Croatian Sports Museum: Homage to Development and Achievements of Croatian Sport
The Croatian Sports Museum is a place of emotional reminiscing on the history and major achievements of Croatian athletes, but also of inspiration to those who are starting their path in amateur or professional sport.
Croatia is globally recognised as an extraordinary sporting nation with a string of successful individuals and teams who thrill the world with unity, personality and results achieved. The permanent display of the Croatian Sports Museum is dedicated to all of them, as well as to those who contributed to the development of professional and amateur sport throughout history. The museum is located in the very centre of Zagreb, at Ilica 13/I and it is open as of late January.
The Croatian Sports Museum has been active for more than 70 years. It holds more than half a million items, of which around a 1000 museum pieces, around 500 photographs, archive records and multimedia content have entered the new permanent display. The foundation and the starting point of the museum is the legacy of Franjo Bučar (1866 -1946), the founder of modern sports in Croatia.
The permanent display covers two floors and it is arranged chronologically. In the basement there is a collection entitled “Foundation and development of sports in Croatia”. It shows the development of exercising and sports from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the influence of the Croatian Hawk, which is a movement dedicated to exercise founded in Zagreb in 1874, contribution of sports visionary Franjo Bučar, all the way to the spread of the sports disciplines in the 20th century. A particular attention was dedicated to the international achievements of Croatian clubs as well as to the contribution of athletes to the success of the national team. Parasports and deaf sports, which speak literally and symbolically of overcoming hurdles, have received equal attention.
On the ground floor, there is a collection entitled the “Greatest Achievements of the Croatian Athletes since the Independence of the Republic of Croatia”. This is where visitors can see medals and victory cups and find many other exhibits and documents that speak of achievements of athletes at the Olympics and world championships in individual and team sports and their contribution to the national team.
Particularly valuable are the donations of the athletes and their families, sports professionals and institutions. Due to their contribution, visitors of the museum can see items donated by, among others, Ivica, Janica and Ante Kostelić, Luka Modrić, Zlatko Dalić, Zvonimir Boban, Miroslav Ćiro Blažević, Marin Čilić, Mario Ančić, Donna Vekić, Blanka Vlašić, Sara Kolak, Stojko Vranković, Josip Glasnović, Snježana Pejčić, Josip Pavić, Perica Bukić, Martin and Valent Sinković, Nikola Bralić, Šime Fantela, Tin Srbić, Filip Ude, Lino Červar, families of Krešimir Ćosić, Mirko Novosel, Dražen Petrović, Dragutin Šurbek and Mate Parlov and many others.
The display of the museum is accompanied by multimedia and interactive content which prompts visitors to engage, showing that play is an integral part of sporting activities. There is also a mobile application that provides information about the history and development of sports in Croatia to all interested visitors on their mobile phones even before they entire the museum. It also provides useful service information about opening hours and ticket pricing. Its value lies in the fact that it is at the same time a permanent reminder of the development and achievements of Croatian athletes
Photo credit: Denis Bučar, Muzejski dokumentacijski centar