Institute of Ethnology of the CAS, v. v. i.

The institute was established on January 1, 1954 by a merger of the Department of Ethnography and the Department of Folk Song, incorporated into the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences as of January 1, 1953. The history of the departments goes back to the first decades of the 19th century. The original title, Institute for Ethnography and Folklore Studies of the CSAS, was changed to the current one effective as of October 1, 1999. In 2003, the Music History Section was established (by a merger with the former Institute of Musicology of the CAS) and attached to the Institute of Ethnology of the CAS. As of January 1, 2007, the Institute became a public research institution within the meaning of Act No. 341/2005 Coll. At the same time, the Music History Section was renamed to become the Department of Music History. The institute examines social and cultural phenomena pertaining to peoples and ethnic groups. It focuses in particular on the research of the Czech ethnicity (ethnic specifics) at present and throughout its historical evolution, on ethnic groups living in the Czech lands and other countries within and outside Europe. The Prague branch concentrates mainly on Bohemia, the Brno branch on Moravia and Silesia. The Department of Music History studies music culture in the Czech lands in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is working on the New Complete Edition of the Works of Antonín Dvořák.

The institute further serves as a disciplinary center of scientific information, and offers extensive literary, collection and documentary sources. The collection of music manuscripts of the Brno branch is extremely valuable: it comprises 70 thousand songs from the last 165 years, and the systematic collection efforts are associated with Leoš Janáček.

• Na Florenci 3/1420
  110 00 Praha 1
• http://data.eu.avcr.cz/
• office@eu.cas
• 234 612 111 (centr.); 234 612 503 (sekr.)