The Šumava Museum and Information Centre

The museum is focused on the regional history connected with glass production and iron-mills.
The exposition is located in the house built in 1877 from the order of Jiří Kryštov Mikuláš Ablele. Its core is formed by the property and collections of Abele family. The glass exhibits mostly represent production of local glass-works. Right behind the entrance, for instance, we can admire glass-blower's and glass-cutter's instruments or a drinking set of the cut class   decorated with gold. We will also get acquainted with the history of former mansion of Debrnice. The glass-making exposition is complemented with a room representing typical burgher interior of the 19th century with the examples of the period porcelain and tin dishes. The next part of the exposition is dedicated to local iron-mills and informs about technical equipment of the old Šumava hammer-mills.

Javorská 154, Železná Ruda, tel: +420 376 397 319
Open: year-round Tue – Sat 9–12, 12.45–17, Sun 9–12

Zámeček (Mansion) – Museum of Motorcycles and of Skiing in the Šumava

The museum is located in the restored and adapted mansion, which is the oldest building in Železná Ruda built in 1706 as a summer residence of the Counts of Nothaft who were coming here for hunting. The game was abundant in local forests of the period - with mostly deer, roe deer, grouse, black grouse and hazel grouse. Amongst the beasts of prey occurring here in the period we should name still abundant bear, wolf or lynx. Even the elks could be encountered here during their autumn migration. Later on, the mansion was turned into the seat of the Administration of the Princely Forests and Estates, to be replaced with with the State Forests Administration in the inter-war period. After the World War II the building was decaying for several years.
In present the building is restored and houses the exposition of vintage motorcycles, including unique machines surviving in this single exhibit in the whole world. There also is an exposition of the Museum of South Bohemia describing the theory of the origin of the Bohemian Basin called "The Bohemian Crater". Another interesting exposition opened in 2010 is called "Skiing and Tourism in the Šumava". The memorial in remembrance of the town liberation by the American Army was placed in front of the mansion in 2006.

Tel: +420 606 737 041
Open: Sat and Sun 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Jun - Sep: daily 9.30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Jan - Mar: Wed 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., other times upon telephonic agreement.

Brewery Mini-Museum

In the cellars of Gradl hotel there is a mysterious taproom with a mini-museum. To get there you can take a "fairy trail" from the mansion to the hotel.

Železná Ruda 299, tel: +420 376 387 270, +420 602 387 270
Open: Year-round 2 - 7 p.m., other times upon telephonic agreement.