Part of the Brukenthal Museum, the History Museum in Sibiu is hosted - how appropriate - inside the Old City Hall, a magnificent building, which has proven to be the best choice for the prestigious institution. This old buildings, also known as the Altemberger House (by the name of the mayor who began it's construction) is a cultural and historical landmark, but also the most important Gothic civil building in the region. Built over several years, it's oldest part is the tower, which was built starting with the 15th century, under the guidance of Thomas Altemberger. It is a squared structure, three stories high, still in very good shape (after profound renovations). To the North we find yet another part built by Altemberger.
After the mayor passed away, the owner of this huge structure became Nicolaus Prol, then Johannes Lulay, who further extended it. In 1545 the whole building was finally bought by the city, to be used as the new City Hall. Further expansions were made in the 16th and the 18th century and until 1948 it was still used as the City Hall, being somewhat of a symbol of Sibiu. In 1967 - 1984 ambitious and costly works of restoration began on the building, and in 1984 the History Museum moved here, after having functioned in the Brukenthal Palace, at the ground floor.
The collections of the museum
The History Museum has several large and rich collections, divided into several chronological and thematical departments, such as weapons and armours, medals, Romanian coins and bills, archaeology and others. It is simply amazing to discover step by step the history of the region, by means of tens of thousands of exhibits, many of them presented in the permanent collection.
In the coins collection, for example, we find over 60.000 coins and medals, from all around the world. Samuel von Brukenthal himself managed to amass about 17.000 coins and medals in his life time, from ancient ones to then-contemporary. Over the decades the collection has been enriched with other rare examples, both discoverise from archaeological sites and donations from other collector. Dacians, Roman Greek Austrian, German, you name it, and it's here. Of great importance is the selection of Transylvanian coins, especially those out of gold and silver, as well as the Eastern European collection.
But the most important part of the museum is surely the archaeology department, where we find both ancient and prehistorical discoveries, from the region, maily tools, weapons and ceramics, a splendid and interesting presentation of the ancient history in this province. We can continue the visit with the decorative and guild objects, many of these surprinsingly beautiful, then with the collection of weapons and armours, one of the best in Romania and even Eastern Europen. This collection is made up of the Stadtische Rustkammer (The Weapons Hall of Sibiu) collection founded in 1872 and several exhibits from the Astra Museum, as well as several donations. We can see here all kind of exhibits, from swords and armours to old firearms and ammunitions, many of these wonderfully preserved. Many of the exhibits were made by famous armourers and weaponsmiths of the past, such as Cominazzo, Kuchenreuter, Francino, Zanoni, Schirmer, Hauer, coming from important centres for weapons manufacturing (Passau, Solingen, Nurnberg). Aside the Transylvanian and European weapons and armours, some rare examples of Oriental weapons and accessories are to be found here.
Another important part of the museum's collections is the documents and graphics section, with well over 33.000 pieces, comprising of postal cards, photographs, litographies, with varied themes and subjects : views from Sibiu and it's surroundings, historical events, important people in the city's history and so on. The selection of seals and stamps, around 2300 pieces, is one of the few in Romania and has several very rare examples,on various themes, from officials and noble seals to those used by guilds in the past or by writers, high officials, and so on. Just as impressive is the collection of medals and distinctions, most of them Romanian - but also some foreign ones - donated by military and civilians over the years. Some of the best examples of this kind are to be found in the museum's possesion : the Steaua Romaniei Order, the Legion d'Honeur, the Saviour's Order, the Pius IX Order and many others. For those who are passionate about this type of exhibits, it is the place to be.
Also of interest is the collection of Romanian money bills, put together in the interwar period and further completed after 1990, the oldest exhibits being some mortgage bills from 1877. It is a history of the Romanian coins starting with the beginning of the 20th century, and every type of coin and bill are presented here, in great quality, that would make the envy of every collector. The visit at the museum end with yet another interesting department, the textile collection, with many pieces from the collection put together by the Baron Samuel von Brukenthal, as well as several donations made by local guilds and associations or collectors.
2008-01-23
