The museum was established in 1892 as an expression of the efforts of Czech teachers to preserve and document the historical traditions of Czech education and pedagogy. It is one of the oldest museums in the Czech Republic. Since 1991, it has been a state departmental museum of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. In 1996, the museum became the seat of historical buildings from the 14th century: the House at the Golden Sun and the House at the Golden Arrow.
The museum is an important research and documentation centre focused on the history of Czech education, pedagogy, teaching and education in relation to the life, work and legacy of J. A. Comenius.
The collection consists of a library specializing in the development of Czech education in the European context, an archive of writings by the classics of Czech pedagogy (including the so-called Slavín), a photo archive, a collection of rare school supplies , including school paintings, graphic sheets, art prints, maps. An integral part is the Archive of Přemysl Pitter and Olga Fierzová.
The J. A. Comenius Pedagogical Library – a department of the National Pedagogical Museum and the J. A. Comenius Library, located at Jeruzalémská 12, Prague 1, is a publicly accessible specialized library. The Pedagogical Library focuses on the field of education, education and schooling. It offers and provides its services not only to teachers and students of secondary schools and universities, but also to students of social sciences.
The Pedagogical Library was established in 1919 and its main task was to contribute to the study of pedagogy and Czechoslovak education by acquiring books and journal literature suitable for the study of pedagogy and its auxiliary sciences, especially with regard to the school reform. Great emphasis was placed on the acquisition of modern pedagogical literature dealing with the reform of the education system. The library adheres to these principles even today.
Special collections include a collection of textbooks for primary and secondary schools from the beginning of the 19th century and a unique collection of Czech and foreign spelling books, curricula, plans, teaching texts of all universities of the former Czechoslovakia, after 1990 mainly textbooks of faculties of education, as well as collections of pedagogical journals from the 1830s to the present, a collection of literature for children and youth from the end of the 18th century to the present, including magazines in the Suk Study Library of Youth Literature and also a collection of comenius literature.
On the basis of the Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic of 2 March 2011 No. 158 on the amendment of the Government Resolution No. 589 of 4 May 2009 on the modification of places of reverence in Lety u Písku and Hodonín u Kunštát, the NPMK was entrusted with the construction of the Roma Holocaust Memorial in Hodonín u Kunštát.
