COURAGE

łączymy kolekcje

The Contemporary History Section is part of the Modern and Contemporary History Department, established in 1965. The long years of accumulation by the museum’s curators covers the political, economic, cultural and everyday life of Rousse during the period of socialism and post-socialism. The newest tendency in the collecting work of the section is the recording of oral narratives from the period of socialism and democracy, using the "oral history" method for their storing and examination. The overall fund collection of the section contains an inventory of approximately 10 000 pieces, and also includes the following collections:
- badges, awards and medals
- signs of the socialist landscape
- technology from the socialist period – radios, televisions, typewriters, projectors, etc.
- belongings of notable people from Rousse, like Konstantin Dimchev (actor), Stefan Vachev (director of the Youth Symphonic Orchestra), etc.
- materials related to the history of the Bulgarian River Shipping Company – uniforms, documents, photos
- documents and pictures, representing the history of the Youth Brigade Movement
- images, related to the development of industry and agriculture in Rousse and the region
- printed materials and images from the First International Music Festival “March Music Days” in Rousse
- images related to the ecological protests in Rousse, which resulted in the demands for democratic changes in Bulgaria
- election materials from the period of democratic rule
- documents, belongings and video recordings, related to the history of those persecuted by the Communist regime and of the Goryansko Movement.

The research activity of the specialists covers issues of political, cultural and public life in Rousse and the region, as well as an ethnological research on the problems of the everyday culture in the industrial town. Two main collections directly connected with the cultural opposition to the socialist regime are held at the Museum: the collection "Ecological Protests against Chlorine Pollution" and the collection "Angry Young Poets", devoted to the resistance and opposition of poets in Rousse during the 1960s. 

The section has no permanent exhibition, but presents different temporary exhibitions, part of which are devoted primarily to the socialist period: “The Political Poster”, "The Bureau of the Dictator", etc.

Der vollständige Name lautet Stiftung Sächsische Gedenkstätten zur Erinnerung an die Opfer politischer Gewaltherrschaft. Ihr Zweck ist die Bewahrung historisch authentischer Orte politischer Gewaltverbrechen und politischen Unrechts im Freistaat Sachsen als Orte zur historisch-politischen Bildung. Sie wurde 1994 durch die Sächsische Landesregierung gegründet.

The Scientific Collections of the Calvinist College consist of the Great Library with its Manuscripts and special collections, the Archives, the Museum, and the Database. The Calvinist College of Sárospatak was founded in 1531. From that period, printed works, manuscripts, and archive documents have been collected. These materials were guarded by officials chosen from among the senior students, and they were kept in boxes and bookcases. A new room was built for the library in 1641. After the Counter Reformation, with the help of several scholars, the library expanded dramatically. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it became the “Big Library,” with about 100, 000 volumes. Today, the collection contains more than 500,000 volumes. The College’s museum was based on various collections since the 1700s. In the second half of the seventeenth century, there was a “physics” collection, in the eighteenth century there was a “numismatics” and “natural history” collection, and in the nineteenth century there was a “fine arts” and “archeology” collection.