Jimbolia, the town in Timis County,
\nwith no more than 10,000 inhabitants, has no less than 6 museums and memorial
\nhouses. Among them is the only museum in the country dedicated to the press, a
\nmuseum dedicated to the great Swabian painter Stefan Jager, a museum dedicated
\nto writer Petre Stoica, one to physician Karl Diel, one to Romanian Railways,
\nand a museum of fire-fighters, standing for 140 years. <\/p>\n
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The initiative to create a press
\nmuseum was a personal one, on the part of a writer and journalist, as we were
\ntold by Cristina Dema, curator of the Sever Bocu Museum of the Press: <\/p>\n
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The idea to set up a museum of the
\npress started with writer and journalist Petre Stoica, who was a passionate
\ncollector of newspapers since his childhood. He initially wanted to set it up
\nin his native village of Peciu Nou, but the local authorities said no. That was
\nlucky for Jimbolia, because in 1994, Petre Stoica came here to the mayor and
\ntold him that he has a mountain of valuable exhibits, which he wanted to donate
\nto the city. The mayor was delighted, he accepted, offered him a home, and,
\nafter many ample cultural events, in 2007 the dream came true, that of creating
\na museum of the press, the only one in Romania and one of the few in Europe.<\/p>\n
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A dormitory of a former industrial
\nhigh school was modified, and has been receiving visitors for the last 12
\nyears. Cristina Dema gave us a tour of the museum: <\/p>\n
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As we walk into the museum, we can
\nsee printing machines, as well as an old camera. On the walls of the first room
\nwe have various publications of the past and posters for events of the past. We
\ncan also witness the multiculturality of the area, through a number of
\npublications, also in the first room, with publications in German, Hungarian,
\nand Romanian. After that, we can move to the exhibition hall, with a permanent
\nexhibition, where you can see the oldest and most important publications we
\nhave. The oldest would be Albina Romaneasca, from 1837, and in the next room we
\nhave a collection of calendars and almanacs, as well as a business card collection.
\nThe most important part of the museum is the library, which acts as a reading
\nhall and archive. We would be happy with people coming in to stay longer, so
\nthey can peruse, and can travel to other times through our newspapers. Also, we
\nhave a cafe of the museum, where people can savor a cup of coffee while
\ndelighting in reading old publications.<\/p>\n
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The Sever Bocu Press Museum is the
\nideal environment to foster knowledge, hold various events and also to relax.
\nThe museum’s coordinator, Cristina Dema, tells us more:<\/p>\n
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We have visitors of all ages,
\nincluding many school children. Some find out about our museum from the
\nInternet and think it’s an extraordinary idea to have a press museum in
\nJimbolia, which is not a big place. Our visitors also include students and
\nresearchers. We constantly organise all kinds of events, as well. Recently we
\nhave held many activities for children in partnership with the Hambarul cu
\ncarte association, events meant to show children that museums are not
\ninaccessible places, but spaces where they can feel at home and to foster their
\nappetite for reading.<\/p>\n
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Our interlocutor also told us that
\nthe museum can be visited from Monday to Friday between 8 am and 4 pm, as well
\nas outside these hours by special appointment on the museum’s Facebook page, or
\non the phone.<\/p>\n
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The museum’s collection is
\nconstantly growing thanks to purchases from book shops and second-hand book
\nshops, the first issues of new periodicals, as well as subscriptions to various
\ncultural publications from around the country. The biggest donation received by
\nthe museum, which has added significantly to its collection, came from the
\nAstra Library in Sibiu and consisted in publications from the 19thcentury till present day. The different
\ncollections of the museum have also grown, such as newspapers and magazines
\nfrom Romania and the diaspora divided chronologically into four different
\nsegments: the 19th century, 1900 to 1950, 1951 to 1989 and post
\n1990, annuals, calendars, business cards, photographs, envelopes, postcards, monograph
\nworks, books on the history of the press, and many others. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A small town in Transylvania hosts the only museum in the country dedicated to the history of the press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43230],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-jimbolia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n