Museum of Political History of Russia, National museum in central Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Museum of Political History of Russia is a history museum in Saint Petersburg housed in two connected mansions near the city center. It holds documents, photographs, personal objects, and everyday items tracing political change in Russia from the 19th century to the present day.
The museum was founded in 1919, shortly after the Russian Revolution, in buildings that had belonged to private owners before the political upheaval. The timber merchant Vasily Brant and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya were among the last residents before the properties were taken over by the state.
The building once belonged to ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, who had close ties to the imperial court. Her former rooms still reflect the tastes and habits of a wealthy woman living in the last years of the tsarist era.
The museum sits within walking distance of central Saint Petersburg and is easy to reach by public transport. Allow at least two hours for a visit, as the collection spreads across many rooms on several floors.
The Kshesinskaya mansion, built in 1904–1906 by architect Alexander von Hohen for ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya, housed the Central and Petersburg committees of the Bolshevik Party from March to early July 1917. The museum's collection now numbers over 474,000 items, from Catherine II's legislative papers to belongings of Witte, Nicholas II, Lenin, Gorbachev and Gagarin.
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