THE PHARMACY MUSEUM
January 15, 2024, from 17:00 p.m
Dear lovers of history and cultural heritage,
With great joy, the National History Museum of Transylvania invites you to participate in a special event: the inauguration of the Pharmacy Museum, which will take place on Monday, January 15, 2024, from 17:00 p.m., in the heart of Cluj-Napoca.
The Pharmacy Museum, a treasure trove of medical and pharmaceutical history, reopens its doors after a period of renovation and expansion. This oasis of knowledge houses over 7000 objects authentic, which tell the story of the evolution of pharmacy and medicine in Transylvania. We will guide you through the galleries where you will be able to admire old medical equipment and precious artefacts, which reflect the attitude towards health and illness throughout the centuries. Our venue, the Hintz House, with unique 18th century pharmaceutical settings, is the ideal space to explore this fascinating segment of history. We will take you through the officina, the room where the products were sold, the material room, the laboratory and other spaces that recreate the atmosphere of a traditional pharmacy.
We look forward to welcoming you and celebrating together this important moment in the history of the museum and our city.
Respectfully,
The team of the National History Museum of Transylvania
- Published in EVENTS, PAST EVENTS
THE HISTORY OF PHARMACY COLLECTION CATALOG CAN BE VIEWED ONLINE
As promised, the collection catalog is now fully available online on the project website #PHARMATRANS. Thank you again to our friends at Mega Publishing House, who handled with great professionalism not only the design and printing, but also the shipping and processing of the digital versions.
We wish you a pleasant reading and await reactions, suggestions, additions, even corrections, but above all ideas for collaboration and interdisciplinary study.
- Published in ANNOUNCES
OPENING OF THE MEDIEVAL AND PREMODERN LAPIDARY
Monday, October 30, 2023, from 17.00 p.m.
After 30 years, the National History Museum of Transylvania opens the doors of the Medieval and Premodern Lapidary. We invite you, therefore, to this important event for the history of Transylvania, Monday, October 30, 2023, from 17.00:XNUMX p.m.
The medieval and pre-modern lapidary constitutes one of the largest collections of its kind in the country, composed of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architectural monuments, Baroque sculptural monuments, a vast collection of Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical funerary monuments and the collection of children in plaster casts of various types of medieval funerary and sculptural monuments in Transylvania.
The current exhibition aims to reorganize the lapidary according to thematic and chronological criteria, restore all the exhibits, as well as enhance them with the help of a modern design, dedicated to both specialists and the general public.
The program of the opening event:
17:00 – the opening of the exhibition in the presence of officials and specialists in the field;
17.45 – 18:45 – visiting the exhibition in guided groups;
19.00 - early music recital:
Cast iron assembly of Gioia
Dénes Anna, violin
Dénes Csongor, violin
Csata István, viola da gamba
Amalia Erdős, harpsichord
Free entry.
We look forward to seeing you and thank you if you help us to organize ourselves better by confirming your presence at the event and the recital by Thursday, October 26, at 16.00:XNUMX p.m., to the address: secretariat@mnit.ro.
- Published in PAST EVENTS
THE PHARMACY MUSEUM HAS A NEW VISUAL IDENTITY
The House of Hintz, and by implication the Museum of Pharmacy, have ditched the scaffolding and are displaying the new logos.
In preparation for the reopening, we also took care of the rebranding campaign. We decided to keep the old name Pharmacy Museum, although it is actually the Pharmacy History Collection, part of the National History Museum of Transylvania.
- Published in NEWS
SOON WE WILL REOPEN THE MEDIEVAL AND PREMODERN LAPIDAR
In the summer of 2023, the medieval and pre-modern lapidary of MNIT, one of the most valuable collections of this kind in the country, will open. The exhibition aims to present the most significant artistic styles from Transylvania through the architectural, funerary and sculptural monuments preserved in the museum's heritage, with a special emphasis on the variety and richness of this collection.
- Published in ANNOUNCES
HISTORY OF PHARMACY
The collection is exhibited in the oldest pharmacy in Cluj, attested in the 1752th century. In the beginning, the pharmacy was a public one, controlled by the City Council. It was privatized in the 1802th century, its most famous owner being Tobias Maucksch (1949-XNUMX), privileged pharmacist of the city. It is remarkable that the pharmacy operated for centuries in the same location. In the XNUMXth century it became the property of the Hintz family, who owned it until nationalization in XNUMX.
