ASTRA Transylvanian Civilization Museum

The Steam Locomotives Museum was inaugurated in Sibiu on August 23rd, 1994. The collection activity of the most valuable steam locomotives of the Romanian railway network started since 1991. Today over 30 steam locomotives, ploughs and steam cranes that crossed the Romanian railway over one hundred years ago are made available to the public. The exhibits were built during 1885 and 1959 at Domeniilor Reşiţa Factory, 23 August Factory and Malaxa Factory of Romania, Schwartzkopff Factory, Orenstein & Koppel Factory, Borsig Factory of Berlin, Mavag Factory of Budapesta, Skoda Factory and others, including in Austria, Sweden and USA. Among them there are locomotives with wide track spacing and for narrow-gauge railway, the so-called funicular railway (narrow-gauge railway trains, which used to cross mountain areas). Two of these locomotives are functional and used on various occasions. On December 31st, 2000, the locomotives were declared, by order to the minister of culture, treasury patrimony, being protected by the law.

Inaugurated in 2007, within “Friedrich Teutsch” Culture and Dialogue Centre, the A.C. Evangelic Church Museum of Romania presents a panorama of the Augustan Confession (Lutheran) Evangelic Church history in Romania, as well as a of the community and religious life of the Transylvanian Saxons. Located on the 1st floor of Teutsch House, on a surface of approximately 400 sm, the permanent exhibition is structured in chronological and thematic sections as follows: - Arrival of German colonists in Transylvania; - Fortified churches of the Transylvanian Saxons; - Lutheran Protestant reform; - Community life joined by the church; - Church and school, priests and masters; - Sacral art; - From counter-reforms to the watershed of the millennia. The exhibition ends with a glimpse to the future from the perspective of the situation occurred after 1990: the Church in diaspora. The treasury of the museum included works of the most famous goldsmiths of Transylvania. A particular attraction is the special collection of dolls dressed in festive Transylvanian Saxon costumes that differ according to geographical region and wearer’s age.

"Emil Sigerus” Saxons Folk Art and Ethnography Museum is one of the units of "ASTRA" National Museum Compound, founded in 1997, along with the opening of the fundamental exhibition “Transylvanian Tiles. 15th – 19th centuries.”, with the purpose of preserving and promoting the material and immaterial patrimony belonging to the Transylvanian Saxons minority. "Emil Sigerus" Saxons Folk Art and Ethnography Museum took over the ethnographic patrimony owned by the Carpathian Museum (1895-1920). An important role in the improvement of the museum patrimony was that of collector Emil Sigerus, who donated over 500 valuable items, including textiles, painted furniture, glass, tin, silverware, but especially Transylvanian ceramics. The patrimony of "Emil Sigerus" Museum currently has over 8.900 pieces, structured in three collections: ceramics, costumes – textiles – embroideries and painted furniture. Since 2007, the headquarters of the museum operates inside the House of Arts, rehabilitated historic monument, documented mention in 1370.

The Museum of Hunting is named after one of the important personalities of the city of Sibiu in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries: Colonel August von Spiess, the Keeper of the Royal Hunting under the King Ferdinand I of Romania.   The Museum opened as the first of its profile on the national level, in the year 1966, being accommodated in the Von Spiess residence, donated on this porpoise by the Colonel’s daughters.   The collection comprises about 1600 items.  The Museum courtyard in the back of the building was arranged to serve as a relaxation open space for the visitors and a proper environment for ecological education of children as it hosts many species of plants, a dog, fishes and a tortoise. 

The Pharmacy History Museum was opened for visitation in 1972, its foundation being based on the long history of the pharmacy in Sibiu, because the first pharmacy on the Romanian territory was documented here (1494). The building of the museum is located in the Small Square at no. 26, representing an architectural historic monument that contains gothic and renaissance elements, dating since 1568. This building housed one of the oldest pharmacies of Sibiu, La Ursul Negru (At the Black Bear), founded around the year 1600. The collections of the museum include over 6.600 pieces that present the evolution of medication and pharmaceutical techniques over the years. The sectors with exhibits of the museum are divided as follows: Dispensary – the traditional component of a pharmacy, where the medicinal products are displayed. The furniture of the room was manufactured in Vienna in 1902 and it belonged to the old pharmacy La Vulturul Negru (At the Black Eagle) of Sibiu. Laboratory – where the following are displayed: medical balances, brass, cast iron and marble mortars, crushing and pulverizing machines, pieces for tablets and suppositories, percolators for medicinal plants tinctures, ceramic and metallic containers, melting pots, measuring tin cups, sieves, filters and laboratory glassware. The Collection of Homeopathy exemplifies the homeopathic therapy tradition in Sibiu, Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of the therapeutic doctrine, lived and was active in Sibiu between 1777 and 1779, as physician and secretary of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal, Governor of Transylvania.  The Collection includes over 2.900 pieces, namely kits and bottles of homeopathic recipes, which were taken over from the former apothecary La Înger (At the Angel) in Sibiu.

