Omsk State Museum of History and Local Lore is not only the oldest museum in Siberia, but also one of the oldest in all of Russia. You can find out its history, as well as the address, mode of operation, information on expositions and visitor reviews later in this article.
basic information
The name is often abbreviated to OGIK Museum. Currently, the collection of the Omsk Museum of History and Local Lore includes more than 235 thousand exhibits, many of which are objects of the very first expositions of the 19th century. In addition to the main exhibition, the museum often takes museum collections from Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities to its demonstration sites, and also periodically sends its collections to Russian cities and even abroad, for example, to Geneva.
The director of the OGIK museum is currently Petr Petrovich Vibe, doctor of historical sciences, academician and publicist. The main scientific employee and custodian is Tatyana Mikhailovna Nazartseva, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, the best cultural worker in the Omsk region, a publicist. The main curator of the museum is Yulia Nikolaevna Beloglazova.
From the history
Through the efforts of Siberian scientists of the Russian Geographical Society, on June 8, 1878, the creation of the first museum department in the Omsk region was officially approved, from which this museum was later formed. The first collections were formed from 1878 to 1881, but since the museum did not have its own building, the demonstration of the exhibits was not constant. Sometimes they were exhibited in the Omsk seminary, since the mentor of this educational institution V. A. Lebedinsky at that time was the first and only curator of the museum collection.
The first own building appeared at the Omsk Museum of History and Local Lore in 1896. It was a small wooden barn-type building, built with the money of scientists themselves and ordinary citizens. The museum exhibits were exhibited in this building for four years, but as the collection was constantly replenished, the place quickly ended. In 1913, it was decided to build a new structure. The City Council even allocated 25,000 rubles for this, but the First World War prevented the construction. In 1918, it was decided to place the museum's collection in the former palace of the Governor General, but the command of the newly formed white Siberian Army was housed in the museum earlier. They also wanted to smuggle the museum collection east, but members of the Geographic Society managed to hide the exhibits and thereby saved them from outright plunder. When the power of the Bolsheviks was finally established in Omsk, the museum was called the Western Siberian Territory and returned to the building of the former palace. The building, which previously housed the Omsk Museum of History and Local Lore, is pictured below.
The move took place in 1923. At that time, the museum staff was only a keeper, but by 1924 archaeologists, historians, zoologists and ethnographers had already joined it. The staff has expanded to 37 people. In 1928, the world saw the first issue of a periodical entitled "Izvestia of the Omsk State Museum of History and Local Lore", which is still available.
The museum did not stop its work even throughout the Great Patriotic War. At this time, there was even a special exposition dedicated to information from all fronts.
The construction of the new museum building, in which it is located now, was begun in the mid 70-ies of the twentieth century. In 1984, the doors of the new and at the moment the last refuge of the museum were opened.
The first permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of the region was opened at the OGIK Museum in 1990.
A few words about the structure itself
The building in the form of a huge exhibition site, built in the style of Soviet futurism, was completed in 1984 (as mentioned above). The author of the project was Nadezhda Salnikova, and the architect Galina Naritsyna. The most interesting exterior element of this building is the copper portals framing the front doors and called the "Gates of History". The portal is made in the style of Soviet monumental architecture. It consists of many separate squares, paintings, telling about the lives of workers, doctors, scientists and other "creators" of Soviet history. The project "Gates of History" was the first serious work of the famous sculptor Vasily Trokhimchuk.
Main Collection Items
The main collection of the Omsk Regional Museum of Local Lore includes:
- Over 32,000 units of archaeological finds.
- 5000 units of ethnographic elements, clothes and fabrics.
- More than 33,500 rare books and magazines of the XVII-XXI centuries.
- More than 800 units of weapons of the XVII-XX centuries, cold and firearms, from Russia, Europe, Asia, Japan and China, as well as various military equipment and uniforms.
- Over 11,000 units of coins.
- About 3000 household items of the XIX-XX centuries of wood and metal.
- Over 40,000 photographs, negatives, photo albums, cards and iconography items.
- Over 300 personal archives.
- More than 25,000 documents of various persons, organizations and enterprises of the 20th century, as well as document cards, drawings, phonograph records and video tapes.
Some items of the main collection of the Omsk Museum of Local Lore are in the photo below.
art
A separate collection contains objects of fine art, including:
- More than 5000 works of painting, drawing and drawing.
- A collection of Omsk avant-garde, consisting of 200 paintings and graphic works, 98 of which came from under the brush of the famous artist Nikolai Mamontov.