At the origin of the collection is the donation of Transylvanian pharmaceutical objects by Professor Iuliu Orient (1869-1940), exhibited in 1904 in one of the halls of the Ardelean Museum, enriched over time by other valuable donations. The collection increased with the nationalization of pharmacies during the communist period, so that it now reflects the pharmaceutical activity in Transylvania between the 1954th and XNUMXth centuries. Professor Bologa founded in XNUMX the Museum of Pharmacy in Cluj, located in this old pharmacy of Cluj. Later, the Pharmacy Museum received the name Pharmacy History Collection, being subordinated to the National History Museum of Transylvania.
The collection includes about 2500 cultural goods from all over Transylvania, mostly pharmaceutical containers, but also glassware and laboratory equipment, books and documents and old medicines (materia medica). Another important batch of objects is the collection of medical equipment, donated by Professor Manea. The most important room is the old office, where medicines were sold and which preserves the painted parietal decorations from the 18th century. Hintz House has been restored, research has led to important discoveries related to the history of the building and the extension of the basement, the oldest area of the construction.
- Published in COLLECTIONS
THE NUMISMATIC COLLECTION
The history of the numismatic collection is linked to the Transylvanian Museum established in Cluj in 1859. From the preserved documents we learn that one of the most important numismatic donations made to the future Transylvanian Museum dates back much earlier, from 1842. In that year, one of the family members Esterházy he donated part of his medal collection (149 Napoleonic medals), along with 5.000 forints to pay the custodian. Therefore, the core of the numismatic collection took shape even before the foundation of the museum. After the opening of the museum, throughout the second half of the century. XNUMXth century, the numismatic collection grew thanks to donations made by important and wealthy people, purchases from the European antiquities trade and thanks to archaeological discoveries.
The coins kept in the Numismatic Cabinet cover a time period of over two and a half millennia and were made of platinum, gold, silver and base metal. The oldest piece dates from the century. VI BC and hails from the Kingdom of Lydia! The Esterházy and Delhaes collections contain unique pieces or great numismatic rarities. Among them, the medals of the House of Habsburg, Transylvanian coins and medals, ancient Greek and Roman coins of great historical value stand out. An emblematic piece is a unique medal in the world and commemorates the coronation of Empress Gonzaga Eleonora Magdolna (wife of Ferdinand III of Habsburg) as Queen of Hungary on June 6, 1655 in Bratislava.
In the interwar period, the numismatic collection was managed by the Institute of Classical Studies from Cluj. After the establishment of the current Cluj museum in 1963, the numismatic collection developed mainly through archaeological discoveries, chance discoveries, and after 1990 also through a series of valuable acquisitions (such as koson-type staters), donations made by the National Bank of Romania ( gold and silver medals) or the National Mint. Currently, the numismatic collection includes over 100.000 pieces, coins, medals, plaques, badges, decorations, banknotes!
- Published in COLLECTIONS
THE CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION
The museum's heritage convincingly illustrates the great pretense and moments of great drama that Transylvanian society went through in the 20th century.
The period after the Great Union of 1918 constitutes a chapter of history very well represented in the museum's general collections. The decades between the two great world wars, the years of the Horthy occupation, then the establishment of the communist regime and the evolution of Transylvanian society throughout this era are richly illustrated by testimonies of the time that come from the central and local state authorities, from various other institutions, from great personalities and common people of the time in which they lived. No less relevant for the era are the various testimonies that illustrate the multitude of aspects of the daily life of man and society.
Objects of common use, from the most varied utensils, clothing, furniture, ceramics and glassware, weapons, photographs, manuscript notes, correspondence, publications, to pieces with a certain artistic value, are kept in collections as precious testimonies. Among the most valuable cultural assets are the Daicoviciu family fund, the Lapedatu fund, the Vaida-Voevod fund, the Şerban fund, but also the fund of the Historical Monuments Commission of Transylvania. For the generations to come, documents from the years after 1989 are also selectively archived, thus facilitating a nuanced understanding of the great changes after the period of the communist regime.
