Nikola Tesla Museum: Father of Electricity
Nikola Tesla Museum, a museum where you can see Nikola Tesla’s inventions up close, is a must-visit place on your trip to Belgrade. It is a nice experience to visit a museum belonging to Tesla, who was underappreciated during his lifetime and was intimately involved with electricity.
Who is Nikola Tesla?
Tesla was an American inventor of Serbian origin, born in the 19th century and died in 1943. Although Tesla’s financial support was deliberately restricted and thus prevented him from realizing his projects, he has left very important traces in the world history of electricity. Nikola Tesla’s inventions include neon lights, microwave ovens, speedometers and fluorescent lamps, which are the basis of the products we frequently use in our daily lives. Serbs embrace this name. For this reason, you can hear the name Tesla everywhere in Belgrade. Even the name of their airport is Tesla Airport. It is that important.
Although Tesla’s belongings and projects were confiscated by the US government after his death in the US, his family somehow managed to get some of his belongings. The Nikola Tesla Museum was founded in 1952 and exhibits Tesla’s documents, personal letters, personal belongings and technical drawings. Of course, you can also see the inventions of Tesla, an inventor, here.
The entrances have periods and they are admitted during those periods. Visitors are admitted in groups of 20-30 people. When you enter, there is a video show first. Tesla’s life is shown as a video in English for about 15 minutes. After you enter, sit on the chairs where the video is shown, there are a limited number of chairs, you may have to watch it standing up. To see the interactive parts of the museum, I recommend you to coincide your visit with the guided hours.
Then we had the opportunity to get to know Tesla’s inventions more closely with a guide, a student from the University of Belgrade, who was there as a volunteer narrator. For example, we are told about a motor that is the ancestor of the motor Tesla Motors uses in vehicles today. The invention, one of the first motors Tesla made, is still in use today. We can also see small models of his projects such as the Wardenclyffe Tower, which is capable of lowering electricity prices and for which no financial support is given, and the Philadelphia Experiment, a remote-controlled boat project. The Tesla Coil, which enables wireless transmission of electricity, is probably one of his most important inventions. The fluorescent light they give to our hands works without any connection.
Since Tesla was cremated after his death, you can see his ashes in the museum, or rather the container containing his ashes. The container containing Tesla’s ashes is displayed in a glass-protected area in a gold-colored sphere that cannot be missed.
What are the entrance fee and visiting hours of Nikola Tesla Museum?
Tesla Museum can be visited every day of the week except Monday. The museum opens its doors at 10:00 and closes at 20:00. Tesla Museum entrance fee is 500 RSD.
Where is Nikola Tesla Museum and how to get there?
The Tesla Museum is located 10 minutes from Knez Mihailova, one of the most popular and busy streets in Belgrade. The distance from St. Sava’s Cathedral is 1 km. If you want to come from Kalemegdan, you have to walk 2.7 km.
