#Exhibit of the Month

The work In Memoriam. In Memory of the Heroes Who Fell at the Nistru (1992) was developed within the Center for Culture and Military History and published under the auspices of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the Bureau for Reintegration, and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova. Authors: Gheorghe Bălan, Vitalie Ciobanu, Gheorghe Cojocaru.

This work provides a retrospective of the events that led to the outbreak of the war on the Nistru, accompanied by photographs of the heroes who lost their lives in the battles to defend the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova.

On March 2, 1992, the political conflict in the Nistru region escalated into a true fratricidal war. Under the fabricated pretext of "defending Russia's southern borders," political adventurers from the former Soviet metropolis encouraged Transnistrian separatism by arming secessionist paramilitary groups. At the same time, thousands of mercenary Cossacks and prisoners released early from jails, along with tanks and missiles, were sent against Independent Moldova, in a desperate attempt to revive the fallen empire.

Russia's undeclared war against the Republic of Moldova left behind hundreds of dead and wounded, shattered families, and villages in ruins. More than 50,000 peaceful residents from the conflict zone were forced to flee their homes, seeking refuge from the horrors of war.

For the sake of freedom and the future, Moldova's defenders faced death, enduring the hardships and humiliations of war.

During the Nistru war, 198 soldiers of the National Army and 89 personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs lost their lives, while 40 combatants went missing without a trace, and nearly 300 were left disabled.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“History of Military Headgear”

(May 18, 2010 – December 31, 2011)

The exhibition aims to familiarize the public with some valuable items from the collections of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova.

To give a general view of all the museum collections of military exhibits, the most spectacular ones, the exhibition brings to the public attention the obligatory accessories of military clothing – headdresses.

This type of military artefacts is exhibited separately for the first time.

The exhibition includes a selection of about 100 the most representative museum items of the kind. The presentation is made in evolutional order, from the 4th century B.C. to the present, in terms of the type of headgear.

The museum collection of headgear was constituted in the second half of the 20th century through donations and fortuitous discoveries. It includes more than 300 items from the oldest times to the present illustrating the evolution of this element of military costume in Europe. Some of the headdresses from the collection belonged to the military persons of figure.

The exhibition of headgear lets us to retrace the main changes in uniforms occurred as a result of the development and improvement of the military institution.

The exhibited items originate from the Russian Empire, Prussia, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy, Romania, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, USSR, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova.

These military artefacts are of various types - helmets, shakoes, garrison caps, fezes, hats, berets, kepis, caps, of daily, field or ceremonial wearing.

The oldest and most valuable items shown in the exhibition are two helmets, one of them of the Phrygian type, dated from the second half of the 4th century B.C. and found in 1958 in a hoard from Olanesti (the Stefan Voda District), and the other one of the 14th century, found at the Orheiul Vechi.

The latest headgear belongs to the National Army of the Republic of Moldova: hat, kepi, and cap of the 1992 model.

The exhibition is complemented with headgear accessories: plume, pompon, egret, cockades, and other items: epaulettes, belts, pouch, map case, whip, shabrack, protective mask and glasses, holster, weapons, etc. On mannequins there are presented several types of uniforms: of an uhlans’ trumpet-player (1855), of a hussar (1855), of the “Rosiori” lieutenant-colonel (1934), and of a soldier of the National Army Honour Guard (1992). On the walls there are photographs presenting images of the military from different countries of Europe in their uniforms. All these contribute to the reconstruction of the European military history.

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