#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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Exhibitions

"The German Colony of Emmental – Artistic Reflections"

September 17 – October 17, 2024

The exhibition "The German Colony of Emmental - Artistic Reflections," organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova in partnership with the Municipality of Pervomaisc, will be inaugurated on September 17, 2024, at 1:00 PM. It marks 210 years since the arrival of the first German settlers in Bessarabia, offering an artistic journey into the history and heritage of the German community in the region.

The Germans of Bessarabia represented the last wave of German emigrants who settled in "New Russia" following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by Russia in May 1812. In the Appeal "To the Germans of the Duchy of Warsaw," dated November 29, 1813, Tsar Alexander I invited German settlers to establish themselves by the Black Sea, promising them land and freedoms. The immigrants came mainly from southwestern Germany and Prussia.

Over 125 years of colonization, this minority developed a prosperous community in Bessarabia, characterized by local autonomy and a strong Protestant work ethic. The German settlers lived in peaceful proximity with other ethnic and religious communities. In 1940, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939), 93,500 Germans from Bessarabia were relocated, primarily to occupied Poland. At the beginning of 1945, they were forced to flee and create new lives in a divided Germany.

The exhibition explores the story and legacy of the German settlers from Emmental (now Pervomaisc), one of the largest German colonies in Bessarabia, reflected in the paintings of Antonina Casap, a native of this village. The displayed works evoke rural landscapes of unique serenity, the specific architecture of German villages, portraits depicting the daily lives of settlers, the community's traditions and customs, as well as abstract compositions reflecting the dynamic cultural and social changes.

The exhibition discourse offers a new perspective on how art can interpret the history of a community. Each displayed work acts as a bridge between the past and the present, inviting reflection on how history shapes our collective and individual identities.

The exhibition "The German Colony of Emmental - Artistic Reflections" will be open to visitors from September 17 to October 9, 2024, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, 121A August 31, 1989 Street, Chișinău.