#Exhibit of the Month

One of the great technical achievements that revolutionized the idea of time and space, opening a new era in the history of communication, is telegraphy. It is based on the transmission of electrical signals through a cable over long distances, allowing people to communicate instantly. The telegraph spread very quickly and a network of wires stretched around the world.

In 1837, the American painter and physicist Samuel Morse invented the first electromagnetic device for telegraphy, patented in 1840. To send messages by wire, Morse developed in 1838 a simple code of dots and dashes, which represented the letters of the alphabet, known as "Morse code ".

Both Morse code and the telegraph machine were improved over time, with the telegraph becoming the most widespread system of communication and information transmission for more than a century, until the advent of the Internet. The telegraph system consisted of a series of stations repeaters along the transmission line route. Each station had an operator who received and transmitted messages by telegraph. The Morse machine transmitted about 25 words per minute, which were recorded in code on a paper tape. The operator in charge of transmitting the message would decode it and write it on paper using a special typewriter.

In Bessarabia, the telegraph entered in 1860: on April 8, the Bender telegraph station began its activity, and on April 24, the one in Chisinau, following the construction of the first Odesa-Chisinau-Leova telegraph line. Currently, telegraph services have been discontinued. The only ones who still use coded communication are radio amateurs.

The Morse telegraph machine shown comes from the Osinoostrovsky electrotechnical plant, Soviet Union, and dates back to 1934. The exhibit was restored by Mihail Culașco.

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Events Archive

NMHM thematic lesson: "Atheist politics in the MSSR"

March 28, 2024

On March 28, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, a new thematic lesson was held on the theme "Atheist Politics in the MSSR". The students of the "Prometeu-Prim" High School of Creativity and Invention participated in it. Guided by museographer Eugenia Golban, young people and adults alike made a foray into the history and ideology of the MSSR, in order to better understand the role and influence of atheist policies on society, the social and cultural transformations of the time and other aspects related to everyday life.

The lesson used heritage pieces, from political manifestos and vintage photographs to political propaganda literature and press articles, which highlighted the importance and omnipresence of atheist propaganda in every aspect of public life. We mention that the representatives of the high school participate in the international historical research competition with the title "Disproving propaganda in the history of the 20th century - call for peace and development", financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. And access to museum sources and a "different" history lesson at the museum allowed them to discuss and address the impact of this policy on education, culture, family and human relations.

Through interactive presentations and archival materials, the museum was able to provide a deep and balanced perspective on this tumultuous period in the history of the RSSM, and the participants to deepen their knowledge and strengthen their own research within the project. The National Museum of History of Moldova remains open for new collaborations in order to implement the educational project "a different school at the museum".