History of the collection

The collection originated at the beginning of the twentieth century thanks to a foremost personality in mining surveying - the academician František Čechura (1887-1974). Čechura in 1920 joined the Office of mine surveying and geodesy at the Mining University in Příbram, first as its head and then as an adjunct professor and still later as a full professor. In the years 1945-1950 he became the Rector of Vysoká škola báňská, already transferred to Ostrava. Thanks to him, a new specialization was established in 1951 – mine surveying. He worked at VŠB until 1957, when he retired and devoted his collection to our department.

On the occasion of 100th anniversary of the birth of the academician František Čechura in 1987, the collection was named after its founder.

The first exhibits were bought already in the year 1896. These are products of the company Tesdorpf, Stuttgart , e.g. a repetition theodolite, chain, a table level etc. The oldest instrument in production is a mirror goniograph produced in 1877 by the company Müller in Trieste. The largest number of items are from the company Josef a Jan Frič, Praha – reaching up to 43 items.

The collection contains a total of 398 items, of which 108 are different types of theodolites, 15 tachymeters and tachographometers, 52 levelling machines, 11 old calculating machines, mining compasses, tapes, topographic kits, map drawing kits and other geodetic aids of different ages. It is possible to see them in a small area and the technical development of mining and surveying equipment in the total of 73 fine mechanical workshops from around the world. A part of this collection consists of exhibits from our domestic production – Mainly products of Josef and Jan Frič from Prague, Srb and Štys from Prague, R. M. Brandeis from Prague, O. Spitra from Prague. It is also impossible to omit  equipment produced by the Meopta Prague. Foreign production is represented here by companies from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the former USSR, Hungary, France, England and other areas.