Rope-Making Museum in Deštná
A unique rope-making museum, the only one of its kind in Bohemia, was established in 1998 in the former rope workshop of the Klik family, who operated the rope-making craft for almost 250 years.
The museum houses a comprehensive exhibition of machines and tools for rope production used approximately 200 years ago, compared with today's manufacturing methods. The tour includes demonstrations of traditional rope-making, weaving, and cloth-making techniques using various materials and methods.
The museum is located in two rooms with a total area of 100 m² and features about 260 exhibits. Most of the machines and other items are demonstrated during the tour. Visitors can observe old traditional techniques of making ropes, straps, mats, and nets using original tools and period rope-making machines. These include, for example, a braiding machine—one of the oldest in the country—a twisting machine aged 80–100 years for producing twisted cords, an 80-year-old rope strength tester, and a more than 100-year-old machine for spinning and twisting ropes.
The museum also features demonstrations of flax processing, netting, manual ball-winding on a hand machine, and how work was done in the past without electricity, using transmission systems powered by water or steam. Sections of cloth-making and weaving crafts are also presented.
On display are fly protection nets for horses (with a polystyrene horse made by Prague Television workshops) and many other historical and more modern rope-making and weaving products.
These demonstrations are especially educational for school groups.
