Do you know the story about The Technical Museum in Zagreb?
The Technical Museum in Zagreb presents the historical development of technical advances that man has made in his attempt to conquer time and space.
ENERGY TRANSFORMATION DEPARTMENT
This department portrays the historical development of man’s technical innovations in his effort to convert forms of energy of lesser value into forms that are of higher quality and which are better suited to mankind’s needs. Dealt with here are devices that are operated by the muscle power of man and animals, as well as those that make use of natural energies in their original form, such as wind, water and the Sun. These are followed by a collection of steam-powered machines, from steam-driven piston engines to steam-powered turbines. Internal combustion engines are represented by a range of gas, petrol and diesel engines of various constructions and purposes. The collection of aircraft engines is particularly interesting. The collection dedicated to electrical energy describes the production, transfer and utilisation of electrical energy. The concluding segment in this department is the application of nuclear physics in the field of energy. A separate entity of this department is the Kolin collection, which provides an excellent insight into the historical development of every kind of thermal engine.
MEANS OF TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT
The urge to conquer space, to travel and to transport things is as old as man himself. Down the millennia man gradually conquered wide expanses of land, overcoming many kinds of water obstacles and, ultimately, has managed to successfully combat the effect of Earth’s gravitation - commencing with the first flying craft that was able to peel away from the surface of the earth, to flights to the Moon. Presented in this Department is the development of land, water and air transport.
ASTRONAUTICS DEPARTMENT (WITH PLANETARIUM)
In this department one can view models of the most famous spacecraft, rocket-boosters and orbital stations, demonstrating the earliest beginnings of astronautics. In the air-conditioned planetarium dome visitors are able to experience a mirror image of the star-filled sky, from the North Pole to the equator, at any time of night and in any season, as well as being able to enjoy absorbing lectures and projections against a model of the sky.
GEOLOGY, MINING AND OIL DEPARTMENT
The formation of the Earth, its evolution and composition, are presented in the Geological collection.
The Mining collection depicts the development of techniques for the exploitation of mineral resources, as well as methods of ore enrichment and processing. A particular attraction here is a model of a mine, with an overall length of tunnel systems extending to more than 300 metres, which is constructed beneath the Museum building. The Oil collection tells the story of the creation of oil and gas, their movement and distribution beneath the Earth’s crust, the various methods used to discover reserves, their exploitation and processing. Finally, there is a brief survey of new energy sources. In the Cadastral room the exhibits - including original measuring instruments and other auxiliary items and equipment - are displayed in such a manner as to portray how an actual cadastral office would have looked in the first half of the 20th century.
FIRE-FIGHTING DEPARTMENT
An arrangement of original items - manual and motor-powered fire hoses, horse-drawn fire engines, fire-fighting ladders, pipes, nozzles and other equipment used in fire fighting, together with a wealth of relevant visual and textual material - presents the development of fire-fighting techniques, with particular emphasis on the region of Croatia.
THE BASICS OF AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT, WITH AN APIARY
The exhibits in this department present the historical development of the technical aspects of devices used for digging and ploughing. With regard to their functional properties the exhibits comprise ploughshares, ploughs and drills. The special feature of this department is a collection of model glass beehives containing live bees, allowing their life and activities to be observed minutely.
GREAT CROATS IN THE FIELDS OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
To date, we have realised an exhibition dedicated to Faust Vrančić, and a Nikola Tesla demonstration cabinet. The Nikola Tesla cabinet contains meticulous copies of his most outstanding machines and devices on which experiments, which Tesla used to present his inventions, can be performed. The avenue of sculptures of great Croatian names in the fields of natural sciences and technology forms an integral part of this department and is located in the Museum park.
Editor-in-chief,
Miljenko Paunović