- Over 3000 works of poster art.
- Collection of postcards, greeting cards, postage stamps and envelopes (number of collection units not indicated).
- A small collection of household sculptures (number of units not indicated).
- 140 icons and 280 items of religious decorative art in the collection of church items.
- 26 icons of the Berezovsky Cathedral of the 16th-19th centuries.
Exhibits of flora and fauna
One of the most interesting collections of the Omsk Museum of History and Local Lore is the natural biological. It includes the following collections of exhibits:
- Over 4,000 minerals and rocks in the geological collection.
- More than 550 stuffed animals, 1260 shells of mollusks, 4000 insects in the zoological collection.
- About 5,000 herbariums of plants, lichens and mosses in the plant collection.
- Over 2000 units of the paleontological collection.
"Archeology of Omsk Irtysh"
The permanent exhibition of the Omsk Museum of Local Lore consists of three expositions. The first is called "Archeology of the Omsk Irtysh" and covers the history of the region during the Stone, Bronze, Iron Ages and the Middle Ages. Here are the elements of weapons, life and clothing of the residents of Irtysh in these time periods. The most interesting objects of this exposition are the current reconstruction of the Bronze Age loom, on which visitors are even invited to weave a souvenir in the form of a strip of fabric, the Murlin Treasure, which consists of cast cult figures of people, animals and birds, the reconstruction of the medieval half dugout and the recreated image of the Turkic horseman with weapons and armor, including horse armor. The unique skeleton of the woolly mammoth, which is located right at the entrance to the museum, also belongs to this exposition.
"Siberian city of Petrov"
The second historical and everyday exposition called "Siberian City of Petrov" is located immediately in the three halls of the museum. The first of them is devoted to the development of Siberia and the creation of the Omsk fortress. The most interesting element of this part of the exposition is the reconstruction of the Mansi holy site with seven real idols brought from Saranpaul. The second hall covers the historical period from Speransky's Siberian reform to the First World War. In this part of the exhibition, the largest number of exhibits from the collection of documents and household items is involved. The third hall of this exposition is called "The Third Century of Omsk History" and clearly demonstrates the life of the region from the First World War to modern times. Most of the third hall of the exposition is occupied by objects telling about the cultural and sporting life of Omsk in the second half of the 20th century.
"The world of nature in the world of people"
The basis of the third permanent exhibition of the Omsk Museum of History and Local Lore is dioramas that clearly demonstrate the interaction of man and nature from ancient times to the present day. It is here that the majority of exhibits of plant and animal collections are presented, as well as the Red Book of the region and visual visual incarnations of already extinct animals.
Address
The exact address of the Museum of Local Lore is Omsk Region, the city of Omsk, 23A Lenina Street. Public transport stops that allow easy access to the museum are Lenin Square, Theater Square and the Museum of Local Lore. For a more convenient address search, a map with coordinates is presented below.
Mode of operation
Omsk State Museum of Local Lore is ready to receive its visitors every day except Monday, from 10:00 to 18:00. Please note that the ticket office is open until 17:30.
Admission price
- Children under the age of 5, orphans, children from orphanages, military personnel, people with disabilities, heroes of the Russian Federation and the USSR, full cavaliers of the Order of Glory, full-time students in institutions of the Omsk region - for free.
- From 5 to 7 years - 40 rubles.
- Pensioners - 70 rubles.
- Students over 7 years old - 80 rubles.
- Students - 100 rubles.
- All other categories of visitors - 200 rubles.
Also, free admission is provided to all persons under the age of 18 and large families on each last Friday of the month.
Reviews
In their reviews of the OGIK museum, residents of Omsk tell their impressions of the institution. They have the opportunity to visit the museum regularly and keep track of all updates to exhibitions and exhibits. Of course, all such reviews are enthusiastic, because it is always interesting and useful to learn unexpected facts about your native and beloved land, as well as to see the embodiment of these facts with your own eyes. Judging by the comments, people regularly go to this museum as a family, consider it to be the main one in the city and the region, and advise tourists.
But as for the reviews from the tourists themselves, opinions were divided. Half of Omsk's guests really liked the museum, it seemed informative and interesting. Especially everyone admires the skeleton of a mammoth. Given the history of the creation and existence of the museum, tourists who are satisfied, consider it a must to visit all the guests of the city. But there are tourists to whom the museum seemed not interesting and they do not recommend visiting it. They call this institution significant only for residents of the region.