About the workshop

How it all started …

At the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava, a Restoration workshop was established with the financial support of the Moravian-Silesian Region (MSR). The implementation of this project follows three-way negotiations between the management of the VSB - Technical University of Ostrava and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, representatives of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the academic sculptor Mr Miroslav Rybička.

It was the academic sculptor Mr Rybička who in 2015 donated a numerous collection of vintage motorcycles to MSR, which will be preferentially restored in this workshop.

At the same time, it is appropriate to thank doc. Ing. Jiří Fries, Ph.D., who was the Head of the Department of Machine and Industrial Design at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, VSB-TUO, in 2019, and who stood at the orgin of the Restoration Workshop project and also led its activities in the initial years in his role as guarantor.

How to do it …

The prerequisite for the establishment of the Workshop placed in the premises of VSB - Technical University of Ostrava was, in addition to the construction modifications of selected premises, in particular, the acquisition of the necessary equipment, machines, instruments and tools together with workshop furniture for professional execution of all restoration works.

Thus, the premises and their equipment will enable the proper care of technical monuments according to the requirements of the Turin Charter as well as the deployment of modern technologies, such as 3D scan, 3D printing, creation and visualization of 3D models, etc., which are available at VSB - Technical University of Ostrava workplaces.

Join us

At least one vintage motorcycle from the MSR collection will be restored annually to promote the region and technical education. This way, the collection will be documented, and its value will increase in the future. The establishment and operation of this workshop is intended as long-term cooperation between VSB - Technical University of Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region.

The purpose of the Restoration workshop is the synergy of several objectives, which, in addition to the mentioned increase of the collection value, is the engagement of our university students, and possibly even the secondary school students, in works related to the renovation activities - the restoration of selected motorcycles, use of modern technologies employed in the renovation of motorcycles in further teaching and, last but not least, the publicizing and promotion of the Moravian-Silesian Region and VSB - Technical University of Ostrava leading to a higher interest in our region and studies at VSB - Technical University of Ostrava.

Workshop and Studies

An important outcome of the work on historical motorcycles is also the numerous final theses completed by students of the Department of Machine and Industrial Design. During their studies, students are introduced to the preservation, repair, and maintenance not only of historical vehicles but also of technical heritage in general. Graduates thus leave the department as specialists in technical cultural heritage, equipped with both theoretical knowledge and, through their association with the Restoration Workshop, practical skills. With the contribution of the Restoration Workshop, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava has become the first university in the Czech Republic to address the study of technical heritage in such depth.