The first museum in Russia. Who opened the first museum in Russia?

The names of some Russian museums are known to every resident of our country. This is the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Kunstkamera. It is the last institution - the first museum in Russia.

Grand Embassy of Peter I

Peter I entered the domestic history as a reformer of everything and everything. It was he who founded the first museum in Russia. In 1698, he was the first of our monarchs in Europe. At the same time he traveled to Western countries within the framework of the Grand Embassy anonymously, so as not to attract attention to his person.

It was during his European voyage that Peter I first thought about creating his own museum. At that time such institutions were created with the support of sovereigns. For example, numerous German princes kept their own "cabinets of rarities", in which curiosities from all over the world were kept. In their language, such rooms were called Kunstkamera. Peter often copied the European in his own country. Therefore, the first museum in Russia was called exactly the same - the Kunstkamera.

Most of all the king was struck by Holland and England with their modern manufactures. In these countries he, not being greedy, bought up a variety of subjects - books, scientific instruments, minerals, weapons. All this should have been the basis of the exposition, which would have been preserved by the first museum in Russia.

Foundation of the Kunstkammer

After returning to his homeland, Peter I did not forget about his idea. A few years later, he won the Swedes from the Baltic coast. It was here that St. Petersburg was founded, where the capital was soon transferred. The Tsar wanted the Kunstkamera to work on the banks of the Neva. In 1714, his collection of rarities was transported to the Summer Palace. This year is considered the date of foundation of the Kunstkamera. Prior to this, the exhibits were kept in Moscow, in the premises of the Pharmacies Chancellery.

The first museum in the history of Russia was gradually filled with new exhibits. The following year, Peter Alekseevich went on his second trip to Europe. In Holland, the king visited the famous museum of Albert Seba. This apothecary all his life collected various minerals, plants and shells. He sold the famous guest to most of his zoological collection, which soon received the first museum in Russia.

New building for the museum

Due to the fact that the number of exhibits has grown steadily, it was decided to transfer the Kunstkamera to a new, specially constructed building. The building was laid in 1718. A lot of architects worked on the project, each of which became a leader at a certain stage. They were: Georg Johann Mattarnovi, Nikolai Gerbel, and Mikhail Zemtsov.

The construction went very slowly, and Peter never saw his offspring. He died in 1725, when the Kunstkamera still had bare walls. The modern building was opened later. This happened in 1734. This building works today (located on the University embankment). It is executed in the style of the Petrine Baroque. In a similar spirit, all the first buildings of the new capital were built, when they tried to give it a truly European look.

Before that, the very first museum in Russia was quartered in the temporary Chikiny chambers. It was here that he was first opened to the public.

The budget of the institution

It was a large two-story building, which, nevertheless, was not enough to accommodate all expositions. The new museum did not have a permanent budget, but it received subsidies from the funds of the Salt Office, as well as the Medical Chancellery. The latter issued salaries to employees. They monitored the safety of the exhibits, as well as the replenishment of the collection.

Curiously, in 1724 Peter personally ordered to give out 400 rubles per year for treats for visitors. If we compare the Kunstkamera with other European museums of that time, then we will see the opposite picture. For example, in Dresden, such a "cabinet of rarities" existed at the expense of charging visitors. Similarly, on the "tip", the Museum of Ashmole was functioning in English Oxford.

Objectives of the museum

The first museum in Russia was opened not to enrich itself, but to educate the lazy public in St. Petersburg. Many noblemen did not show an interest in science, which Peter did not like. He hoped that at least free treats for the first time will warm up interest in the outlandish phenomenon. Of course, the Kunstkammer was not his only measure to educate others. Suffice it to mention that it was with him that the first regular Russian newspaper appeared in the capital. At the same time, new schools opened in Moscow, where foreign specialists were invited. What is the first museum in Russia? Of course, this is the Kunstkammer, which since then has become the scientific center not only of St. Petersburg, but of the whole country.

Search for exhibits in Russian provinces

An important event was the creation of the Academy of Sciences. This happened in 1724. Then the Kunstkammer passed under the aegis of the new institution. The modern symbol of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the building of the first Russian museum.

If the first collections of the Kunstkamera were exclusively foreign, then in time they were "diluted" by domestic exhibits. Even before moving to St. Petersburg, Peter issued a decree according to which the Moscow Surgical School collected an anatomical compilation for him.

Peter also tried to establish regular collection of wonders in the province. In 1717, he sent an order to Voronezh commandant Stepan Kolychev, in which he ordered to catch "the animals from the register" needed for the museum. Similarly, the Siberian governor Gagarin was to send shells to St. Petersburg.

Scientific expeditions

In the last years of his life, Peter I was particularly interested in geological, zoological, historical, archaeological and bibliographic materials. The foundation of the first museum in Russia coincided with the organization of many expeditions to the East. Many of them went in search of minerals necessary for the growth of domestic industry. Especially valuable in this sense was the Urals - the "Stone Belt" of the country. Geodesic work was also carried out on the shores of the Baltic, Caspian, Black and Azov Seas.

In the years 1716-1718. A lot of gold and silver items of antiquity were discovered near Astrakhan. Peter I (the one who opened the first museum in Russia) was extremely interested in these findings. They were sent to St. Petersburg. It was a sacrificial utensils left in the mouth of the Volga from pagan times.

Siberian expedition of Messerschmidt

The expedition of Daniel Messerschmidt was of great importance for the Kunstkamera in the first years of her work. This German botanist and physician was sent by Peter to Siberia in order to first collect a lot of unique exhibits for the "royal cabinet". The emperor (the one who opened the first museum in Russia) was perfectly aware of the significance of Siberian rarities and felt that without them the Kunstkammer would be inadequate.

Messerschmidt not only collected rarities, but also described the life and languages of the indigenous peoples of these regions. The German scientist received from the local residents a large number of shooting birds and animals, which he then brought to Petersburg. During the trip, Messerschmidt visited various cities: Tomsk, Tobolsk, Abakan, Kuznetsk, Turukhansk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Tyumen, and so on.

Thanks to his efforts in the Kunstkamera there were significant materials on ethnography, writing and the visual arts of the peoples of the East. They were the Mongolian tribes, the Chinese and other Siberian peoples. To assess the value and importance of the findings, a special commission was collected. Messerschmidt was paid for all travel expenses. Also, a subscription was received from him about the non-disclosure of many facts about the exhibits in his homeland.

The value of the Kunstkammer

In many ways, thanks to the Kunstkammer, St. Petersburg has become the scientific capital of the country. Here the first private museum in Russia appeared. Many rich nobles began to collect their own collections, which they demonstrated publicly in special rooms.

Kunstkammer itself today is an anthropological museum, which every day collects a huge amount of curious public. He received the name of Peter I as a sign of his great services to the national science.