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#Exhibit of the Month

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Manufactured in 1902 by AG vorm Siedel & Nauman in Dresden, Germany.

Dimensions: Length - 38 cm, Width - 35 cm, Height - 20 cm. Weight - 16 kg. It entered the museum collection in 1984, transferred from the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History.

The typewriter features a standard carriage mounted on ball bearings and rollers, along with a keyboard equipped with 42 keys. These contain two complete sets of Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, punctuation marks, numbers, and mathematical symbols, enabling the typing of 126 characters. Beneath the metal casing, the type bars are arranged in a fan-like pattern, holding embossed characters and ink ribbon rollers. When the keys are pressed, the type bars strike the inked ribbon, imprinting characters onto the paper tensioned in the machine's roller system.
The side panels are elegantly decorated with refined cast-iron elements in the Art Nouveau style, displaying the brand name - "Ideal." The Polyglott model, featuring a bilingual keyboard patented in the United Kingdom by Max Klaczko from Riga, Latvia, was produced between 1902 and 1913, marking the first typewriter capable of writing in two languages. The "Ideal Polyglott" typewriter was actively sold in the Russian Empire and gained significant popularity in Poland, Bulgaria, and Serbia.
The typewriter - a mechanical device used for printing text directly onto paper - ranks among the most important inventions of the modern era, as it revolutionized communication. From the late 19th century to the early 21st century, it became an indispensable tool, widely used by writers, in offices, for business correspondence, and in private homes. The peak of typewriter sales occurred in the 1950s when the average annual sales in the United States reached 12 million units. In November 2012, the British Brother factory produced what it claimed to be the last typewriter, which was donated to the Science Museum in London.
The advent of computers, word processing software, printers, and the decreasing cost of these technologies led to the typewriter's disappearance from the mainstream market, turning it into a museum exhibit.
June 23 marks Typewriter Day, commemorating the date when American journalist and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented his typewriter. This day celebrates the simple yet revolutionary device that has become history, as well as the remarkable literary achievements it has enabled since 1868.

Virtual Tour


Collections

Development of Collections

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

Manufactured in 1902 by AG vorm Siedel & Nauman in Dresden, Germany. Dimensions: Length - 38 cm, Width - 35 cm, Height - 20 cm. Weight - 16 kg. It entered the museum collection in 1984, transferred from the National Museum of Ethnography and Natural History...

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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.
©2006-2025 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.
©2006-2025 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.
©2006-2025 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