#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

„Manhood and Faith” (Military awards from the collection of NMHM)

May 17, 2014 -May 17, 2015

The National Museum of History of Moldova holds a rich collection of military awards from the 18^th - 21^st centuries. This valuable collection is very little known to the large public, this serving as motive for the organization of the exhibition „Manhood and Faith".

To crate a broader image regarding the origin of the military awards to the visiting public, the presentation is done in progressive order of chronological and typological perspective, and brings together a selection of over 200 representative pieces from this collection.

The exhibition discourse begins with two Sarmatian phalerae dated with the 1^st-2^nd centuries AD. The historic, artistic and intrinsic value of these authentic jewels should be remarked as they are symbols of the respective authority.

The modern and contemporary periods are the golden age of the decoration awards; more precisely from the expansionist policy of Friedrich II's Prussia and Peter I's Russia. The maximum centers of interest in the exhibition are the west-European, Romanian and Russian orders and medals from the 18^th-19^th centuries: Order of St. Stanislav, 3^rd degree. Russia, 1765; Order of St. Ana, 3^rd degree. Russia, 1787; Order Virtuti Militari. Poland, 1792; Order of the Rising Sun, 5^th degree. Japan, 1878. Among the pieces on display is remarkable the Order Star of Romania, the first Romanian order established by the law voted on May 10^th, 1877.

The military distinctions from the tumultuous period of the Russian-Turkish wars are of special interest: Medal Battle from Cahul. Russia, 1770; Medal Peace from Kuciuk-Kainargi. Russia, 1774; Medal Peace with Turkey. Russia, 1791; Medal Sea battle from Česmen. Russia, 1770 etc.

The distinctions from the period of the Russian-Turkish wars alternate with those from the two World Wars (1914-1918; 1940-1945): The Iron Cross. Prussia, 1914; Medal Cross of Fire. Austria, 1914; The Cross St. George, 1^st-4^th degrees. Russia, 1914; Order of the White Cloud, Manchuria. 1932; Order of the Polar Star. Mongolia, 1937; Order Kutuzov, 1^st degree. USSR, 1944; Order Suvorov, 2^nd degree. USSR, 1944; Cross Grünwald. Poland, 1944; Medal Ushakov, 2^nd degree. USSR, 1944; Order Za Vitezctvi. Czechoslovakia, 1945; Order Alexandr Nevski. USSR, 1944; Order Otečestvennaja Vojna, 1^st-2^nd degree. USSR, 1942.

The exhibition continues with a series of postwar orders and medals of the former socialist countries: Order Tudor Vladimirescu. Romania, 1966; Order Ian Žižca. Czechoslovakia, 1946; Medal Veteran Voorujionnyh Sil SSSR. USSR, 1976; Medal Za Otličie v voinskoj slujbe. USSR, 1974.

Some decorations are accompanied with patents with the name of the decorated person, the decree number and the reason for awarding the distinction.

The exhibition display ends with state military distinctions of the Republic of Moldova awarded for acts of heroism and cunning leadership of military operations. The highest distinction in this category is the Order of Ştefan cel Mare, established in 1992.

For a solemn and sober appearance, the exhibition is complemented with flags, banners, battle standards.

The exhibition Manhood and Faith distributes information about the past and awakens feelings of veneration towards the ancestors inspiring the desire to carry on their great goals.