A new museum from Nizhny Novgorod — Nizhny Novgorod Museum of the Cold War and the History of the city of Gorky in 1946-1991 — joined the Association of Private and People’s Museums of Russia. The founder, owner, and director of the museum is Ilya Leonidovich Novosadov.
The museum aims to preserve, study and popularize the history of the largely unexplored period of the Cold War. The museum staff conduct exhibition and research work in the field of the modern history of our country and its Armed Forces, the history of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the city of Nizhny Novgorod, provide military and patriotic education to the youth by organizing thematic exhibitions and events, Bravery lessons, military historical reconstructions, etc. The museum also hosts permanent exhibitions on the history of the Cold War and the Soviet period of our country’s history in general, including its lesser-known aspects, such as the Soviet Army, the history of civil defense and the shelter system construction in the USSR, the country’s science and industry, everyday life of Soviet people, local history of Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod), the history of the Soviet machinery, etc.
The museum consistently hosts popular lectures on science and technology, life sciences, modern history, and other interesting topics. The museum staff give lectures entitled “Secrets of the Atom” on the nature of radioactivity and host scientific shows for children and adults, in which they perform physical and chemical experiments. Workshops on the basics of life safety and first-aid are also held in the museum.
The museum has a Nizhny Novgorod City Tour Bureau, a Military and Patriotic Club, and a military historical reconstruction club, which take part in various traveling military and patriotic events and exhibitions.
The collection contains more than 4,500 items, divided into several thematic groups and exhibitions:
– An exhibition “Honor of the Russian Uniform”. Uniforms, ammunition, and equipment of the Soviet and Russian armies (from the time of the Great Patriotic War to the present day).
– A large collection of weapon models, small arms, and ammunition, as well as other military equipment and devices from the Soviet and Russian armies of the 20th-21st centuries (several hundred items). Legendary Kalashnikov assault rifles, Simonov carbines, hand-held anti-tank rocket launchers, etc. The collection is shown at the exhibition “For the Glory of Russian Weapons”.
– One of the largest Russian collections of domestically produced gas masks and protective equipment from pre-war to the present day (more than 100 items), shown at the exhibition “The History of the Russian gas mask”.
– One of the largest Russian collections of fully working dosimetric and civil defense equipment
from the 1950s to the present day (more than 500 items), shown at the exhibition “Attention everyone!”.
– An exhibition of active military communications devices, from the first tube radios and wired field telephones.
– Collection of measuring instruments and radio-electronic industrial equipment made in the USSR.
– Collection of chemistry glassware and laboratory equipment shown at the exhibition “History of Soviet Science”
– A large themed collection of working audio equipment and home electronics made in the USSR (tape recorders, turn-tables, radios, TV sets, etc, as well as a music library containing several thousand vinyl and shellac records, tapes and cassettes, filmstrips, diapositives, CDs, etc.). It is brought together in a thematic exhibition “Disco of the Eighties”.
– A collection of the Soviet everyday objects, industrial goods made by enterprises of Gorky and the Gorky region in the 20th century.
– An exhibition presenting a selection of Soviet-era posters and billboards (military, political, industrial posters, etc.).
– A large selection of documents on the key events of the Cold War, the history of the Chernobyl accident, the Afghan conflict, the history of the Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) region and the closed city of Gorky, the history of the nuclear weapons, civil defense system, etc.
– The museum’s library and digital library (more than 8 thousand rare books on military technology of the 20th century).
– Audiovisual archives (film and photographic films, videos, filmstrips, records, tapes, etc.).
Museum address: 603009, Nizhny Novgorod, Gagarin Avenue, Building 154.
Tel.: +7 (902) 306-14-92, +7 (904) 046-91-84, e-mail: coldwar-nn@mail.ru, the Museum’s website: www.coldwarnn.ru , the official VK group: vk.com/coldwarnn the Museum’s Instagram account www.instagram.com/coldwarnn/
Working hours: every day, by appointment. We also provide individual and group guided tours for tour operators, schools and other institutions.
Tour price: for children – 150 rubles, for adults – 200 rubles, master classes, lectures, etc. – from 200 rubles.
The exhibitions present models of small arms (machine guns, carbines, grenade guns) and ammunition from the 1930s to the present day. There are sections dedicated to the history of mine weapon and engineering troops, collections of optical surveillance devices, military headgear of the Soviet and Russian Armies, artillery fire-control devices and much more.
The exhibition showcases models of small arms ammunition of various calibers from the early 20th century to the present day, from pistols to large-caliber machine guns, as well as models of grenades for under-barrel and automatic grenade launchers, aerial cannons and air defense gun shells, etc.
The display features military gas masks from the post-war period to the beginning of the 21st century, as well as a variety of filters for Russian gas masks from the Soviet era to the present day.
The exhibition presents a large collection of fully functioning dosimetric equipment from the 1950s to the early 1990s. A wide variety of dosimeters, radiometers, and roentgenometers is on display. During the excursions and lectures, we demonstrate the work of the devices and conduct experiments. The exhibition of communications equipment contains working military vacuum tube radio stations of the 1960s and 1970s, field telephones, and a switchboard. During the tour, the guide demonstrates the connection between two ultrashort wave stations, and shows the work of a field telephone and a switchboard. After the tour, visitors can practice working with vintage equipment on their own.
The exhibition mainly consists of his private collection, which has been built over the last 20 years. The tour material is based on the book of the same name “The History of the Russian Gas Mask” by I. L. Novosadov.
They display a range of Russian gas masks — filtering and isolating types, from pre-war to the latest models, baby protective wraps, respirators, chemical decontamination assets, first aid kits, various devices, and equipment used for civil defense in the USSR. The tour guide demonstrates the work of the devices, tells about their purpose, and explains how they work. Visitors can also learn to fit and put on a gas mask.
Visitors will discover the most interesting facts from the history of Russian weapons, learn to disassemble and reassemble Kalashnikov assault rifles, Simonov carbines, and other legendary weapons. The museum staff brings to life images of the Soviet army soldiers of different years, tells about the use of the uniform, ammunition and equipment parts, and lets visitors try it on. At the end of the tour, visitors can hold museum weapons, try on uniforms and equipment, and take pictures.
It features service equipment of civil defense — sanitary bags, first aid kits, degassing, disinfection and decontamination equipment, training kits, individual dosimeters, and much more. The tour guide demonstrates the most interesting devices and tells about their purpose. Visitors can learn to fit and put on a gas mask, picture themselves as a paramedic, a member of voluntary aid detachment, or a radiation and anti-gas scout.
