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The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

Virtual Tour


Collections

Development of Collections

During the 2020-2024 period, the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova were enriched with a total of 10,476 items. These items were acquired through various means: donations, acquisitions, and confiscations from customs.
The annual distribution is as follows:
o 2020 - 2,897 cultural goods
o 2021 - 1,376 cultural goods
o 2022 - 1,506 cultural goods
o 2023 - 2,465 cultural goods
o 2024 - 2,232 cultural goods 
The museum's heritage has recently been enhanced with a series of valuable and diverse objects. These include archaeological pieces, contemporary Moldovan coins, photographs, and documents reflecting the lives of deportees. The museum also received a collection of medals and personal objects belonging to Simion Odainic (1938-2023). He is known as the author of the state distinctions of the Republic of Moldova, established in 1992, as well as other important phaleristic and heraldic insignia, inscribed in the General Armorial of the Republic of Moldova.

Furthermore, the heritage was supplemented with an impressive collection of unused Romanian postage stamps from the period 1948-1964. This collection was donated by the Romanian collector Ilie Picioruș, residing in Bucharest



The number of exhibits in the Museum collections is permanently growing through donations, acquisitions, field research and transfers. Thus, in 2009 the collections were enriched with 1,538 objects of historical and artistic significance, including 1,042 archaeological objects, 92 numismatic pieces, 29 photographs, 24 documents, 4 objects of weapon and military equipment, 95 ethnographic and household items, 13 objects of technical equipment, 29 objects of decorative art, 5 paintings, 70 philatelic objects, and 135 objects classified to “miscellanea”.

Among the most valuable items entered the collections, we can mention:
  • Roman coins, 2nd century;
  • dirhams, Golden Horde, 14th century;
  • Gospel, Bucharest, 1750;
  • ecclesiastic vestments, Bessarabia, early 19th century;
  • measure units, Russia, 1857;
  • photographs and household items from the painter Nicolae Coleadici’s family;
  • documents and photographs that belonged to the member of the Country Council Ion Pantaru’s family;
  • clothing that belonged to the composer Zlata Tcaci.  

In the period 2012-2013 the heritage of the National Museum of History of Moldova was enriched with 9389 pieces, including 4087 in the main collection. The objects entered the museum collections through donations (2442), acquisitions (157) and transfer from the former Museum of Archaeology of ASM (6214) and State Treasury of Republic of Moldova (576).

The main museum heritage collection was increased with 5087 objects, including: 2538 archaeological items, 536 numismatic objects, 88 ethnographic and usual objects, 9 technical objects, 79 photographs, 93 documents, 108 paintings, 208 pieces of decorative art, 120 philately objects, 2 furniture objects and 296 marked with „other".       

Among most valuable objects which enriched the heritage of the Museum in the years 2012 - 2013 are:

- Little amphora, burned clay, 2nd century BC;
- Amphora, end of 6th - beginning of 5th century AD;
- Roman coins from the treasury of Goleni, Cantemir raion, 3rd-4th centuries AD;
- Medieval coins discovered at Costești, Ialoveni raion, 14th-15th centuries;
- Treasury from the Late Bronze period, Noua-Coslogeni culture (14th-12th centuries BC);
- Collection of copper coins, Golden Hoard, Costești, 14th century;
- Brass vessels, 14th-17th centuries;
- Decorative fragments for clothing discovered at the archaeological excavations from Căpriana Monastery;
- Chimney clocks, office lamp, Western Europe, 19th century;
- Porcelain statuettes, Western Europe, 19th century;
- Book Город Кишинев времен жизни в нем А.С. Пушкина(1820-1823), Ioan Halippa, Chișinău, 1899;
- Romanian-Russian dictionary by Nicolae Popovschi, Chișinău, 1922;
- Ladies hats, 40ies and 50ies of 20th century;
- Collection of „Basarabia" newspapers, September 28th, 1941 - October 20th, 1941;
- Photos and letters from the front which belonged to Grigore Crivonosov from v. Macovei, 1944;
- Collection of photos about the deportations from Bessarabia in the summer of 1949;
- Collection of decorative bells, 1978-2011;
- Collection of objects, books, sketches and paintings signed by painter E. Childescu.


Between 2014 and 2015 the museum heritage has increased by 6 578 pieces, including 2 530 in the main collection. They entered the museum through donations, purchases, transfer from the former Museum of Archaeology of ASM and the State Treasury of the Republic of Moldova.

In the main collection of museum heritage were included new and valuable archaeological objects (1401), numismatic pieces (243), photos (103), documents (57), decorative art objects (103), clothing and accessories (29), technical objects (27), weapons (15), furniture objects (29) etc. Among the most valuable cultural assets that have enriched the museum collections are to be mentioned:

- Documents written in Romanian language, published in Bessarabia in the years 1815-1828;
- Kettle with burner, teapot and sugar bowl, England, 19th century;
- Sewing machine „Phoenix", Germany, beginning of 20th century;
- Documents, photos, and personal objects reflecting the life and activity of film director and screen writer Valeriu Gagiu;
- Materials about the activity of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova.



 

 


Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC