Technical Museum of Slovenia

The Technical Museum of Slovenia is the central Slovenian institution that protects and interprets the nation's technical heritage. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it presents technical history not just as a collection of objects, but as a living narrative of work, ingenuity, and everyday practices that shaped the Slovenian space. The museum's headquarters in the former Carthusian monastery in Bistra near Vrhnika is symbolic: where monks once resided, today machines, tools, vehicles, and knowledge live, marking the transition from traditional to industrial and modern society.

A special dimension of the museum is its digital memory, which developed in parallel with the technological progress of recent decades. From 1999 to 2025, a quarter-century of continuous documentation and visualization took place, covering not only permanent collections but also temporary exhibitions. Due to their transient nature, these were particularly valuable for digital preservation. The documentation occurred in several technological stages: from the first digital cameras and pioneering web presentations, through panoramic techniques and interactive formats, to modern 3D visualizations and stable archival standards.

Users can access these digital records via the bee icon, which leads to virtual excursions. These open a spatial image of the exhibition area, from which the visitor can enter individual virtual exhibitions. Thus, one of the most extensive digital archives in Slovenian museology was created—a monumental project preserving exhibitions that can no longer be visited in physical form.

Bistra – The Core of the Museum
Bistra is the heart of the Technical Museum of Slovenia. In monumental monastery buildings and outbuildings, a series of permanent collections form the most comprehensive display of technical development in Slovenia.

Forestry and Woodworking
Slovenian forests have shaped the lives of inhabitants for centuries, reflected in a rich collection of tools, machines, and displays of traditional techniques. A special place is held by the "Venetian" saw, which, with its water drive, brings the visitor closer to the logic of pre-industrial energy.

Agriculture
The agriculture collection shows the transition from manual labor to mechanization. From wooden ploughs to the first tractors—the story of agriculture is also a story of social change, modernization of the countryside, and the transformation of everyday work.

Traffic
The traffic collection is one of the most recognizable. It features cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and other vehicles that marked Slovenian roads. A special chapter is Tito's Car Fleet, located entirely in Bistra. These are protocol vehicles of the former Yugoslav state, gifts from foreign statesmen, and prestigious limousines that serve today as a valuable document of 20th-century political and technical history.

Hunting and Fishing
These collections show traditional ways of hunting and fishing, from simple traps to specialized equipment. In addition to the technical aspect, they highlight environmental and cultural dimensions.

Electrical Engineering
The development of electrification is one of the key processes of modernization. The collection displays the first generators, transformers, measuring devices, and household appliances that changed the rhythm of life.

Textiles
The textile collection reveals the development of spinning, weaving, dyeing, and industrial clothing production. Machines and tools tell the story of the once-flourishing Slovenian textile industry.

Printing
From lead letters to the rotary press—the printing collection shows the technological development that enabled the spread of knowledge, books, newspapers, and graphic culture.

Water Drives and Craft Workshops
Bistra preserves working displays of traditional craft workshops: a mill, a blacksmith's shop, wheelwrighting, and other crafts that relied on water energy for centuries. These displays are not just technical, but anthropological documents of a former way of life.

Soteska Depot – A Space of Superlatives
The depot in Soteska near Straža is an open-view depot where vehicles and machines are stored that cannot be exhibited in Bistra due to space constraints. This includes road transport vehicles, working machinery, fire pumps, and other technical objects on wheels. The collection is constantly updated, but does not include Tito's car fleet, which remains exclusively in Bistra.

Bogenšperk Castle – Valvasor's Laboratory of Knowledge
Bogenšperk Castle is part of the Museum due to its connection with scientific history. Janez Vajkard Valvasor created one of the most advanced graphic workshops of his time here, creating the monumental The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola.

• Valvasor's graphic activity,
• His natural science research,
• Cartographic and topographic achievements,
• Reconstruction of the graphic workshop.

Museum of Post and Telecommunications – Polhov Gradec
Located in Polhov Gradec, this museum displays the development of communications:

• Postal services and network,
• Telegraphy and telephony,
• Telecommunication devices,
• The work of postmen, operators, and technicians.

The Technical Museum of Slovenia is a place where history, technology, nature, and human creativity meet. With a quarter-century of digital documentation, it ensures that technical heritage is preserved not only in objects but also in the digital traces of time. Virtual excursions, accessible via the bee icon, have become a bridge between the past and the future.