#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.

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Events Archive

Summer camp at the museum

August 15-26, 2022

Between August 15-26, 2022, the National Museum of History of Moldova hosted the day camp organized by the "Chabad Lubavitch" Jewish community in partnership with the museum.

The program of the camp was a complex one, based on activities dedicated to the knowledge of Jewish history and traditions, such as workshops, excursions, watching films and other interactive games. The camp was attended by 30 Jewish children from Chisinau and Ukraine, coordinated by educators from Israel.

From the very first day, the children got to know the museum, taking a guided tour of the exhibition halls. They got to know the museum and the history of the Republic of Moldova. Many children visited the museum for the first time, especially refugee children from Ukraine. This was a great opportunity to familiarize themselves with both the host institution and the history of the Republic of Moldova, from ancient times to the present. Also, several workshops offered by the museum guides were organized for them - „History and the Art of Writing" and „Secrets of Prehistoric Ceramics". Thus, the children allowed themselves to be captured by the enigmas of history, learned the secrets of pottery modeling and wrote down their history in ink on parchment at the museum.

For the children it was a real adventure! The parents were also impressed. They thanked the organizers and everyone involved. One of the mothers described the summer camp at the museum as „...a rare combination of a fun and a useful way to end to summer vacation!".

During the 2 weeks, the children learned about their roots, about the country they live in and about the traditions of the Jewish people. The summer camp at the museum ended with a concert for parents, where the children showed what they learned these days, sang songs in Hebrew, read prayers, received gifts from the synagogue and took a group photo, which over the years they will become memorable memories.

The National Museum of History of Moldova is delighted to be the partner of such events and promotes activities aimed at children, because children are the future, and the future must know its history and perpetuate traditions!