Nikola Tesla’s schooling era at unique exhibition in Croatia
- by croatiaweek
- in News
Croatia Has an Exhibition Like No Other. Discover Original Documents and Artifacts from Nikola Tesla’s Schooling Era
Nikola Tesla is a figure of inexhaustible fascination. His life journey is incredible, and although we think we know everything about him, there are still many items related to his life that you probably haven’t had the chance to see.
However, some of these items are now available to the public and can be viewed in Karlovac, the city where this inventor was educated.
On the first floor of the Nikola Tesla Experience Center Karlovac, in celebration of the Center’s first anniversary, you can visit an informative exhibition featuring original documents and physics teaching aids from Tesla’s school days.
Nine documents attest to Tesla’s time in Karlovac, then known as Rakovac, as a student at the Grand Royal Secondary School, from which he graduated in 1873.
The exhibition showcases pedagogical books and general records, including the registration number under which Nikola Tesla was enrolled in school, a document where he requests a transcript of his graduation exam records, and a petition to take the graduation exam. Among these records is one noting that Tesla was reprimanded due to a poor grade in mathematics.
Additionally, part of the rich collection of physics teaching aids from the 19th and 20th centuries, entrusted to Karlovac Gymnasium, is on display. Some devices are still useful today for teaching optics, mechanics, acoustics, thermodynamics, electrostatics, and electrodynamics.
The Center exhibits ten teaching aids: a polarizer, potentiometer, mechanical wave demonstrator, spectroscope, spherical spark gap, Ruhmkorff inductor, small steam engine, dynamometer, Savart wheel, and electrostatic machine.
The complete collection includes 36 items, part of the inventory acquired after the merger of the Grand Royal Secondary School in Rakovac and the Royal Gymnasium in Karlovac into the Royal Grand Secondary School in Rakovac in 1882.
They were restored in 2013/2014 and, due to their historical and technical significance, were declared a cultural asset of the Republic of Croatia in the 2014/2015 school year.
The informative exhibition remains open until July 24, 2024, the anniversary of Tesla’s graduation in Karlovac. During this period, July 10 also marks Tesla’s birthday.
Visitors can view the exhibition with an admission ticket during the Center’s opening hours – Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 7 PM, and weekends and holidays from 10 AM to 6 PM.
The Nikola Tesla Experience Center Karlovac is a unique center dedicated to the genius of electricity. This educational-tourist complex is located at Rakovac 6 in Karlovac, right next to the school where young Nikola graduated in 1873. With 700 square meters of space spread across three floors, it is a place where technology meets visionary ideas.