18.04.2024
Rare and Improvised Herald Weapons
On the occasion of marking the Day of the Serbian Armed Forces on April 23, the Military Museum presents an exhibition called "Rare and improvised weapons from the collections of the Military Museum", which will be open to visitors until June 23, 2024. Since its foundation in 1878, the Military Museum has devotedly carried out its mission, which is reflected in the collection, museological processing, exhibition and presentation to experts and the general public of various types of weapons and accompanying military equipment.The exhibition before you presents weapons that can, generally speaking, be classified into two interesting and insufficiently researched categories: improvised and rare weapons. We have set the time frame quite wide so that the objects that were created in the range from the early new century (XVI˗XVII century) to the very end of the stormy XX century are exhibited.Improvised weapons are present from the very beginnings of history. Man has always made sure to rework and improve previously created weapons and thus, in a certain way, extend their useful life. In our collections, there are weapons that were processed by artisanal processing or industrially in order to modernize and increase efficiency. Also, a very interesting and diverse group consists of objects that were created in almost home conditions. This certainly includes converted military and hunting rifles, but also weapons with an unusual appearance that we called completely improvised weapons. It was made from various pipes with stocks and other parts that were made quite roughly and with a lot of improvisation.Rare weapons are also in the collections of our museum. Here, too, we are talking about several subgroups. In the first place, there were specially made examples of weapons that were made on purpose as representative items intended for a gift or reward for a special occasion. Then, there are also examples of weapons that came from other parts of the world, which, indeed, makes them rare in our region. Finally, in the collections of the Military Museum there are examples of prototype weapons.
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