The Dimitrie Leonida Technical Museum was founded in 1909 by Dimitrie Leonida, inspired by the München Technical Museum, he had visited during his studies in Charlottenburg Polytechnic Institute. In 1908, with the help of the first promotions of mechanics and electricians from his school, the first in Romania, Leonida collected the first objects for the museum.
The museum benefits from an exhibition area of 4500m², of which 1000m² is outdoors (area which is currently closed and under renovation), and its exhibits are grouped as follows:
- history of mechanics,
- electricity,
- magnetism,
- mining and oil industry,
- heating,
- telecommunications,
- hydraulics,
- Electrical engineering,
- industrial machines,
- land and air transportation,
- atomic physics.
In the museum you can see pieces of great documentary value illustrating the inventive spirit of the Romanian people, among which:
- the water mill with “flare” (precursor of Pelton turbines), whose construction is attested since the 15th century
- the mace with needle and wooden heart, imagined around 1600 by the miners from Brad,
- the first aerodynamic car, designed by the Romanian engineer Aurel Persu (which was unfortunately not present, as it’s currently in a museum abroad for an event),
- the airplane models with which Traian Vuia, Aurel Vlaicu and Henri Coandă were among the pioneers of aerospace construction,
- different machines manufactured by Romanian factories.
- Karpen galvanic cell
Despite its fairly big building, the museum is pretty cramped, as there are a ton of exhibits, some of them very huge. It would be great if at some point the museum would be relocated into a larger space with better separation of the themes, but it’s definitely a very good visit for a few hours in the afternoon. I could write a lot more about the items in the museum’s collection, but the photos should do just fine.
Worth mentioning is the fact that the entrance fee is a mere 20RON (about €4), and the photography fee is 10RON (about €2). Unfortunately, the museum (just like many other Romanian museums) doesn’t have a gift shop, so there won’t be a chance to buy a souvenir to remind you of the visit there. Let’s hope some good manager will think about it and create it in the future.