The History Museum is accommodated by the Altemberger-Pempfflinger House, located on 2nd Mitropoliei Street, headquarters of the City Hall of Sibiu during 1545 and 1948. The ten wings of the building, plus a guard tower, represent the most impressive civil gothic architecture ensemble of Romania and even of South-Eastern Europe. The construction was built by the team led by the stonemason Andreas Lapicida, at the end of the 15th century, upon the guidance of Thomas Altemberger. The oldest part is the tower-house, its construction being initiated at the end of the 13th century. The exhibitions that can be seen here are structured as follows:  - Evolution of human communities of the South of Transylvania, displaying the day to day life during the Palaeolithic, offering an image of life in caves, cottages, households, Roman villa, medieval house;  - Glass in Transylvania and Guilds of Sibiu, depicting human activities from wind processing to specialized production of the guilds;  - Roman lapidary and the Magistrate of Sibiu, evoking the social status and dignity of the leader;  - Weapons and armours, indicating other essential aspects of human existence in these places, such as war or the ritual aspect of religion;  - Thesaurus, containing liturgical silverware pieces.  The touristic exhibition circuit ends with the presentation of the national emancipation movement of the Southern Transylvania, displaying events during the 17th and the 20th centuries. 

The natural history museum was founded in 1849, at the initiative of the Natural Sciences Transylvanian Society, society constituted with the purpose of spreading its discoveries to the community and educating the younger generation about the knowledge and preservation of nature. The headquarters of the Natural Sciences Transylvanian Society was built according to the project of the Architect C.W. Friedrich Maetz of Cluj, the festive inauguration taking place on May 25th, 1895. The building was built in the late Italian Renaissance style, having three stories (underground, ground floor and first floor). The collections of the museum integrate approximately 1.100.000 pieces from different domains such as geology, palaeontology, botany and zoology. We can see here: the herbarium of J. Lerchenfeld (17th century); the herbarium of M. Fuss (1834-1882); the ornithological collection of F. W. Stetter (1853), including indigenous and exotic birds; the ethnographic collection of Palestine, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia of the vice-consul Franz Binder; the Ackner minerals collection; the entomological collection of Dr. Eugen Worell (1957), including insects from Europe, Africa, America and Asia; the butterflies collection of Weindel (1965); the insects collection of H. Hannenheim (1964); the Breckner paleontological collection (1955), mainly including shark teeth of the tertiary collected from Porceşti region (Turnu Roşu); the Nyárádi botany collection (1980); the mineral collection of Dr. E. Bielz (1953); Kimakowicz malacology collection. Since December 21st, 2007, the Natural History Museum of Sibiu displays the most modern natural history exhibition of Romania, the new configuration conferring a special importance to the diorama exhibition, the pieces being displayed in order to reproduce the habitat of each animal within an ecosystem. The garden was set up as a relaxation area for the visitors, but also as an area where one can see common and rare species of plants, such as trees and ornamental scrubs.

