Orloj Astronomical Clocktower

Overview

In the heart of the Czech Village, on the banks of the Cedar River, in front of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, you will find North America’s only Orloj, a Prague-style astronomical clock.

Unveiled in the fall of 2024 in celebration of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library’s 50th anniversary, the
clocktower is based on the world’s oldest astronomical clock in Prague, Czechia (built in 1410). The newly renovated clocktower has been fit with the complex astronomical and clock mechanism called an astrolabe. All astrolabe parts, developed and produced by the SPEL Company in Prague, are made of stainless steel and symbols gilded with 24-karat gold.

The tower also features 12 figurines, sculpted by Andrej Harsany of Bratislava, Slovakia (each almost 4-feet tall), sat on two carousels which awaken each hour to delight visitors by rotate to the music of Czech composers Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. The twelve figurines express the stories of immigrants, with a farmer, a coal miner, a meatpacker, and other sculptures representing those who came to the Cedar Rapids from Czechia, Slovakia, Moravia and more.