22.08.2014.
Exhibition dedicated to the Day of the Military Museum opened
At the Military Museum Gallery, in the course of marking the centenary of the beginning of the First World War, and on the occasion of marking the Day of the Military Museum – August 22, an exhibition titled “Regiment and Volunteer Flags from the Great War”, created by Museum Advisor Andjelija Radovic, was opened today.- This exhibition is an endeavor to prevent the significance of the past events to fade away, especially those such as the Great War. As long as our memory and the memory of our successors lasts, we must not allow for those extremely tough times for Serbia to be forgotten – Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources Milos Jankovic said while opening the exhibition. On this occasion, he stressed the importance of the flags and today’s exhibition in words of General Stepa Stepanovic, saying that “the flag is the greatest relic for a soldiers, the holy symbol of military honor and duty, of military glory and pride.”
Assistant Minister of Defence reminded that it had been precisely those flags under which the Serbian military fought the battles in the Balkan Wars and the First World War, and suffered through the Albanian Golgotha, and that these flags had been victoriously raised in 1918 over the liberated cities of our country.
- On their path of demise and glory, one of the holy duties of each soldier was to be loyal to their military flag. This sense of duty and faith in victory encouraged the flag carrier who, guarding the military flag, also guarded the honor of his military and homeland – he said, congratulating the employees at the Museum on the 136th anniversary of this institution.Welcoming the guests, Head of the Military Museum Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Mijatovic, PhD reminded of the institution’s history that had passed its 136th year, remembering wars, changes of dynasties and social systems.
The military flags from the past liberation wars were among the first objects that the Military Museum in Belgrade was trusted with, and are the biggest, and exceptionally valuable, collection of flags at the institution.
The military flags were ceremonially handed over to the 51st Regiment of the Serbian Military in Banjica in June 26 and November 30, 1911 by King Peter I Karadjordjevic, in the presence of Minister of Defence General Stepa Stepanovic, with salvo and parade march. Under these flags, Serbian soldiers fought in two Balkan Wars and the First World War.
The Day of the Military Museum is marked in the memory of August 22, 1878, when Prince Milan I of Serbia, upon the suggestion of Minister of Defence Colonel Sava Grujic, signed the Decree for founding of this institution. Today, the Museum owns around 30,000 items systematized in 12 collections and a rather astonishing photo gallery with almost 100,000 photographs. Also, it has a special library with 15,000 titles and over 5,000 magazines.
The exhibition is opened to the public every day except on Mondays, 10.00 – 17.00, until September 21, 2014.
PHOTOGALLERY
