A Museum revealing the secrets of the Slovak Post
The Postal Museum is an organisational unit of Slovak Post, a. s.. Since 1997, it has been located in Banská Bystrica in Partizánská cesta. Historical records of the creation of a departmental museum-type workplace date back to 1981. In the past, the postal museum was located in Bratislava and was moved to Banská Bystrica; during this period the museum was renamed the Documentation Centre. After various other changes, the museum was renamed and started working under the name Slovenská pošta, a. s., Postal Museum. The museum has been open to the public since 2001, when the first exhibition and later the cultural and educational workplace for children under the name "Children's Post" were ceremonially opened. For many Slovaks, the postal museum is an unknown and mysterious place. The museum is part of the Post Office. The museum itself is located outside of the post office building. The current offer of the exhibition presents the history of the post office, postal service, and the creation of domestic and foreign stamps. In addition, visitors can view a number of items of general collection and rich pictorial documentation. As part of the exhibition, postal boards, labels, boxes, postmarks, and seals, various items used by the workers for operation, such as sacks, scales, seals, are displayed and available. It is possible to see here the clothes of postmasters up to the current uniforms of postmen. On display are various bags, pipes, and stationery used by postmasters, as well as photo collections, correspondence, and telephone sets. Important postage stamps from Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia are an important part of the exhibition.
Rare exhibits are handwritten letters from the 19th century, from the period when the Paar family worked in the Hungarian postal service, a postage stamp of Ladislav Medňanský - Potok za humnami (Stream behind threshing floors), Na brehu (On the shore). The stamp is from 2003 and won first place in the competition for the Most Beautiful Stamp in the World.
The exhibits in the museum carry with them an interesting and unforgettable history. Within the postal museum, a "Children's Post Office" has been set up for the little ones, where children learn through games about the history of the postal service and stamp making. The children's post office is part of the main post office building. There are two compartments in the children's part of the museum. One for children, where they can try out the work of a postal employee, and the other room, which is equipped with historical objects. In the functional compartment, children have at their disposal letters and a special "Children's Post" stamp, which is valid throughout Slovakia. The expositions in the museum hide the secrets of the Slovak post office for both adults and children.
