History Museum Of Bosnia and Herzegovina — Attraction in City of Sarajevo

I was born in Sarajevo in the early 2000s, and had vague childhood memories of visiting the Historical Museum, which was mostly focused on the Yugoslav period back then. Revisiting it this summer, I was impressed and wonderfully surprised by the care and detail that was put into all the exhibitions. Established after the Second World War to highlight the communist history of Yugoslavia, the museum had unfortunately been neglected by the government after the more recent war in Bosnia in the 90s. However, the museum has now taken on a new life, thanks to the hard work and dedication of its employees, and it now serves as a testament to the city's resiliance. In fact, with its own scars, the museum itself has become a sort of exhibit.

The temporary exhibtion "The Labyrinth of the 90s is both poignant and insightful, serving as a display of the life and culture of the different nations of former Yugoslavia, during its most turbulent years. The permanent Sarajevo siege exhibition offers a powerful glimpse into the lives of people during the siege, as well as the suffering of the city itself. The outdoor "Wer ist Walter?" installation is beautifully conceptualized to show the antifascist resistance in Bosnia during WW2, while also bearing some scars of the more recent war.

A special mention goes to Amar, a passionate guide and historian, who brought the museum's depot collection to life with his fascinating stories and deep knowledge of the artefacts, and the people they belonged to.

For anyone visiting Sarajevo, this museum is a must-see if you have any interest in the...

I went to the History Museum with some frends to buy a copy of a new book on Tito and take a quick look and ended up staying there for five hours. I was amazed at how much had been done there and how interesting the exhibitions were. The exhibition on the Siege of Sarajevo felt like travelling in time and was completely heart-wrenching. At moments, I felt like I was back there, in the war-time Sarajevo. There is so much to see and learn, to experience. Another exhibition that I really liked was the Labyrinth of the 90s, which uses different media to present the life and the phenomena of the 90s in former Yugoslavia. Loved it! It's a visiting exhibition, so be quick if you want yo see it. We also saw the exhibition titled "Wer ist Walter? Topography of antifascist resistance in BiH". Just as amazing as the first two. It's an party outdoor exhibition and very interesting and educational in a light and inovative way. We were pampered by three different museum workers, each guiding us through a different section. They took their time, explained a lot and told numerous stories behind the exhibits. I'll definitely keep a closer look on the activities of the History Museum in Sarajevo and will visit every time I'm...

Unfortunately, I am joining the chorus of negative reviews. I really wanted to learn about the Bosnian war and the siege of Sarajevo that seems to be so prevalent in the collective memory of locals, but the museum provided no information about it. There’s an exhibit about a play during the war (downstairs, it looks a bit dingy and smells a bit like piss) and an exhibit about refugees, but it is minimal and doesn’t explain even how these situations came to be. There’s also an exhibit about surveillance of journalists in Bosnia but once again it explains very little about who and what is trying to instill fear.

I asked the ticketer where I could find information about the Bosnian war and to his credit, he let me borrow a book from the gift shop to read in the museum so that I could find out more. I basically read about the siege of Sarajevo and the NATO operation that ended the war in an hour, and I wonder why they couldn’t make this into an exhibit. Still have many questions, but the museum answers none of them,...