The National Museum of Military History began the celebration of its 100th birthday with the launch on January 29 of an exhibition presenting the personal belongings of some of the most emblematic individuals in Bulgarian history.

The exhibition under the slogan “Memory for the Future” will offer to visitors of the museum the chance to see unique armaments and weapons donated by the Bulgarian Army and relatives and grandchildren of persons who are important names in the military history of the country.

Among the most precious exponents are the parade uniform of the legendary Bulgarian aviator Simeon Petrov, the documents and awards of the first diver in the Bulgarian army, Gustav Carlson, the binnacle of the glorious Macedonian leader, Todor Panitza, the Bulgarian military flag from 1937 and the personal belongings of Louis Eyer, one of the foreigners who have died in the Battle of Doiran in 1917.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to get acquainted with a variety of weapons some of which are unique for the military history of Bulgaria. Among the exponents are Russian TOZ-35 rifle, model 1961 with its intricate wooden handle, a flare gun from 1917, as well as a variety of machine guns used by the Bulgarian army during its battles in the 20th century.

Other interesting objects within the exhibition are camp sets by German and Russian medical instruments from the Second World War, mine detectors, a hiking chemical laboratory and a device for remote photography.

In order to save present memories as it has done with the memories from the past, the National Museum of Military History has located a special time capsule in Armenian style, where throughout the year people will share their opinions about the museum by leaving their texts, pictures and videos in the capsule. At the end of 2016, the capsule will be sealed and stored in the museum’s repository, where it will stay untouched until the museum’s 125th anniversary on July 4, 2041.