TANKS MUSEUM. KUBINKA, RUSSIA

PAVILION 1

The history of the tanks collection is the history of the Armored Forces of the Red/ Soviet/ Russian Army.

During World War II the USSR received American & British tanks under Lend-Lease. The bulk of foreign tanks in the collection was captured during World War II. Others were obtained by exchange with the British Armor Museum or were given by Soviet allies and clients from items they captured in Viet-Nam, Korea, Cuba, Middle East Wars, etc.

There are 129 Russian items including many prototype models of vehicles that were not produced in quantity.


SOVIET SU 152 HEAVY ASSAULT GUN

Long time the owner of this tank collection was the special secret soviet military Institution (Laboratory) specializing for the testing any kind of tanks.

The museum was opened September 10-th 1978.

Now the Museum of Armored Vehicles and Equipment has one of the largest collections of armored vehicles in the world. Vehicles from 11 foreign countries are represented. The 290 items range from 3-5 ton light tanks and armored cars to a super-heavy, 180 ton monster. There are 40 self-propelled guns from 57 to 600 caliber, 30 armored cars, 10 reconnaissance and command vehicles, and a variety of technical and engineer support vehicles.

In 2000 year the old vehicles were re-painted in original manner by the Russian specialists of the historical society. Now tanks look like in their historical period.


THE WWII HERO - SOVIET T-34

The T-34 is often used as a symbol for Soviet resistance and German arrogance. As such, its actual performance and impact on the war is often overrated. Nevertheless, the appearance of the T34 definitely was an unpleasant surprise for the German commanders, as it could combat all 1942 German tanks effectively. It was faster, had better armament (50mm was the predominant calibre of German tanks guns) and better armour protection, due to the technical innovation of sloped armour.

However, direct tank to tank combat was a rather rare occurrence; the vast majority of losses suffered were from logistical and mechanical troubles (50% of Soviet tanks at the start of the German invasion), artillery and air strikes and (self-propelled) anti-tank guns. At the outset of the war, only about 10% of all Soviet tanks were T-34 variants, this number increased to 50-60% percent till mid-1943. By the time the T-34 had replaced older models and became available in greater numbers, new German tanks (including the improved German design based on the T-34, the Panzer-V 'Panther') outperformed it.

Still, the T-34 was an adequate and effective tank and played a big part in the defeat of the German invaders.


PAVILION 6. GERMAN TANKS

AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB MUSEUM. IT'S NOT BIG BUT WORTH TO VISIT

The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, located at 1721 S. Mason Rd., in beautiful Queeny Park, West St. Louis County, Missouri, is home to the world's finest collection of art devoted to the dog. The 14,000 sq. ft. facility, which includes historic Jarville House (1853), displays over 500 original paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints, sculptures in bronze and porcelain, and a variety of decorative arts objects depicting man's best friend throughout the age. On permanent display is Sir Edwin Landseer's oil on canvas of a Deerhound and Recumbent Foxhound and many Maud Earl portraits of various terrier breeds.

The Museum is open year-round and available to visitors Tuesday - Saturday from 10 AM - 4 PM, and Sundays 1 PM - 5 PM (closed Mondays and holidays). Queeny Park, home of the Museum, is accessible from highway/interstate 40/64 at the Mason Rd. exit or from I-270 by taking the Manchester exit to Mason Rd.

The Museum Gift Shop offers a wide array of gift items for you and your companion pet including tapestry pillows, ceramic and jeweled dog dishes, books on dogs, umbrellas, stationary, T-shirts, and jewelry, as well as one of a kind objects exclusive to The Dog Museum.

A book and video library is available by appointment for research on purebred dogs and animal artists.

The Museum also offers indoor and outdoor rental space for business meetings, dog club activities, and special events.



How It All Began

The genesis of The Dog Museum was a meeting held in 1971 by members of the Westminster Kennel Club. It was their intention, besides presenting the pre-eminent dog show in the country, to "improve the life of the dog through humane education, to gather and add knowledge on the care and history of the dog, and to develop and support a museum of art and books focusing on the dog." From this initial resolution, a group of interested people, members of the Westminster club, their wives and other interested parties formed the Westminster Kennel Club Foundation to pursue these aims.

In 1973 the foundation conducted a survey to see the level of support for such a project. The results were encouraging and a brochure sent out to solicit funds brought in some financial donations as well as gifts of art and books. Invitations were sent out by the Westminster Kennel Club in February 1979 to a meeting of a diverse group of dog fanciers at which it was decided that an affiliation was needed with an organization with broader contacts. The American Kennel Club was the most fitting solution. The following June, the AKC established the American Kennel Club Foundation. Its specific goal was to set up a museum and library of the dog. The next step was the selection of a director for the museum and in May 1981 William Secord started work as the first director of what was then known as The Dog Museum of America. The AKC had space available at their headquarters in the New York Life Building at 51 Madison Avenue in New York, into which the fledgling museum promptly moved. The first exhibit opened on 8 February 1982; it was entitled "The Museum Collects." An elegant party was held to commemorate the event. The museum officially opened to the public on 15 September 1982 with an exhibition called "Best of Friends: The Dog and Art."



