Evacuated and saved Krapina Diluvium Collection – natural history and cultural heritage of priceless value
Amadeo Palace in the Upper Town, where the Croatian Natural History Museum is located, was severely damaged in last year’s earthquakes, and the storage conditions became inadequate for preserving exceptionally valuable and rich natural history and cultural heritage.
The final phase of evacuating the material to a new location is currently underway, while the building is entering reconstruction financed by the European Union and the City of Zagreb.
The most valuable collection of the Croatian Natural History Museum, the Krapina Diluvium Collection, has just been moved to the newly renovated museum storage facility in Novi Petruševec.
There, it will be housed in a special room in accordance with the most modern museum standards, which guarantee safety and stable, controlled storage conditions even for the most sensitive material.
“The problem of adequate storage for museum collections is a challenge for all museums, especially Croatian ones, which, due to the lack of adequate space, are often forced to improvise greatly in order to provide only basic conditions. We are therefore proud that this Collection of ours has been stored in a new facility equipped according to global standards, which is also the largest specialized museum storage facility in the Republic of Croatia,” emphasizes Museum Director Tatjana Vlahović.
The relocation of the material is part of the reconstruction and renovation project of the Croatian Natural History Museum, for which a contract worth more than 69 million kuna was signed at the end of last year, making it currently the largest cultural project in Croatia.
Larger spaces, modern equipment, accredited laboratories, a souvenir shop and a museum café are just some of the many features of the new natural history museum awaiting us at the end of 2023.