The National Polytechnic Museum is the only museum in Bulgaria that collects, studies, preserves and presents evidence of the development of science and technology in the country. More than 1,000 exhibits relating to mechanics, time measurement, communication, music, photography and cinematography, astronomy, typewriting, computing and more are displayed in the museum halls.
Some of the museum’s unique exhibits include the three-wheeled car "Messerschmitt KR 174", the elegant four-cylinder "Ford" - model "A" from 1928, an attractive reconstruction of a wooden bicycle made in 1880, the iconic, for our past, bikes -"Balkan", a solar powered bicycle and a variety of mechanisms from antiquity which demonstrate the transmission of energy through force and movement. Visitors of the museum have the opportunity to see the unique collection of mining lamps and tools, delicate glass vessels dating back to the period of the Roman Empire (circa 1st century AD) and original exhibits showing the technology behind the production of the famous Bulgarian rose oil.
Of particular interest to visitors who show an appreciation of fine mechanisms is the museum’s rich collection of pocket watches. Photo and cinema enthusiasts have the opportunity to get acquainted with some of the first models of snapshot cameras. The museum's exhibition also presents an interesting collection of old communication equipment. Exhibits in this collection include wall-mounted telephones, desk phones, military-field telephone sets and numbering devices and a telephone exchange operating panel produced by Siemens in the 1930s. The models of radio and television receivers displayed evoke a sense of interest and curiosity among many visitors. Similar attention is paid to the exhibited recording equipment, musical mechanisms and instruments.
The evolution of sound recording is illustrated by examples of phonographs with cylindrical rolls, mechanical gramophones and cassette recorders. Also shown in the exhibition are functioning musical mechanisms of varying construction, which have the ability to play a range of different melodies.
Part of the museum’s permanent exhibition examines the contribution Bulgaria has made to the development of computing equipment. This is illustrated by the first Bulgarian microcomputer "IMCO", designed as an analogue version of "Apple II Plus," which was developed in 1979. Also shown in this part of the exhibitions is the Bulgarian electronic calculator "ELKA 6521" which was the fourth calculator produced in the world and the first of its kind to include a square root function.
We hope that visitors of the museum will enjoy the experience of being immersed in science, technology, art, entertainment and a good taste in life.