Museum of Nikola Tesla

The Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade is dedicated to one of the most important world scientists, a man who, according to some, invented the 20^th century, mechanical and electrical engineer who thanks to his inventions changed the world and laid foundations for later scientific accomplishments.

Nikola Tesla was born on the January 10^th, 1856 in the village Smiljan located on the border of once large Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Actually, Serbian families fled their lands on different occasions in front of the ferocities of the Turks who occupied the area of modern Serbia, and by accepting to protect the border and fight against the Turks, they were allowed to live in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. The fact he was not born in Serbia gave rise to a hurry of some countries to proclaim Tesla as their own due to his importance as a scientist. Tesla’s father, Milutin, a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church, owned a large collection of books, which Nikola used already in his early youth in order to study and learn new languages. Nikola went to the elementary school and high school in his birthplace Smiljan and Gospici. Two years after the graduation, he left to Graz in Austria in order to study electrical engineering. Before Tesla left for the United States, he had worked in Budapest (Hungary) and Paris (France).

Tesla arrived to the United States in 1884 and started working in the laboratory of Thomas Edison. Nikola patented a large number of his inventions regarding DC generators, electrical engines and current transformers (CT). He also invented Tesla’s transformer which is used in television sets and radio equipemnet. He also invented wireless communications, wireless transfer of electricity, remote control, robotics, Tesla’s turbine and numerous other inventions. He played a key role in the construction of the first hydroelectric plant on the Niagara Falls.
After his death on January 7^th1943 in New York, by the decision of the United States Authorities all of Tesla’s property (including his drawings and sketches) was given to Tesla’s relative Sava Kosanovic. According to Tesla’s wish, all of his property and work was transferred to Belgrade in 1951.
The Museum of Nikola Tesla is located in Krunska Street in Belgrade, in a beautiful villa constructed in 1929.
This museum is a unique scientific institution in Serbia as well as in the world. It is the only museum in the world which preserves the original inheritance of one of the most important world scientists.
Thosevaluable collections include:
Over 160,000 original documents
Over 2,000 books and magazines
Over 1,200 historical technical devices
Over 1,500 photos, original glass photo-panels, technical objects and instruments
Over 1,000 projects and blueprints

In the museum of Nikola Tesla, visitors will be able to enjoy the museum’s permanent exhibition, which is divided into sections dedicated to Tesla’s life and work and another dedicated to the development of the electricity and magnetism.

(!) During each day at the beginning of each hour, guided tours are organized (in Serbian or English, depending on the hour). These tours are not an extra cost, they are included in the ticket price. Visitors will be able to hear and see Tesla’s experiments and see how they work, to hold a neon tube in their hands while the wireless electricity passes through their body and the room and almost magically powers the lamp in their hands.
In this museum there is also the urn that contains Tesla’s ashes. His ashes are located in the third room of the museum in a gold-plated sphere on a marble foundation. Tesla’s body was cremated in New York, while it was transferred to Belgrade in 1957.

Ticket prices for the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade
Regular ticket price is: 500RSD.
Reduced ticket price (for group visits) is: 300RSD.
We advise you to check ticket prices before visiting – check the official website of the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade.

Working hours of the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade
From Tuesday to Sunday working hours are: 10:00– 18:00h.
The museum is closed: on Mondays.
We advise you to check working hours before visiting – check the official website of the Museum of Nikola Tesla in Belgrade.

Interesting facts:

Tesla kept his blueprints in his head, since there was a possibility for someone to steal them.
In honor of Nikola Tesla and his contribution to the world science, one hundred years after his death on theJune 27^th 1956 in Munich, international Electro-technical committee decided to introduce the unit Tesla (T) for magnetic induction.
Tesla’s archives, located in the museum of Nikola Tesla, were placed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2003.
Tesla was absolutely obsessed with the number three. It is said that he washed his hands three times and that he needed to walk three times around a building before entering.
Tesla also could not stand the pearls. He disliked pearls to such extent that it is said he refused to talk with women who were wearing them.
Marriage was not for Tesla. He also said on one occasion: “I doubt you can mention any great invention of a married man”.
The Belgrade’s Airport carries the name Nikola Tesla.
The image of Nikola Tesla was once on the Yugoslavian currency, while today it is on the Serbian, on the bill of 100 RSD.