110 years National Museum of Military History – a place, where memory is with many faces
The National Museum of Military History (NMMH) will mark its 110th birthday with an anniversary exhibition “Kaleidoscope of Memory” and an Open Doors Day on 3 July (Friday), from 10 to 17 h.
Developed especially for the anniversary, the exhibition offers a surprising take on the richness of the Museum’s holdings. It showcases little-known relics from the collections of the NMMH – items that attest to their diversity and reveal the unexpected face of an institution that goes well beyond the traditional notion of a military museum.
Only on 3 July, part of the exhibition would be extremely valuable, very rarely seen on public display exhibits – the Grand Collar of the Order of SS Cyril and Methodius, worn only by the monarch, who was also its Great Master, as well as the official and the everyday staff of Boris III – one of the highest prised royal symbols, commissioned for his 25th Jubilee, which he never received, due to his untimely death.
The exhibition introduces the public to artefacts that had rarely – or never before – been on display. Among them: unique examples of the highest decorations of Bulgaria; personal weapons; archive documents and photographs; elegant court and officers’ household items; jewellery pieces by the leading late 19–early 20c European workshops; rare coins; navigation instruments; technical devices; and dozens and dozens of sources on the history of Bulgaria and Europe. Of special interest are the Media collection – with the cine-cameras and audio recording equipment, used for documentation and reporting on the actions of the Bulgarian Army; engineering equipment – with the pre-digital era measuring equipment; the “Musical Instruments” collection – which combines the art of war with that of music. Even the well-known Flags collection will be presented with little-known elements of the Army’s battle flags – symbols that say “We” instead of “I”.
Each of the exhibits on display tells its own story, but brought together reveal the diverse faces of an institution, that, for 110 years now, gathers, preserves, and studies the memory of Bulgarian statehood, army, and society.
For this exhibition we created a special app with 110 select exhibits from the Museum’s holdings. In the app visitors can explore details about the exhibits, as well as rank their favourites.
