
The collection consists of two subcollections, these being the natural science subcollection, which was formed by merging the museum’s original geology, botany, zoology and entomology collections, and the social science subcollection, resulting form the merger of the museum’s original collections of archaeology, history, art history, ethnography, old prints and forestry.
The Museum in Bruntál also manages collections classed under Act No. 20/1987 Coll., on state monument care, as amended, as movable cultural heritage. These items comprise two large groups: the furniture collection of Bruntál Chateau and the libraries of Bruntál Chateau and Sovince Castle.
Social science subcollection
The basis of the social science subcollection dates back to when the museum was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1950s the Bruntál collections were expanded with the addition of collections from the museum in Vrbno pod Pradědem, Rýmařov museum and the museum in Horní Benešov. Work did not start on systematically adding to this collection until the 1970s. The collection primarily documents the 19th and 20th centuries. However, it also contains artifacts relating to the Middle Ages and modern period. The overwhelming majority of the items in the collection come from Silesia and northern Moravia, particularly the Bruntál region and the surrounding area. The subcollection consists of the following groups (collections): archaeology, history, art history, ethnography, old prints, forestry.
Natural science subcollection
The items in the natural science subcollection were acquired by Bruntál Museum after the creation of a separate natural science workplace at the end of the 1950s. More systematic additions were made to the natural science collections from the second half of the 1960s, and from the 70s these were then broken down into the geology, botany, zoology and entomology collections. The majority of items in the collection date from 1925-1984. In terms of their provenance, the items in this subcollection come from Silesia and northern Moravia, particularly the eastern part of Hrubý Jeseník, from Nízký Jeseník, the Zlatohorská Highlands and the Silesian Lowlands, as well as from the Bruntál region and the surrounding area.
The subcollection comprises the following groups (collections): botany, zoology, geology, entomology.
Furniture collection of Bruntál Chateau
The Bruntál Chateau furniture collection is listed in the Central List of Cultural Monuments under registry number 13406/38-7626. It is a set of movable cultural heritage of historical and artistic value, comprising 1 742 items and sets of original furniture as well as 10 of the most important sets obtained from chateau buildings that no longer exist or are used for other purposes. The basis of the furniture collection took shape at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries under Grand Master Eugene of Habsburg. The most valuable part is the collection of pictures and prints, Rococo furniture and 19th century furniture, militaria, lamps and tiled stoves. The entire collection, at least what remained of it after being partially plundered in the years following the war, including the items brought in, was moved in 1951 to 11 chateaus in south Moravia and to other museum institutions and what was left of it was gradually returned to in Bruntál Chateau in 1957-1960. Part of it is still housed in several chateaus in central and southern Moravia today. All the items are listed in so-called black books (additions) and in the Basic Furniture Collections Records. Its administration is governed by the Methodological Instructions of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Culture dated 28 December 1975, Ref. No. 2991/76, and instructions of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Culture 3272/74-VI/1.
Libraries of Bruntál Chateau and Sovince Castle
The libraries of Bruntál Chateau and Sovince Castle (listed in the Central List of Cultural Monuments under one registry number - 13309/38-8226), are historical libraries that originated as a result of focused collecting activities. The library at Bruntál Chateau has 9 308 works (around 13 000 volumes), 33 of which are manuscripts; Sovince Castle library has 19 792 works (22 manuscripts). Both are situated in Bruntál Chateau. They are managed in accordance with Czechoslovak Ministry of Culture Directive No. 10284/69 of 8 June 1969. Bruntál chateau library was established by Grand Master Anton Viktor in 1803, when it contained several hundred volumes. It was expanded considerably particularly by Archduke Eugene, who had books brought to Bruntál from his residences in Austria. It is part of the chateau exhibition, most of which is situated in the original premises and on the original shelves. Sovinec castle library was founded at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (Eugene Habsburg). In 1945 it was transferred to Bruntál, which saved it from a fire. From 1950 to the early 1990s it was situated in Opava (the Silesian Study Library), then in Radim, and is now housed in the depositories of the Museum in Bruntál at Bruntál Chateau.