History Department

While the beginnings of the History Department – and therefore the collection of objects and the creation of collections – are associated with the founding of the Notranjska Museum Postojna in 1947 and its "spiritual father," painter and museologist L. Vilhar, the department was formally established only with the employment of historian A. Čuk in 1989 and the following year, the hiring of museum documentalist N. Adam.

The objects that Vilhar began to collect over seventy years ago are very diverse. In the initial period, the focus was mainly on collecting items, photographs, and documents from the time of the National Liberation Struggle and the interwar period. After nearly five years of collecting material, the museum was solemnly opened on April 27, 1951. On that day, they also opened the first museum department, the National Liberation Struggle Department, and the first permanent exhibition "Primorska in the Struggle for Freedom." The objects collected and presented at that time form the core of today's Collection of Modern History. One of the fundamental collections of the history department is the Caving Collection, which features items that were exhibited in the cave museum of the Italian Speleological Institute as early as 1929.

The basic collection of museum items was supplemented and enriched after the department was formed, especially during the preparation of permanent and occasional exhibitions, while monitoring important events, through purchases, and through individual donations. Collections were formed, including those of glass plates, slides, stereo slides, photographs, diplomas, flyers, posters, and other small prints, as well as the cultural-historical collection. New collections were also created, with the postcard and accordion fold-out collections being highlighted due to their uniqueness, expressiveness, or volume. Part of the extensive legacy of writer and physician L. Kraigher from the so-called Kraigher Collection is on display at the Cultural Center Postojna.