State Polytechnic Museum, Moscow

History of the State Polytechnic Museum

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The State Polytechnic Museum in Moscow is one of the oldest and best science and technology museums in the world. It reflects milestones of science and engineering advances in Russia and represent man’s thirst for knowledge and progress.
The museum’s foundation began with the fantastic success of the 1872 Polytechnic Exhibition, which presented the latest achievements in science, culture and technology, showcasing the hard work of Russian scientists and lovers of natural sciences, anthropology and ethnography. A number of museums were established following the exhibition, one of which was the Museum of Applied Science (later, the Polytechnic Museum).

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The museum was intended not just as a collection of objects, but as a visionary education center, During the Soviet period the museum promoted technical education and held training courses, and its collection was updated to showcase Soviet advances in science and technology, and highlight the dreams and achievements of the Soviet period. The museum became the main institution for communication of scientific knowledge and technology, involving the top Soviet researchers and academicians, and was designated the main museum of science and technology in the Soviet Union.

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What can you find at the State Polytechnic Museum?

Nowadays the Polytechnic Museum is one of the largest and richest science and technology museums in Russia. The museum’s unique collection totals about 230,000 exhibits and 150 displays, some of which were acquired from international industrial exhibitions over the past 150 years, others have been donated by governments, scientific associations, and industrial enterprises to provide a full picture of human scientific and technological developments. As the historic building is undergoing reconstruction, the exhibitions have been moved to two other locations in Moscow.

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• Polytechnic Museum at VNDKh.

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The main exhibition is entitled Rossiya Delaet Sama (Russia does it itself) which displays the eight most vital scientific achievements of Russia over the last two centuries, and tells the story of key inventors and inventions and their impact on the world. The sections of this exhibition include radio, nuclear energy, holography, anthropogenesis, and space exploration. The exhibition includes interactive exhibits and even experiments!

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• Open Collection

While the museum’s historical building is under reconstruction, its collection has been moved to storage at the Moscow Technopolis. But the museum curators had no desire to hide the unique and rich collection away, so instead transferred it to ‘open storage’ format, whereby anyone can sign up for an excursion and see the life of the museum from the inside, led by expert guides from the Polytechnic Museum. The central Polytechnical Library, which contains more than 3 million books and periodicals, was also relocated to this site.

Photo from https://kudamoscow.ru/