Museum of South-East Moravia

At the entrance to the industrial complex in the centre of Zlín, you will come across dozens of restored buildings in the characteristic Baťa style. They now house cafés, restaurants, shops and services that have breathed new life into these century-old buildings. One of the original factory buildings is home to the 14|15 BAŤA INSTITUTE, which not only accommodates the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts and the F. Bartoš Regional Library, but also the Museum of South-East Moravia. 

At the Museum of South-East Moravia you will find an unconventional exhibition, unique in its scope and presentation across the entirety of Europe. Here you will gain a clear understanding of how a once small village with very little to its name became a major industrial city with unmistakable architecture. The permanent exhibition The Baťa Principle: Today Fantasy, Tomorrow Reality takes you through a period when bold ideas and new approaches were emerging in Zlín. An original production line known as the circle, featuring dozens of shoemaking machines, some of which are still operational, evokes the era when Zlín set the pace of modern manufacturing. The atmosphere is enhanced by a stylised period shop, advertising signs and dozens of original Baťa products. You can also step into a small shoemaker’s workshop from the late 19th century and compare traditional footwear production with the progressive system introduced by Tomáš Baťa.

The exhibition is complemented by the largest shoe collection in Central Europe. Around six hundred exhibits of historical, exotic, folk and Baťa footwear are displayed in glass cylinders and cases. Here you will find shoes made from a wide range of materials, from traditional cowhide, pigskin and textiles to wood and plastics, including recycled tyres, as well as real curiosities such as footwear made of wrought silver, ostrich feathers or even human hair. Among the most valuable exhibits are miniature lotus shoes of Chinese women, extravagant ladies’ shoes made from a pair of hamsters and the giant 41-centimetre shoes of basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. The collection offers a fascinating overview of the history of footwear from 1588 to the present day.

The silver Tatra 87 draws visitors to the travel-themed section of the exhibition. This part not only focuses on the adventurous expeditions of the legendary travellers Jiří Hanzelka and Miroslav Zikmund, but also to the journeys of Eduard Ingriš, Stanislav Škulina and Helena Šťastná. Their expeditions are documented through numerous photographs, film footage and various artefacts. A highlight of the exhibition is a replica of the Tatra 87 used by Hanzelka and Zikmund on their first journey to Africa and South America in 1947.

The final section of the exhibition is dedicated to Zlín film-making, which has a long tradition in the city thanks to the founding of the Baťa Film Studios in 1936. Here you will see many familiar characters and props from animated films and children’s programmes such as Ferda the Ant, Krysáci, the submarine from The Fabulous World of Jules Verne by director Karel Zeman, or the puppet of the blue-eyed cat Modroočko by artist Hermína Týrlová.

You can also build a paper Baťa house, try life as a student of the Baťa School of Work, or punch a time clock, as was common not only at the Baťa company.