The article is conceived as a retrospective view on the development of the Czech insurance market from its beginnings to the middle of the 20th century. The description is devoted to milestones that were essential for the development of the insurance market in the territory covered today by the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, the development of the insurance market itself is determined primarily by legal regulations. Some fundamental changes result from the activity of the market players who carry out their activities within the boundaries defined by law. Other changes are caused by "force majeure", the effects of which the insurance industry by its very nature has to work with, or external influences acting on the insurance market. The history of the insurance industry in the Czech territory is documented since the end of the seventeenth century. After the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic, in addition to recently established Czech/Czechoslovak insurance companies, foreign insurers were active on the market. As a result of the period before World War II, there were a total of 733 insurance companies, insuring associations and foreign representations in existence in 1945. The prevalent methods the authors shall apply are methods of description, comparison and analysis at the most.