History of the Map Collection
Distinguished Czech geographer Václav Švambera was responsible for creating the State Map Collection in 1920. But in reality it had come into being thirty years prior. The core of the collection was composed of items from the Geographic Institute, along with numerous map sheets from the military archives in Vienna following the breakup of Austro-Hungary and cartographic archive materials from various libraries. The founder’s efforts were continued by other prominent figures such as Bedřich Šalamon and especially Karel Kuchař who worked practically 50 years for the collection.
The archive collections were expanded with the acquisition of foreign works and the obligatory copies of maps of domestic institutions and companies. After the Second World War, based on the Beneš decrees, the collections of German universities came into possession of the State Map Collection, and later acquisitions from disbanded chateau libraries. By decision of the national cultural commission, the fund of the State Map Collection was enriched with the map collections of the National Museum and the National Library.
The State Map Collection retained its status until 1953, when it was incorporated into the newly created Czechoslovak Academy of Science, first as the Department of Cartography, later as a part of the AS Geographic Institute. In 1993 the institute was disbanded and Map Collection returned to its original owner, the Charles University Faculty of Science, considerably worse for the wear.
In 2011–2013, the reading room was extensively renovated.
The grand re-opening of the renovated Map Collection took place on March 21st, 2013. This event was met with considerable interest from the professional and lay public alike.