Technical Museum of Slovenia Collections
Permanent exhibitions
Currently there are four permanent exhibitions in the Road Vehicles department.
The first entitled From Pharmacy to Service Station was put up in 1995. It is a joint-venture project undertaken in conjunction with Petrol, the country’s largest supplier of gas-oil, and as such it has a special status.
The second – Motorcycles from Koper – was established after taking possession of the erstwhile Tomos Institute collection. It is a tribute to the rich research and development activities of the only domestic motorbike manufacturer.
The third presents rich collection of bicycles which traces the long evolution and development of the cycle from the beginning of the 19th century, when Karl Drais introduced his Draisienne, to the mid-20th century.
And the fourth OUR BELOVED CAR, The first century of motoring in Slovenia territory was opened on March 2014.
Individual bike specimens ranging from the second half of the 19th century to the present day are exhibited. They represent almost all the key stages in the development of one of today’s most popular recreational means of transport. You can see several bicycles from the collections of the Technical museum of Slovenia and the Technical museum of Berlin (Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin), courtesy of which is the oldest exhibit piece, the Micheaux velocipede from 1867. The oldest TMS-owned bicycle dates back to the 1880s, it was produced by Joseph Erlach of Villach, Austria. There are also several exhibited pieces of bicycles of various brands that were most popular in Slovenia in the 20th century, including the greatest Slovenian bike factory, Rog of Ljubljana. Take a quick look at the speed record bike, Eivie1, with which a skilled cyclist can reach velocities over 100 km/h. For practical purposes, our visitors can also explore various bike parts and understand their underlying mechanisms.
The exhibition From Pharmacy to Service Station established in co-operation with the country’s largest gas-oil supplier Petrol, addresses the development of fuel provision and distribution in the territory of Slovenia. The scenic presentation of the street gas station from the pre WWII era shows what our gas stations looked like over 50 years ago. The period after the Second World War is dedicated to the history of fuel trade, which took place under the auspices of Petrol. The exhibition was expanded in 2012 to include the automotive industry in Slovenia and dedicate a part of the exhibition area to dioramas of the old car mechanical workshop.
The exhibition comes with a catalogue that can be purchased at the pay desk.
The “Motorcycles from Koper” exhibition focuses on the development and achievements of the only Slovenian motorcycle company from the early 1980s onwards, TOMOS (an acronym of the full title TOvarna MOtornih koles Sežana (Motorycle Factory Sežana)). A special focus is placed on the Tomos programme of motorcycles and motorbikes. The motorcycles exhibited represent important milestones in the developmental activity of Tomos, some prototypes that were never mass produced and a few racing motorcycles.
This exhibition, together with the TAM collection, the motorcycle collection of the innovator Marjan Vračko, the prototype of a car designed by students
of the Faculty of engineering in Ljubljana and the various home-built vehicles show the rich and varied history of automotive expertise, showing that the people of Slovenia were not more users/consumers but also important innovators and developers of motorised vehicles, based on our own expertise and respected abroad as well as at home.
An English and a Slovenian editions of the catalogue “Motorcycles from Koper”, which has been sold out, are now freely accessible online.
Through three distinctive periods (up to World War I, between the two world wars and since World War II until independence) the exhibition presents the development of automobile traffic in Slovenia territory. The history of transport is presented with typical examples of the most recognizable vehicles and car parts such as wheel and grille. By taking a stroll through the exhibition the visitor become familiar with the development of signs and registration marks and typical roadways for each period. The time and environment in which the vehicles were in use are presented with interpretive text, pictorial and graphical materials.
The visitors can admire ten cars and five motorcycles. The cars include Austro Daimler, Wanderer, Chrysler limo from 30′, which is considered one of the representatives of popular American brands, Ford T, Zastava 600D (Fičo) and kids car. The motorcycles include Torpedo, racing DKW, Tomos T12, motorcycle Douglas as well as small-scale racing Tomos D5). Every car is accompanied with short presentation video. We are displaying the final examples from our rich collection of vehicles.
A special place is given to the oldest car preserved in Slovenia – a two-seat Piccolo from 1906. Before World War I, many small cars were dashing along the roads of what is now Slovenian territory. The Piccolo, made by the German company Ruppe & Sohn, was proving to be one of the most popular.
