Description of the attraction
The Military Medical Museum is located in St. Petersburg at 2 Lazaretny Lane, opposite the Pushkinskaya metro station. It is a unique repository of the historical and scientific traditions of Russian medical science, including the military field medical service. It is a research, educational and reference-archival institution specializing in military medicine. The museum is the successor to the collections of the Russian Imperial medical museums and museums of the USSR, its collection originates from the treasuries of the Master's hut, which was founded under Peter I, the collections of the museums of surgery, Pirogov and the Military Sanitary Museum.
Initially, the Medical Museum was created in 1942 in Moscow. After the blockade, it was relocated to Leningrad, where it was placed in a building - an architectural monument of the 18th century.
After the war, the museum was reopened for visitors only in 1951. The Museum is one of the world's largest custodians of rich funds, which reflect the history of the development of medical science and the invaluable contribution of its outstanding figures to the further development and improvement of medical practice. The collection of the museum (paintings by famous artists on medical topics, medical equipment, handwritten and printed materials, photographs) reflects the key milestones in the development of medicine in Russia.
The museum documentary archive includes the most valuable evidence of the work of medical departments and services of the twentieth century and is about 60 million units, including operational staff materials, documents and reports on medicine, official medical correspondence, case histories, books for the wounded and sick, operating and dressing magazines. The scientific library of the museum contains about 100 thousand volumes, including rare editions of the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the halls of the museum there are original archival documents, rare photographs, books, paintings and sculptures, complete sets of all kinds of medical instruments and styling, medicines, uniforms of military doctors from different historical eras, personal belongings and manuscripts of Pirogov, Botkin and other outstanding doctors. Among the canvases stand out paintings by the artist I. Repin "Arrival of NI Pirogov to Moscow on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his scientific activity" and the painting by A. I. Vepkhvadze "Fatal wound of General Bagration on the Borodino field."
The scientific potential of the museum consists of distinguished doctors, academicians of Russian and foreign academies, professors, doctors and candidates of sciences. Research work in the museum is carried out on the history of military medicine, gender issues, international humanitarian law, human rights. The museum has created electronic databases containing information about those wounded in major military conflicts of the twentieth century, and not only about the condition of military personnel who received combat wounds, but also a list of emergency medical measures taken by doctors in the field and during evacuation. To highlight the research and development of the museum, newsletters, reference books and collections of scientific papers are regularly published.
The exhibition hall has a permanent exposition "For the rest of your life", which tells about the fearlessness and selfless work of military doctors during the difficult period of the war of 1941-1945, as well as thematic exhibitions about Russian medicine (from the beginnings to the 20th century), including including about emergency medicine, the Red Cross Society and the community of sisters of mercy, about the genius of military field surgery N. I. Pirogov, foreign doctors who served in Russia, about St. Petersburg medical.
A separate hall is occupied by the anatomical theater.
