The National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus

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The National Historical Museum structure includes 5 branches: the Museum of Belarusian Cinema History, the Museum of Contemporary Belarusian Statehood, the House Museum of First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, the Museum of Theatre and Musical Culture History of the Republic of Belarus, and the Museum of Nature and Environment of the Republic of Belarus. In 2008, the Culture Ministry of the Republic of Belarus approved the new permanent exhibition conception of the National Historical Museum organized by museum employees and researchers from the Institute of History at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. In 2012, the work on show plan was finished.

Every year, the museum collection grows by 2 or 3 thousand depository items. In recent years, the museum collection augmented considerably: as of today, it achieved the number of 400 thousand depository items. The museum items are distributed among 49 collections including archaeology, ethnography, numismatics, arms, porcelain and glass, old printed books and manuscripts, posters, precious metals and gems, treasures, documents, fine Arts, national clothes, and others.

A number of museum items are inscribed in the State Register of Historical and Cultural Values of the Republic of Belarus, some of the values classed as category 1 or 2: 1st-2nd century CE hoard of Roman coins, ‘Vytautas’ belt’ (an unique monument of 15th-century toreutics), 17th-century Royal gates from St. George’s church iconostasis at Davyd-Haradok, and the portrait of Joseph Prozor by unknown artist dated H2 18th century. Moreover, the museum holdings house a unique collection of treasure hoards from all the corners of Belarus, valuable porcelain from Italy, Germany, and Russia, Sluck sashes, valuable documents, old printed books, timepieces, arms, national costume, furniture, paintings, and icons.

Throughout its history, the National Historical Museum has changed its name repeatedly. It opened in 1919 as the Minsk Regional Museum. From 1923 till 1930 the Museum was called the Belarusian State Museum and was the central museum institution of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1930, it was renamed as the Minsk Social and Historical Museum. From 1941 till 1944, it was called the Minsk Historical Museum. In 1957, the institution was restored under the name of the Byelorussian State Museum of History and Regional Studies and, in 1964, it was named the State Museum of the BSSR. In 1992, after Belarus declared independence, the Museum was renamed once again into the National Museum of History and Culture of Belarus. In 2009, the institution received its actual name.

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