The city of Balashikha could be considered provincial if it were not in the Moscow region. The neighborhood with the capital left its mark on history. Almost all Russian nobles, and later industrialists, took part in its development. Modern Balashikha is an outpost for those who decide to storm Moscow or, conversely, seek relative peace not far from the epicenter of history. The Museum of Local Lore in Balashikha concentrated in the halls the history of the region and its achievements, keeps the memory of famous citizens.
Museum Creation
In 1968, the city authorities of Balashikha supported a public initiative to open a museum of local lore. Matyanova A. Ya. Was appointed the first director, a museum council was created to collect materials, the task of which was to organize the first exposition. For the needs of the museum, an old building (1820) was provided. In the old days, they collected highway bribes from the infamous Vladimirsky tract and used it for postal purposes.
During the formation of the institution, requests for materials were written in 17 archives, including the Museum of History and Local Lore in Moscow. The idea of creating a Balashikha museum received a great response in the urban environment, the residents of the city, enterprises and institutions made their contribution. The materials and documents collected as a result of the initial activities made up the first fund, it totaled 1,400 exhibits collected from more than 200 sources.
The employees were especially grateful to the Central State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Museum of Architecture named after Schusev, the State Historical Museum, the Central State Military History Museum. The first exposition and the Museum of Local History (Balashikha) opened at the end of June 1970. Thematic sections were devoted to archeology, history, natural environment, World War II, and modernity. The museum continued until 1979, after which it was closed for repairs. Funds and expositions were distributed among city institutions, but some were lost forever.
Second wind
The Museum of Local Lore in Balashikha was opened for the second time in the 1990s and has been constantly operating since then. For the arrangement of the halls, a ground floor was given in an apartment building almost in the center of the city. During this period, active work was carried out to replenish the funds and form new thematic expositions, the club of local historians began active work, including famous experts in the city and its history, such as Frolov V.G., Chukhrov L.A., Khomutov L. P . other. On the territory of the museum, meetings were held with interesting people, scientific conferences, educational lectures were given. The director was A. Y. Rogatin, who sincerely loved Balashikha and the historical heritage of the city.
The next director was Valentina Andreevna Manina. Museum funds were replenished with objects of rural life, which employees collected in ethnographic expeditions. Temin Viktor Andreyevich (photojournalist) made a significant contribution through his work.
In the new century
In the second half of the 1990s, the local history museum in Balashikha opened a new educational page in its work. Under the guidance of the director of the institution, Mityugova Zinaida Maximovna, educational programs for schoolchildren of all age groups were developed and introduced, and excursion activities began within the city.
Citizens took an active part in the replenishment of funds. So, the collection of household items was donated to the museum of V. G. Kuptsov, the collection was supplemented by unique documents related to celebrities - Georgy Dmitrievich Alekseev (sculptor), V. Kusov (director of the Obraztsov Puppet Theater). Also in the collection appeared a collection of ancient acts donated by Valenko D. D.
Current state
During 2006-2007, the local history museum in Balashikha underwent reconstruction. The premises were expanded and modern conditions for the storage of funds were created. For these purposes, redevelopment was carried out, equipment was purchased. In 2008, employees completely updated the exhibition exposition; materials that the general public had not seen before appeared on the stands. The thematic concept has changed - within its framework, the history of the region, cultural heritage has been more diverse, stands have appeared that tell about the leading enterprises of the city, about people who daily create its history.
Currently, visitors are offered a tour of three rooms, rich in materials and objects that tell about different periods of the city. The re-exposure process allowed the creation of a new exhibition stand dedicated to the development of Balashikha during the period of the 50-80s of the last century. In 2004, the Museum of Local History (Balashikha) moved to a new status - it became a municipal cultural institution.
Educational programs
Balashikha Museum of History and Local Lore offers students several educational programs:
- "The world around us". The program consists of six classes, where knowledge on museum work is taught in a playful way. Children will learn the history of the name of the city, the origin of the heraldic signs. During one of the classes, students are invited to get to know their hometown and learn old and new street names.
