Description of the attraction
The Devils Museum is located in the center of Kaunas city. This museum is the only one in the world. It appeared in 1966 on the basis of the personal collection of the artist Antanas muidzinavičius (1876-1966), who collected devils, witches, goblin and other fabulous creatures. After the death of the artist, a memorial museum was founded in his house.
Antanas muidzinavičius received the first devil child as a gift in 1906. From that moment on, the collection began to grow. At first, the artist thought that he would collect a damn dozen, that is, thirteen devils. After all, the number 13 was his lucky number. Over time, more and more people learned about the strange artist collecting "devils". The popularity of the collection grew, and with it the number of exhibits increased. Passion for devilry has become the work of the artist muidzinavičius's life. As a result, he collected as many as 20 damn dozen, that is, 260 devils of all kinds. It is this collection of evil spirits that forms the basis of the modern exposition of the museum.
The Samogitian devil with a real hemp tail was the first gift from the museum after its opening. At first glance, it is not made of very high quality, even in an upright position it cannot stand, but, nevertheless, it is he who is a real example of Lithuanian folk art.
The second exhibit appeared in the newly opened museum from the hands of a common visitor. The sculpture belonged to the composition "Archangel Michael conquering the devil".
The next exhibit that settled in the museum of devils was spieras. Spieras is a folkloric character of the Lithuanian people. According to the stories of local residents, this devil comes down to the ground every Saturday night and goes to dance. There he turns into a handsome guy trying to trick girls. You can find it out simply: you need to step on your foot. And if, having stepped, you feel a hoof, then it means that in front of you is the devil-spieras.
Initially, the museum was located on two floors of an ancient building. But due to the increase in the museum collection, an extension was built in 1982.
By the end of 1991, there were 1,724 devils, of which more than a thousand were presented at the exhibition, and the rest were in the storeroom. It is surprising that Gediminas Jurenas (one of the permanent "suppliers" of the museum) has a collection of 2500 devils at home. It is even larger than the one in the museum.
In the museum of evil spirits, you can see a wide variety of devils: from wood, ceramics, leather, metals, plastic and other, sometimes the most unusual materials. They can be sad, naughty, and ferocious. The exhibition features many things in the form of devils: candlesticks, ashtrays, mugs, pens, pipes, canes, badges, candy boxes. And also in the museum there is a Ukrainian devil with cherevichki from Gogol's fairy tale "Evenings on a Farm near Dykanka", a Polish joker devil is the one who served as farm laborers for a poor peasant for 7 years because of his joke, a Moldovan devil on a tobacco leaf (everyone knows that tobacco is a damn potion), a feisty, thin devil from Leningrad after the blockade, and others. The female sex was not ignored either: the devil from Kaunas, the devil, the devil's friend. All the evil spirits "arrived" at the museum from 23 countries of the world: Japan, Africa, France, Canada, Germany, Italy and others.
The museum organizes various events and exhibitions related to devils and other "damn things". Here you can also buy funny souvenirs, gifts, postcards. The museum has a café with a characteristic interior of the 80s.
By 2009, the museum's collection included about 3,000 exhibits. And to this day, it is replenished, including through gifts from visitors.