From the beginning, dog-related corporations have been most generous to the museum. A gift from the Gaines Dog Research Center formed the core of the museum library. The active participation of Hill's Pet Products started in 1983 when they underwrote an exhibition called 'The Dog Observed." lams has sponsored exhibitions, Ralston Purina and Pedigree/KalKan have endowed galleries in the museum and provided other services and funds as well. J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc. has provided equipment and grants. The Westminster Foundation has continued their generous support. By 1985 it was apparent that The Dog Museum was outgrowing its loaned space at 51 Madison Avenue. It seemed a good time to become a separate entity and search for a location elsewhere. Five cities (Denver; Los Angeles; Pebble Hill, Georgia; Orlando; and St. Louis) invited the consideration of the board of directors. The board, chaired by Mrs. Robert V. Lindsay and the president of the museum, Mrs. Dorothy Welsh, voted to move to St. Louis in September of 1986. By November of 1987 the move had been completed into Jarville House, the charming Monsanto Greek Revival house in the 570-acre Queeny Park outside St. Louis. An addition to the museum increasing the total space to 14,000 sq. feet was opened in the spring of 1991. The carriage house adjacent to Jarville House was transformed into a museum shop which overlooks the Charing Cross Courtyard, the gift of Mr. Gilbert S. Kahn. The museum addition provided the museum with four more galleries and a very large community room used by local dog clubs, civic groups and individuals.



Again, generous financial support was forthcoming to help in the construction of this fine facility from the County of St. Louis, private individuals and corporations as well as the museum's original supporter, the Westminster Kennel Club.

By 1995 it became clear to the board of directors that while the museum's collection of art was increasing in both volume and value, the financial support was not keeping pace. A re-affiliation with the AKC was completed in October of 1995 and the official name of the museum became The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog.

FINNISH HOCKEY HALL OF FAME. TAMPERE

Have you ever heard about Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame. No? But there is one located in Tampere, the second large town of Finland.


The Museum exhibition rooms at the Hakametsä Ice Arena in 2000. Photo: Carlos Salinas Bascur. Tampere Museums.

The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame is one of the six museums in the world that have specialized in the history of the ice hockey. The museum holds more than 10,000 hockey-related objects in its collections.

The vigorous journey of the Finnish ice hockey from the end of the 1920's up to today is introduced in the permanent exhibition of the Museum. The best-known exhibition objects are the Finnish Championship Trophy, the 'Canada Trophy', and the World Championship Trophy from 1995.

The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame has its foundations in the 50th anniversary of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 1979. In honour of the anniversary, a local bank in Tampere region (Tampereen Aluesäästöpankki) arranged a historical hockey exhibition in its premises.

The exhibition was a tremendous success and later the same year Mr. Aarne Honkavaara, Mr. Kalervo Kummola, Mr. Kimmo Leinonen, Mr. Harry Lindblad, Mr. Juhani Linkosuo and Mr. Usko Teromaa founded the association called Suomen Jääkiekkomuseoyhdistys ry. ('Finnish Ice Hockey Museum Association').


The Stanley Cup winner Ville Nieminen meets Aarne Honkavaara, the Honorary President of the Finnish Ice Hockey Museum Association, at the opening ceremony of the new Museum exhibition rooms in September 2001. Photo: Carlos Salinas Bascur. Tampere Museums.

Ms. Pirkko Linkosuo who acted as the secretary of the Association was the first one to collect objects for the museum. She started this activity by contacting the players of the Finnish League of the 1930's. Suitable exhibition rooms were found at the Tampere Ice Arena and the Museum was opened for public on the 13th of December in 1979.

Mr. Aarne Honkavaara, who has been awarded the title of Honorary Sports Counsellor, worked as the Museum Attendant at the Ice Arena for almost 20 years. Together with his wife Maire, he took care of the routine matters of the Museum and presented the exhibition to thousands of visitors annually. A visitor record was made in 1996 as more than 12,000 people visited the museum.


Goalie masks from the 1960's. Photo: Carlos Salinas Bascur. Tampere Museums.

The exhibition room at the Tampere Ice Arena was closed for public in the end of 2000and the new permanent exhibition was opened in Museum Centre Vapriikki in April 2001

The permanent exhibition of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame presents the history of the Finnish ice hockey from the 1920's to the present. Jerseys, sticks and other equipment from different decades tell their own story about the development of hockey. The absolute gem of the exhibition is the original Finnish Championship Trophy, the Canada Cup, yearly awarded to the Finnish champions since 1951.

The exhibition objects and video clips bring many memorable moments of the Finnish hockey back to the visitor's mind. Also all championship medals won by Team Finland as well as the World Championship Trophy from 1995 are on display in the Museum.

The exhibition room also introduces a scoring simulator.


Finnish team in Oslo in 1952. Top row from left: Lauri Silvan, Esko Rekomaa, Christian Rapp, Erkki Hytönen, Matti Karumaa, Aarne Honkavaara, Yrjö Hakala, Keijo Kuusela and Eero Saari. Bottom row from left: Jukka Wuolio, Pentti Isotalo, Eero Salisma, Unto Wiitala, Pekka Myllylä, Ossi Kauppi, Matti Rintakoski and Kauko Mäkinen. Photo: Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame preserves, studies and introduces material related to ice hockey. It has a collection of more than 10,000 objects of which the original Canada Cup (Finnish championship trophy) and the World Championship Trophy of 1995 are the best-known to the public. All Championship medals won by Team Finland can also be found in the Museum.


Photo by NIKALE1

The Museum's jersey collection includes over 500 jerseys. The permanent exhibition introduces you for example Stanley Cup winner Ville Nieminen's away games jersey that he wore in the NHL finals in 2001 as he played with the Colorado Avalanche. Pekka Rautakallio's NHL All Stars Game jersey from 1982 is also on display. A wide collection of jerseys worn by Team Finland starting from the year 1948 can also be found.

The Museum receives the objects mainly through donations. Admission costs are -Adults: 7 €, Children 7 to 16 and students: 2 €, Children under 7: Free of charge

I hope you have enjoyed this trip. For me, I was glad to find Carl Brewer, Gustav Bubnik and Curt Lindstrom (all at coaches department) as members of Finnish Hall of Fame among all Suomi guys.