- "Journey into the world of man-made objects." A series of lectures has been prepared for schoolchildren, during which they learn not only the history of a particular subject of the exposition, but also get acquainted with the origin of Russian crafts, such as pottery or blacksmithing. Children are shown and told about the origin of Dymkovo, Kargopol and other toys, about the differences in their paintings, why they arose. Interesting stories about traditional woodworking, the manufacture of wood items. For girls, an interesting lesson is devoted to national embroidery, its types, many are clearly demonstrated in the exposition.
- "The nature that surrounds us." This series of lessons is devoted to the diversity of flora and fauna of the Moscow region.
- “Life, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. Christianity in Russia. " The history of the beliefs of people who inhabited the region in different historical eras is traced. Attention is paid to Christian Orthodox holidays.
- "Urban and noble life." For two classes, children are told how their peers in the gymnasium gained knowledge, and also what noble estates were located in the area of modern Balashikha.
- "The Great Patriotic War". During the classes, students supplement school knowledge on the history of the war, on the feat of citizens in a difficult period. They will also find out why the streets of the city bear names dedicated to the events and dates of the Great Patriotic War. They get acquainted with the stories of the soldiers who left to defend their homeland from Balashikha.
Funds
Today the Museum of Local Lore in Balashikha has 10 thousand copies of the main fund and about 3,500 units of the auxiliary scientific fund. Museum funds are stored in accordance with all the rules of museum business, have system-information support.
Subject and document storage is provided by modern systems and means. The equipment of the storage facility complies with the standards stated in the instructions.
Fund storage
The main part of the exposition and funds are collections of documents, household items of the 19-20 centuries, a large collection of copyright photographs. The documents presented in the museum funds are unique. This is a collection of ancient acts, historical documents of the region, personal archives of famous citizens.
The museum is proud of its unique photobank, which includes works by famous masters of its time. Here are photographic evidence of the life of the workers of the cotton mill, made at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Of no less interest are the work of the military commander Temin V.A., which captures the everyday life of the Great Patriotic War and the Nuremberg trials. In 2006, the photo fund was replenished with a collection of works by V. Dmitrievsky, who went through the war and was former personal photographer N. Khrushchev.
Within the urban district there were estates built in the 18-19 centuries. The museum carefully stores furnishings of old mansions, which they miraculously managed to find and save. It was a great honor for the museum to accept for storage orders and awards from World War II from citizens of the city.
The numismatics fund is filled with coins of the period of 18-20 centuries, but there are several rarities of the reign of Peter II, Anna Ioannovna, silver coins of the 19th century, the first USSR banknotes are widely represented. The work on filling the funds does not stop, scientific and research activities are ongoing.
Reviews
Residents of the city believe that you can see all the sights in a few days, including all the museums of Balashikha. The townspeople have been visiting the Museum of Local Lore from a young school age. Thanks to educational programs, they know the history of the city and the region not only from the stories of relatives and friends. Probably, due to the knowledge gained in early childhood, it is believed that there is nothing special in the history of the city. For visitors, everything is completely different. That is why, wanting to get to know Balashikha closer, inquisitive visitors go to the museum and are not limited to a few days.
The Museum of History and Local Lore (Balashikha) received reviews with a plus sign from those who wanted to learn more about the region than can be found on exhibition stands. Visitors warmly respond to interesting and rich stories of tour guides, their awareness and desire to give more knowledge than a single tour through a few halls gives. Many were surprised by exhibits, historical finds and fascinated by ancient household items.
Negative reviews were left by visitors who were unlucky with the fact that there was no guide in the hall. Without an accompanying one, the exposition seemed uninformative and not particularly impressive, although an abyss of stories is hidden behind every subject, document, photograph.
Helpful information
The museum is located at: city Balashikha, etc. V.I. Lenin, building No. 53.
You can visit the museum during the day, from ten in the morning until six in the evening, on weekends the institution closes at five in the evening. During the summer school holidays, the museum is open daily from ten to eighteen, on Saturday the work ends at seventeen, and on Sunday - a day off.
The cost of visiting for one person is 100 rubles, for citizens of privileged categories the discount is 50%, an excursion for a group or individual - 300 rubles per person.