Cultural Directory of Slovakia - Museum

The Archives of the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising, Banská Bystrica preserves and makes available a wide range of documents and other artefacts relation to the Slovak National Uprising.

Bojnice Museum was established in 1950; it is located in the National Cultural Monument - Bojnice Castle and it is a part of the Slovak National Museum now.

The oldest and the largest branch of the Slovak National Museum, the Ethnographic Museum of the Slovak National Museum in Martin originated with the establishment of the Slovak Museology Society (1893), and in particular with the work of SNM’s founding father Andrej Kmeť and other important personalities from Slovak museum history.

Housed in Prónay Mansion, the Karol Plicka Museum showcases the life and work of artist-photographer, filmmaker, ethnographer, folklore collector and teacher Karol Plicka (1894-1987), with special regard to his remarkable way of presenting the values of traditional Slovak folk culture. Today, his film records are unique documents of an already mostly extinct phenomena.

The Museum of Czech Culture in Slovakia documents the life and work of the original owners of the house in which it is situated, two important personalities who devoted their life and work to realising idea of the Czechoslovakia, the commonwealth of Czechs and Slovaks. One of these personalities was Dr Anna Horáková-Gašparíková, one of the first Slovak women historians and archivist of Thomas Garrique Masaryk, first president of Czechoslovakia; the other was her husband, academician Professor Jiøí Horák, one of the most distinguished 20th-century Czechoslovak folklorists.

Situated in Bratislava Castle on Castle Hill, the Museum of History SNM aims to acquire, preserve, scientifically and professionally process, use and make available collections documenting the development of society in Slovakia from the Middle Ages until the present. In this context of the museum’s specialisation it has a nationwide scope.

The Museum of Jewish Culture SNM originated as the Department of Jewish Culture at the Museum of History SNM, becoming an independent specialised museum institution in 1994. A national museum, its activities are focused on developing the spiritual and material Jewish culture and documenting the Holocaust in Slovakia.

A branch of the Museum of the Slovak National Councils SNM, this museum is dedicated to Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880-1919), one of the founders of Czechoslovakia. Opened in 1990 in the 19th-century evangelical church where Štefánik was born, it presents Štefánik’s life and work through six rooms of exhibitions covering his military, diplomatic and political activities.

Opened in 1982 as a branch of the Museum of Ukrainian-Ruthenian Culture in Svidník, this 10-hectare open air folkloric museum presents the traditional lifestyle of the Ukrainian-Ruthenian community of Slovakia.

The Natural Science Museum SNM is a national museum which focuses on the research, documentation and presentation of the diversity and development of the living and non-living natural environment in Slovakia. Through its collections it ranks among the most important natural science museums in Europe. The acquisition activities of the museum are focused primarily on the territory of Slovakia.

The Ľudovít Štúr Museum SNM in Modra was set up in 1965 as a specialised literary museum.

A branch of the Slovak National Library (SNK) in Martin, the Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin Literary Museum was set up in 1979 in Brodzany Mansion, a 17th-century Renaissance chateau whose owners the Friesenhofs were related by marriage to the great Russian Romantic writer.

The Balneological Museum was founded in 1931 by the Piestany Museum Society and the Winter family, lessors of Piešťany spa resort. Originally a museum of local history, it has specialised since 1966 in balneology (the science of baths or bathing, especially the study of the therapeutic use of mineral baths) and the history of Slovak watering places and climatic spas.

Founded in 1889, the Central Slovakia Museum, Banská Bystrica is the oldest continuous cultural facility in the town, which opened its first exhibition in 1909. In 1958 the museum relocated to Thurzo House, one of the most beautiful and typical houses of the historic heart of Banská Bystrica. From 1492 to 1540 Thurzo House was the headquarters of the Thurzo-Fugger Company, then one of the world's largest copper mining concerns. It was reconstructed into its present-day form in the second half of the 16th century.

Established in 1969 as the District Museum at Galanta and renamed in 1990, the Homeland Museum documents the history of the milling trade in the Malý Dunaj (Little Danube) River Basin and the lower reaches of the River Váh.

Established in 1959, the Homeland Museum at Hlohovec is a typical regional museum of homeland character whose collections represent the basic branches of social and natural sciences. The museum is located in the Franciscan Monastery at Hlohovec, built in 1942 on the orders of Vavrinec Ujlaky and now a protected cultural monument, with an additional exhibition hall on Razusova Street.

The Horehronie Museum was set up as a homeland museum of the then Brezno District in 1960. Since 1965 it has acquired the status of a regional museum with special orientation to local history. The museum is housed in two buildings – the former Town Hall, a 16th-century building of Renaissance design which acquired its present Late Baroque appearance in 1779-1780, and a renovated burgher house dating from the end of the 16th century; both buildings are National Cultural Monuments.

Founded in 1972 as a District Museum, Kysuce Museum acquired its present name in 1974. In 1973-1975 it carried out a survey into the folk architecture of Kysuce, and in 1974-1981 it undertook extensive research into the inundated villages of Riecnica and Harvelka, collecting and purchasing objects in the field for its collection. The museum has also acquired numerous important archaeological objects through research activity and field surveys in numerous other locations around Kysucke.

Small Carpathian Museum in Pezinok is, following a two-year reconstruction work, again open to the public from November 18, 2008. With the use of finances from the EU funds and a founder of the museum - Bratislava Self- Governing Region, the museum building and its basement underwent a complete reconstruction.

