Authors: Jaroslav Kraft
Full version (33,570 kB)Abstract: The paleontological collections of the West-Bohemian Museum in Plzeň and of the Regional Museum of Dr. B. Horák in Rokycany concentrate a large amount of material from the Ordovician of the Barrandian area even including several type specimens. The City Museum in Plzeň was founded in 1878. Owing to the activity of Cyril Purkyně, a geological department was established there in 1897. The main part oi its collection is the flora of the western Bohemian Carboniferous. The material of the Lower Paleozoic forms a small part of the collection. Best represented is the fauna of the Dobrotivá beds (Llandeilo). The Regional Museum of Dr. B. Horák in Rokycany was founded in 1904. Dr. B. Horák, its founder, placed emphasis on building of a regional paleontological collection. In this way, he wanted to create a centre where the material from the rich localities of the western part of the Paleozoic of the Barrandian area would be concentrated and available for scientific work. The first large collection of fossils from the wider vicinity of Rokycany was donated to the museum in 1905 by the local physician Dr. Antonín Kossler. In the same year, also the collection of the first curator Karel Jaroš was donated to the museum. In 1918, the museum purchased a large collection of Karel Holub, Sr. It was a collection that was being assembled for years by Mr. Holub and his son, Karel Holub, Jr. It includes several type specimens from the Klabava (Arenig) and Šárka beds (Llanvirn) of the Ordovician of the Barrandian area. During the period between 1920 and the end of World War II the paleontological collection stagnated. At the same time, it was only Vojtěch Kraft, a teacher, who donated a small amount of material. Only after World War II, there has been a regular growth of the museum's paleontological collection. The former Museum Society established the program of which was to promote systematic collecting in the localities of Lower Paleozoic in the vicinity of Rokycany with an aim to complete the paleontological collection of the Regional Museum in Rokycany.
