#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

Virtual Tour

Events Archive

Launch of the volume "Identities of Chisinau: 31 August 1989 street". International conference materials, Collection of studies, IDN Series, Chisinau, Bons Offices, 2023, by Sergiu Musteață and Alexandru Corduneanu (Eds.)

February 9, 2023

On February 9, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, was launched the volume "Identities of Chisinau: Street 31 August 1989". Materials of the international conference, Collection of studies, IDN Series, Chisinau, Bons Offices, 2023, by Sergiu Musteață and Alexandru Corduneanu (Eds.).

The coordinators of the collection of studies, Sergiu Musteață and Alexandru Corduneanu highlighted in their speeches the importance of studying the history of the city of Chisinau, for not only a better knowledge of the past, but also a better construction of the future. It was also mentioned that this work is not only theoretical, but also applied, especially for those who deal with the development of the city of Chisinau and the development of the historic center of the capital.

During this event, moderated by Eugen Sava, the General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, with congratulatory messages came guests from the creative field - Leo Butnaru, poet, literary historian and essayist; from the academic field - Ion Tentiuc, Archaeology Department of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Ion Ursu, Director of the Cultural Heritage Institute; from the field of tourism - Viorel Miron, the Executive Director of the Tourism Development Association in Moldova and last but not least, the representatives of the Chisinau City Hall, in the person of General Mayor Ion Ceban and Vice Mayor Angela Cutasevici.

The collection is the result of the international scientific conference "Identities of Chisinau", which acquires a lasting academic tradition, reaching its seventh edition in 2021. The current edition has been reserved for the special value that the street has in the structure and urban history, selecting as a case study the street 31 August 1989. The collection includes 25 studies grouped in two parts: one, dedicated to the street 31 August 1989 and the second, to the mayor Carol Schmidt and architect Alexandru Bernardazzi. In addition to the basic studies, the volume also includes some complementary contributions, which facilitate a better understanding of Chisinau's cultural heritage.