- Published in COLLECTIONS
THE MODERN COLLECTION
The modern history collection has a number of over 20.000 cultural assets that illustrate the history and civilization of the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional space of Transylvania, but also of the entire European continent, in the XNUMXth century and in the first decades of the next century. Among these cultural assets are a whole series of objects from document collections, weapons, decorative art, science and technology, engravings, old books and other prints.
Of particular importance in the collection are the personal objects of some political, military or cultural personalities of the era, such as those of the Romanian and Hungarian revolutionaries from 1848 (Avram Iancu, Lajos Kossuth, Sándor Petőfi, etc.), those related to the personality of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, of the sovereigns of Romania, Carol I, Ferdinand I and Queen Maria, of the memorist Ioan Raţiu, of counts Imre Mikó and Géza Kuun, of countess Ottilia Wass.
The modern history collection also includes an impressive number of documents related to the Romanian national movement, such as the printed copy of Memorandum, manuscripts, documents related to the history of the museum.
Among the main types of artefacts we can mention white and firearms, seals, flags, badges and decorations, as well as various pieces of uniform and military equipment from the Revolution of 1848 and the First World War.
Among the material treasures of the modern history collection are pieces of furniture and textiles, clockwork pieces, as well as several hundred decorative objects in porcelain, earthenware, glass, silver or base metal, dating from the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, belonging mainly to European production centers (German, Czech, French, Austrian or Hungarian). An important number of cultural assets of this nature come from the donations of Countess Ottilia Wass and Count Géza Kuun, supporters of Cluj's cultural and museum life, who through their donations to the former Ardelan National Museum, made at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, gave us bequeathed true cultural treasures.
Other important cultural assets in the modern history collection are those that illustrate the economic development of Transylvania, but also the urban life, culture and science of this historical province. Thus, the modern history collection includes glass objects from Transylvanian glassworks (Porumbacu, Pădurea Neagră, Bicsad, Cucuiş), ceramics produced in the main manufactures and profile factories in Transylvania (Batiz, Cluj, Brașov), but also coins, banknotes, financial yearbooks, shares, representative of financial and banking activity, objects that illustrate the field of transport and communications, postal seals, passports.
The achievements of Transylvanian culture and science are mirrored by musical instruments, seals of cultural associations, theater posters, cameras, the experimental flight device built in 1896 by the Cluj professor Lajos Martin, velocipedes, sound playback and recording devices, etc.
Last but not least, the modern history collection holds an important number of 1500th century engravings, postcards and vintage photographs, as well as over XNUMX glass clichés made by Cluj photographer Ferenc Veress.
A large part of these collections of pieces with an artistic or functional character from the heritage of the modern history compartment have a homogeneous character, due either to initial donations (historical collections) or to a systematic acquisition activity, carried out by the Cluj History Museum from over time. Among the historical collections, we mention those of the former Ardelean National Museum, the Museum of Relics of the 1848 Revolution, the "Francisc Iosif I" Industrial Museum in Cluj or the Ardelean Carpathian Society in Cluj.
- Published in COLLECTIONS
MEDIEVAL AND PREMODERN LAPIDARY
The medieval and pre-modern lapidary is the largest collection of its kind in the country, composed of funerary, architectural and sculptural monuments from the 13th-19th centuries, originating from acquisitions, donations, demolitions and from systematic or rescue archaeological excavations.
The formation of the lapidary is closely related to the activity of the Ardelean Museum Society, the forerunner of the current museum, which, starting from the second half of the 19th century, initiated the systematic collection of architectural elements from the demolition of Transylvanian monuments, predominantly from the historic center of Cluj.
The medieval and pre-modern lapidary collection is composed of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance architectural monuments, Baroque sculptural monuments, a vast collection of Renaissance funerary monuments and a collection of plaster copies of various types of medieval funerary and sculptural monuments from Transylvania.
The most significant part of the collection is made up of the architectural monuments from the houses of the Cluj Renaissance, among which we find portal and window frames, fireplaces, a series of consoles, balusters and archways, some marked with coats of arms or monograms their owners.
- Published in COLLECTIONS
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