Prewar Peterhoff: museum mission and state ideology

Abstract

Museums are part of the state system of preserving the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring its transmission to future generations. The State’s care of preservation and use of cultural heritage is an important factor in ensuring the continuity and stable development of society. The country’s history experienced a period when the government sought to turn the museum into ‘politprosvetkombinat’. The political ideology of the 1920s and 30s defined the role and tasks of museum institutions. Employees at the Peterhoff museum were looking for ways to embed themselves in the conjuncture of the time, while at the same time strictly following the main task of the museum, the preservation of historical heritage. Work on the creation of new exhibitions at Peterhoff began in the mid-1920s. Employees of the Peterhoff museum offered a project for efficient use of museums for propaganda purposes. A new method of constructing the museum, has been universally recognized in all the city’s suburbs. The method was called the ‘thematic method’. In addition, over two years Peterhoff workers ‘spontaneously’ carried out activities to create a recreational park, without waiting for administrative decisions. The individual introduction of elements of mass relaxation allowed for striking a balance between the State’s idea about the ‘cultural combine’ and preservation of 18th and 19th centuries parks’ appearance. Peterhoff employees cared more about the fountains’ condition, than about filling parks with various kinds of entertainment. Despite the ultimate efforts of the Peterhoff employees in the second half of the 1930s, the famous suburb had a number of major problems. Due to the inadequate provision and lack of independent funding, the Peterhoff ’s administration was not able to maintain major park repairs, fountains, garden structures and museum buildings at the proper level. Attempting to find funds for restoration, Peterhoff employees simultaneously lead expositions in line with the changing trends, initiated by the state. This approach allowed us to preserve many artifacts as well as the palaces and museums themselves from the encroachments of power. Refs 61.