The traditions of collecting documentary material relating to mining at Gelnica stretch back to the times of Empress Maria Theresia. However, the present museum was founded in 1963 in the building of the former town hall.

The Museum of Education and Pedagogy, Bratislava is a central museum of education. It was established in 1970 by a decision of the Ministry of Education.

Orava is a region in the northernmost part of Slovakia. Covering 8 hectares in a beautiful landscape under the West Tatra mountains, Museum of Orava village displays rural building, living and farming in Orava region in the past.Originally, there were only pastures in this place. In 1967 building of the museum began and succesively 56 houses from various Orava villages were removed here. Almost all of them are wooden log-cabin houses, so they were disassembled at the original place, removed to the museum and here reassembled.

Liptov Village Museum in Pribylina is the youngest open-air museum in Slovakia, available since 1991. It's establishment is related to the construction of water reservoir of Liptovská Mara, in order to protect the most valuable movable and immovable estates. Liptov Village Museum exhibition documents the housing and the way of life of Liptov's population with different social backgrounds in the past. Besides wooden folk architecture also medieval stone buildings, an early Gothic church and a Gothic-Renaissance style mansion are present.

Established in 1951, the Museum of the Spiš Region, Spišská Nová Ves is located in the former Spišská Nová Ves Town Hall, one of the most valuable historical buildings in the town whose foundations are believed to date from the 15th century. In 1774 it became the Provincial House, seat of the newly-constituted province of the 16 Spiš Towns. Today the building is noteworthy for its façade, decorated by six Rococo stucco cartouches, which dates from the 18th century.

Žitný Ostrov-Csallóköz Museum, Dunajska Streda was founded in 1964 in the so-called Yellow Manor House (Žltý kaštieľ), taking over the collections and functions an the earlier museum established in 1927 at Šamorín. Its permanent exhibition comprises 11 thematic units focusing on the archaeological and palaeontological, historical and ethnological development of the region.

The Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Museum of Orava, Dolný Kubín was founded in 1980 through a merger of the Orava Museum at Oravský Podzámok and the Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav Literary Museum at Dolný Kubín. Named after the great Slovak poet, dramatist, translator and politician Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav (1849-1921), it is housed in the building of the Čaplovič Library, which it also administers.

TThe Pohronie Museum, Nová Baňa originated in 1952 as a municipal museum founded on the initiative of antiquities collector Anton Solčansky. In 1988 it was turned into a museum with a local history orientation for the Pohronie region. The headquarters of the museum are in the former Town Hall – a four-storey Gothic building dating from the second half of the 14th century which was rebuilt in the mid 18th century. It is now a National Cultural Monument.

Opened in 1956 at Budatín Castle, the Považie Museum, Žilina is a regional museum which focuses on local archaeology and history and the tinker trade.The museum’s collections originated with those of the former Žilina Municipal Museum (1942) and now comprise over 100,000 objects from the fields of natural science, archaeology, history and ethnography.

Established in 1903 as a museum of the Šariš zhupa (district) and located in the Old Town Hall (1505–1511), Šariš Museum documents the development of nature and society in the Upper Šariš region.

Slovak Technical Museum (STM) offers an insight into the history and traditions of science and technology. Being the main centre of museum documentation of science development as well as of manufacturing and technology it administers ample collections, initiates care-taking of selected technical monuments in situ in the whole territory of Slovakia, provides technical assistance for their preservation and renovation. It also surveys the contribution of Slovakia and its personalities to development of world science and technology.

Established in 2002 in the Košice Airport compound, the Museum of Aviation in Košice documents the development of aviation in Slovakia from the earliest days up to 1943.

The origins of Trenčín Museum are connected with the foundation in 1877 of the Natural History Club of Trenčín zhupa, which was engaged in collecting objects as well as lecturing and publishing activities. In 1912 the museum became a municipal institution, and in 1940 its collections were moved to the present building, the former Zhupa House.

Founded in 1960, the Vihorlat Museum at Humenné has been housed since 1969 at Humenné Mansion, a large Renaissance-Baroque building which was once the seat of the powerful Drugeth family. It houses an extensive collection of period furniture and fittings, documents and artefacts relating to the art, history and natural history of the Upper Zemplín region.

The Záhorie Museum, Skalica is a regional museum with a special focus on the Záhorie region.

Since 1954 SIBMAS has been the forum for colleagues from all over the world promoting research, practical and theoretical, in the documentation of the performing arts. Besides the organisation of biennial international congresses, SIBMAS members are involved in three permanent projects: a directory of theatre museums and libraries accessible online since 2002, the International Bibliography of Theatre (IBT), published by the Theatre Research Data Centre at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, and the World Encyclopaedia of Contemporary Theatre (6 volumes, 1994-2000).

The Directorate of Museums, Galleries and Libraries (i) prepares the main objectives and principles of state policy in the field of museums, galleries, libraries, culture science and research; (ii) produces analytical, conceptual and informational materials in the field of museums, galleries, libraries, culture science and research; (iii) protects the historical value

Museum of Ruthenian Culture SNM in Prešov, which focuses on history and culture of Ruthenian ethnic minority in Slovakia, was established in 2007. Its mission is to acquire, preserve, process and make available to the public the museum collections, which document the evolution of material and spiritual culture of Ruthenians in the Slovak Republic.

This small museum presents the life and work of celebrated Slovak astronomer Mikuláš Konkoly-Thege (1842-1916), who founded the Slovak Central Observatory in Hurbanovo in 1870.