Slovak National Museum (SNM), Bratislava

The Slovak National Museum (SNM) is the largest museum institution, and also, taking into account the extent of its administered property, the largest cultural institution in the Slovak Republic. Its history began more than 110 years ago.

The origins of the Slovak National Museum (SNM) are connected with the endeavour of the Slovak nation for national emancipation and self-determination. SNM is connected with the tradition of the Matica Slovenská Museum and the Museum of the National House in Martin, which developed the Slovak Museology Society in 1893 and opened first permanent exhibition in Martin in 1908. From the outset the museum built up archaeological, ethnographic, historical, numismatic, art history, creative art and natural science collections. In 1924 the Society of the Slovak National Geographic and History Museum founded the Slovak National Geographic and History Museum, to which in the same year was added the Agricultural Museum as a branch of the Czechoslovak Agricultural Museum in Prague. In 1940 these two museums were merged into the Slovak Museum, seated in Bratislava. In 1961 the Slovak National Museum in Martin was joined with the Slovak Museum in Bratislava under the joint title of the Slovak National Museum.

Today the Slovak National Museum is the top state collection, scientific research and cultural education establishment in the field of museological activity in the Slovak Republic. Its mission is to gather, preserve, scientifically evaluate, and professionally process collection objects and funds, based on research and scientific analysis, and to make them available as evidence of the natural wealth, history and evolution of material and spiritual culture in Slovakia. Within the framework of its mission it fulfils tasks related to the creation of collections as a part of the national cultural heritage, their recording and protection. Its cultural education function is to present its collections by means of permanent exhibitions at home and abroad and also to realise other forms of museological communication. It resolves scientific research tasks and makes available the results of this work by means of publishing activities. The SNM is at the same time a co-ordination, methodological, professional advisory, statistical, educational and information centre for the whole field of museology in the Slovak Republic. The SNM carries out all these and other tasks by means of its directorate and 17 specialised museums, which are documentary, scientific-research and methodological workplaces for the field of museological documentation within the framework of their specialisation.

At present the Slovak National Museum preserves more than 3.5 million articles from all fields of science, and cares for a number of objects, the majority of which are recorded in the Register of Cultural Monuments of Slovak Republic. They include two outdoor museums of folk architecture, five castles and several manor houses and mansions, many of which are among the most visited cultural monuments in Slovakia.

SNM incorporates 17 major museums and numerous other branch museums and monuments: