Velké Paper Mill

Velké Losiny is a village of less than 3,000 people in the valley of the River Desna, north of the city of Šumperk in the Jesenik Mountains of northern Moravia. It was owned for several centuries by the Žerotin family who lived in the chateau that still stands.

The paper mill was established on the site of a corn mill in the late sixteenth century, and its earliest water mark dates from 1596. It has passed through the hands of many owners and tenants and its machinery has been rebuilt many times. Its main building is an imposing five-storey structure in the Renaissance style, and paper is still produced there by traditional methods from cotton and linen rags. It is much prized by artists, and is used for prestigious notepaper, in the restoration of ancient and valuable books and in calendars and greetings cards.

A museum was established in the mill in 1987 displaying a collection that originated in the National Technical Museum in the 1950s. It shows the classic methods of making paper that have been used in the Czech lands over many centuries. The building was registered as a National Monument in 2001-02, and the mill has been proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.