The Brukenthal Palace is a symbol of Sibiu City, being the first museum of Romania, open to visitors since 1817. Its existence is due to prominent personalities of Transylvania’s history – Baron Samuel von Brukenthal – Governor of this province in the second half of the 18th century (1777-1787). The palace was built after the pattern of Vienna’s palaces in the late baroque style. Currently, the palace building and the collections of Baron Samuel von Brukenthal represent the core of Brukenthal National Museum. On the first floor of the museum, the visitor is introduced into the atmosphere of the 18th century of the reception Rooms, where the original silk tapestry, painted canvas or oriental motifs decorated board, tile stoves brought from Vienna and gilded lime-wood sculpted medallions (called supraporte) are still preserved. The following exhibitions can be visited: Medieval Art in Transylvania, Anatolian Carpets, as well as the segment with German and Austrian Paintings of the European painting collection. On the second floor of the museum we find other two important segments of the mentioned collection: Flemish and Dutch Painting and Italian Painting. In 2007 the special exhibition entitled Masterpieces of the Brukenthal collection was inaugurated, which includes 23 works that were recovered after being confiscated in 1948 and stolen in 1968. The patios of the Brukenthal Palace were open to visitation in 2008, accommodating the exhibitions of the Plates Study and Cartography Study, as well as the Gessoes Exhibition, Transylvanian stone sculpture during the 13th and 19th centuries and Gothic: neo-gothic experience vs. the illuminist pattern.

PROGRAM DE VIZITARE: PALATUL BRUKENTHAL MUZEUL DE ISTORIE-CASA ALTEMBERGER MUZEUL DE ISTORIE NATURALĂ MUZEUL DE ARTĂ CONTEMPORANĂ   Luni – Marţi: ÎNCHIS Miercuri - Duminică: 9-17, casieria se închide la ora 16:15 (Palatul Brukenthal, Muzeul de Istorie), respectiv 16:30 (Muzeul de Istorie Naturală, Muzeul de Artă Contemporană). CALENDAR LUCRĂRI DE CURĂȚENIE ȘI CONSERVARE 2026 Palatul Brukenthal: 12 ianuarie - 03 februarie - ÎNCHIS Muzeul de Istorie-Casa Altemberger: 02 februarie - 17 februarie - ÎNCHIS Muzeul de Istorie Naturală: 16 februarie - 03 martie - ÎNCHIS Muzeul Cinegetic „August von Spiess” și Muzeul de Istorie a Farmaciei rămân ÎNCHISE pentru o perioadă nedeterminată.  Cele două locații se deschid pentru grupuri de minim 10 persoane cu programare, cu 24 h înainte, la adresa de e-mail: secretariat@brukenthalmuseum.ro. Vă mulțumim pentru înțelegere! PROGRAM BIBLIOTECĂ    Anunț!  Având în vedere faptul că biblioteca Muzeului Național Brukenthal se află în proces de inventariere, programul sălii de lectură pe parcursul anului 2026 va fi în fiecare zi de joi a săptămânii, în intervalul orar 10:00–14:00, doar cu programare prealabilă cu minimum 5 zile lucrătoare înainte, la adresa de e-mail: secretariat@brukenthalmuseum.ro Vă mulțumim pentru înțelegere!   Muzeul de Artă Contemporană al Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal este adăpostit de o clădire cu valoare arhitectonică şi istorică, datată 1901, care de-a lungul timpului a adăpostit diverse instituţii de cultură, astăzi redefinindu-se treptat ca o secţiune exclusiv destinată artei contemporane. Muzeul de Artă Contemporană al Muzeului Naţional Brukenthal menţine o poziţie importantă în zona spaţiilor de promovare a artei contemporane româneşti, reprezentând o puternică alternativă la tendinţa unică susţinută de Muzeul Naţional de Artă Contemporană din Bucureşti, având un caracter orientat spre public, spre o selecţie şi o prezentare cât mai liberă şi mai inovatoare a expoziţiilor.  Începând din anul 2014, spațiului destinat expozițiilor temporare aflat la parterul clădirii, i s-a adăugat depozitul vizitabil de artă contemporană, amenajat la etajul I și etajul al doilea al clădirii iar în anul 2019 a fost deschisă o nouă sală de expoziții temporare. Depozitul vizitabil promovează un concept mai puțin cunoscut în România. Piesele sunt prezentate deopotrivă în manieră specifică depozitării (în special lucrările de pictură) cât și liber.   La momentul definitivării procesului de amenajare, pe coridoarele clădirii puteau fi admirate 34 de piese de mari dimensiuni – sculpturi în bronz, lemn și piatră, iar în sala situată la etajul I erau expuse 205 de picturi, 15 tapiserii și 95 de piese tridimensionale.  La etajul al II-lea se află o sală cu perete de sticlă, ce oferă vizitatorului posibilitatea unei perspective de ansamblu asupra depozitului situat la etajul I.