#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

“Railway line BENDER (TIGHINA) – GALAŢI 140 years from opening: July 27 – November 4, 1877”

July 27 - September 10, 2017

The National Museum of History of Moldova opened a photo exhibition dedicated to the construction of the Bender - Galați railway line, celebrating an important anniversary moment in the history of the Moldovan railways.

For the first time were displayed 32 images from the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova made by the notorious photographer from Odessa - I. Antonopoulo. The photos show the step by step making of this 304 km long "iron road" from Bessarabia connecting Bender to the Danube port of Galați. Through the documentary photography, the exhibition aims at restoring the epic story of a railway building site - trembling works, construction of bridges, pumping stations and water towers, depots and railway stations - which were build in a record time of only three months. In the exhibition is displayed also a model of a steam locomotive, built in 1900 by the American company "Richmond Locomotive Works".

The anniversary moment was marked by a philatelic issue - an envelope with mark "140 years since the construction of the Bender (Tighina) - Galați railway line", made by the State Enterprise "Poșta Moldovei", which was made available for purchase and use on the exhibition opening day.

At the opening ceremony, which took place on July 27, at 12.00, the following speakers took the floor: the general director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, dr. hab. Eugen Sava; general vice-director of the State Enterprise „Calea Ferată din Moldova", Mr. Serghei Tomșa; general deputy director of the State Enterprise „Poșta Moldovei", Mrs. Ludmila Buzu; deputy director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, Mrs. Aurelia Cornețchi.

The construction of the Bender - Galați railway line was approved during the Russian - Romanian - Turkish war of 1877-1878. The railway line had strategic and military importance as it had to meet the needs of the Russian army in the campaign against the Turks. The construction works began on July 27, 1877 and ended on November 4, 1877.

The engineers faced great difficulties - the railway embankment went through rough terrain, degraded by ravines and crossed by many ravines and lakes. To level the ground it was necessary in some places to make excavations and in other backfills, and to construct bridges over rivers and valleys. In the construction works were involved peasants from the localities that were to be crossed by the future line, three divisions of soldiers in the disciplinary battalion, totaling over 11 thousand people.

The railway map of that period had gained new stations, such as Bender, Căinari, Zloți, Schinoasa, Valul lui Traian, Reni and others. At Bender and Reni, workshops and locomotive depots were built. All wooden buildings were designed by the Chief Architect of the City of Chișinău, Alexandru Bernardazzi.

The main objective of the construction was accomplished within a record time. After one hundred days from the beginning of the railway construction, on November 4, 1877, the first military train arrived at the Galați Station.