The aim of this paper is to provide background to the contributions in Phonetica Pragensia that follow, namely a historical perspective to the tradition of long-term experimental research set up in Prague by the early phonetic pioneers and continued until today. Drawing primarily on archival materials, the article brings a more detailed account of the constitutive years in comparison to the reviews published so far.
It reveals the complexity that is involved in the process of establishing and sustaining a new (phonetics) institute, which might be informative to wider audiences as well.