Zapadoceske muzeum v Plzni (Westbohemian museum in Pilsen)
Kopeckeho sady 2, 301 36 Plzen, Czech Republic
tel.: +420-19-7329380, +420-19-7236460
The Plzen city armory is one of the best preserved medieval municipal armories in whole Europe. Its beginnings reach to the year 1362.
Emperor Charles IV. then planwise founded armories for municipal militias in his own towns. A rare collection of the fire-arms from that period - the end of the 14th and the beginning of 15th century - is of a great importance. A large set of blunderbusses with a simple match-locks originates from the first half of the 16th century. The last and the latest part of the fire-arms collection consists of a number of muskets from the period of the Thirty Years' War.
Among the cold weapons we can find pole-arms from the 15th century and halberds from the 16th and 17th centuries. To complete the short overview of the armory, we should notice the collection of harness - breast and blackplates, gorgets, gauntlets as well as number of helmets of different types.
The collection was preserved by the city for centuries to commemorate its famous military history. In 1878 it was deposited in the Municipal museum of history.
The collection had to undergo a complete restoration in 1973-1995. In that year it was finally possible to open this best preserved municipal armory in the Czech lands to the wide public as well as to the study of historians. Visitors can enjoy it in a ground floor of a newly renovated building of Westbohemian museum.