#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. 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

Exhibitions

"30 years of the Moldovan leu"

Organizers: National Museum of History of Moldova, National Bank of Moldova

25 – 30 November 2023

November 29, 2023 marks 30 years since the introduction of the national currency of the Republic of Moldova. After the declaration of Sovereignty and Independence, the process of establishing the new state began with a series of important measures related to the creation or reorganization of state institutions, the adoption of the new legislation necessary for the functioning of an independent state, the management and reform of the economy. Among the urgent problems of that period was the introduction of the national currency. Already on July 25, 1990, the decision was received to introduce, starting in 1991, the common national currency with the Soviet money. At the beginning of 1991, the National Bank and the Government in order to protect the consumer market in the S.S.R. Moldova, decided to introduce coupons that would circulate simultaneously with the ex-Soviet ruble. These, called "Consumer's Card", were 247x199 mm sheets of paper, initially black and white (in March) and color (starting in April).

On June 11, 1991, the Law "On the National Bank of Moldova" was approved, in article 10 of which it was mentioned that the monetary signs will be issued in the form of banknotes (banknotes) and coins, without specifying the name of the currency yet national. On January 23, 1992, the Parliament adopted the Decision "Regarding monetary-merchandise circulation". In this document, for the first time, the name of the future national currency was nominated: the (Moldovan) leu.

On June 2, 1992, Decision no. 371 of the Government regarding the introduction of coupons with multiple valorization of the National Bank of Moldova as a means of payment. On that occasion, starting from June 10, 1992, the coupon with the nominal value of 200 was launched, which was to circulate in parallel with the rubles. A month later, the coupon with a nominal value of 50, equivalent to 50 rubles, was introduced.

November 29, 2023 marks 30 years since the introduction of the national currency of the Republic of Moldova into circulation. The exhibition organized by the National History Museum of Moldova in collaboration with the National Bank of Moldova aims to commemorate this event and familiarize the general public with the history of the introduction of the Moldovan leu.

The period passed by the young state Republic of Moldova from the declaration of Sovereignty and Independence until the introduction of the lion was arduous and difficult. The country is facing strong inflation, with a large deficit in the field of food and non-food production. To be part of the problems, the country needed its own monetary system. Until the presidential decree no. 200 "Regarding the introduction of the national currency in the Republic of Moldova" from November 24, 1993, the Republic of Moldova experienced several stages and types of temporary monetary units.

In order to create for the general public a broad picture of the history of the introduction of the leu, the exhibition will present a series of materials preceding the monetary reform, materials that reflect the process of designing and making provisional money, numismatic pieces in circulation, as well as coins commemoratives issued by the National Bank of Moldova. The public has the opportunity to see in the exhibition the black-and-white coupons, as well as the color ones, called "Consumer's Card", put into circulation at the beginning of 1991 by the National Bank and the Government in order to protect the consumer market of SSR Moldova. These are followed by the multiple redemption coupons introduced on June 2, 1992, equivalent to the Soviet ruble 1:1, which had values of 200, 50, 1000 and 5000 (rubles). On September 20, 1993, the 5 lei coupon equivalent to 5000 coupons (rubles) was introduced as a means of payment. The 5 lei banknote, then called a coupon, actually represents one of the first three lei specimens developed by master Gheorghe Vrabie. All these banknotes can be seen in the exhibition windows. These are followed by specimens of the banknotes in circulation today, the metallic coins, including those taken out of circulation, as well as the jubilee and commemorative coins.

The first jubilee coin issued by the National Bank of Moldova was devoted to the fifth anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Moldova, with a nominal value of 100 lei.

In 2000, the first series of such coins was inaugurated: the Moldovan Monasteries. The specimens from this series with the nominal value of 50 lei, made of silver, included the images of 20 monasteries from the Republic of Moldova. The graphic sketches were executed by plastic artists Vitalie Pogolşa and Simion Zamşa. Later, other commemorative and jubilee monetary series were introduced: Historical events; Alley of the classics in the Public Garden "Stefan the Great and Saint" in Chisinau; Sports; Personalities; Holy places; Monuments of Moldova; Holidays, culture, traditions of Moldova; Red Book of the Republic of Moldova, Famous Women, Science and Innovation, Childhood Stories, etc.