The aim of Amerling’s Budeč educational institute was to create a “museum of everything” or an encyclopaedia-style “school of everything”, i.e. a place providing an insight into all aspects of human knowledge. Amerling purchased the land to build the institute through promissory note loans in Prague’s New Town in autumn 1841 and also funded the construction of the institute on the corner of V Tůních and Žitnobranská streets (now Žitná). The construction of the three-storey building was completed by the end of 1842, including its square wooden tower. This was used not only as a meteorological station, but also as an astronomical observatory. While the third floor of the institute was set aside for a hospital treating patients using Amerling’s hydropathical method known as “zavejcování”, a process involving wraps, sweating and a special diet, the second floor housed a natural science hall. The institute also had a plant-drying room and a taxidermy room. The first floor, with its large lecture hall, was used for teaching purposes. The ground floor housed a chemical laboratory, a store room for chemicals and workshops. The Union for the Promotion of Industry also moved to Budeč from the Clementinum in Prague, and lectures for craftsmen were held there on Sundays. A garden with systematically planted plants and trees played an important role in Amerling’s educational concept. Amerling himself taught all the natural sciences in Budeč, as well as subjects such as Czech history.
However, the educational institute did not last for long and Budeč was closed in the autumn of 1843. The reason behind the end of this grand project was that K. S. Amerling was charged, on unsubstantiated evidence, of being a member of a pan-Slavic anti-government conspiracy. After this affair his creditors lost their trust in him and demanded that their promissory notes be quickly repaid. The building and the institute’s equipment had to be sold off, and tenants moved into the building. Part of the institute was preserved, however, and K. S. Amerling was able to work there until 1848.
