KGB Espionage Museum

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KGB Espionage Museum
KGB Espionage Museum 245 West 14th Street.jpg
Location map United States Manhattan 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Manhattan
Former name
KGB Spy Museum
EstablishedJanuary 17, 2019 (2019-01-17)
Location245 West 14th St., New York, New York, United States
Coordinates 40°44′14″N73°59′51″W / 40.737358°N 73.997451°W / 40.737358; -73.997451
TypeHistory Museum
Collection sizeOver 3,900 Objects
Website https://kgbespionagemuseum.org/

The KGB Espionage Museum was a museum dedicated to the unbiased presentation of historical and contemporary KGB espionage equipment and tradecraft. The museum opened in the Chelsea and Greenwich Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City on January 17, 2019, and featured the world's largest collection of KGB-specific spy equipment. [1] The museum offered interactive exhibits and guided tours. The museum closed in fall 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19 and its contents were auctioned. [2]

Contents

History and formation

The museum in Manhattan was founded in 2019 by Lithuanian father and daughter team Julius Urbaitis and Agne Urbaityte. The collection began under private ownership by Mr. Urbaitis in Lithuania where their first museum opened in an old KGB bunker. [3] The majority of the collection wasbrought to the United States and was available for public view for the first time.

Permanent collection

The KGB Espionage Museum was 4,000 sq. feet (370 sq. meters) and exhibited over 3900 objects. The collection consists of original pieces and two replicas. Prize objects include a lipstick gun known as the "Kiss of Death", a Fialka Machine (the Russian version of the Enigma Machine), and a suicide tooth filled with poison. [4] [5]

Exhibitions

The museum divided their collection into the following rough categories:

Interactive exhibits

The KGB Espionage Museum offered several areas of interactivity for visitors such as:

Tours

References

  1. "Educative experience - KGB Espionage Museum - Learning experiences". KGB Espionage Museum. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  2. Bahr, Sarah (October 28, 2020). "K.G.B. Museum Closes; Lipstick Gun and Other Spy Relics Go on Sale" via NYTimes.com.
  3. Guno, Niña V. (February 3, 2019). "New York's KGB museum offers Cold War nostalgia fix". Inquirer Lifestyle. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  4. Visontay, Michael (July 31, 2019). "New York's new Cold War Espionage museum". Traveller. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. "KGB Espionage Museum - KGB Espionage Museum - Museum in NY". KGB Espionage Museum. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  6. Deb, Sopan (January 21, 2019). "A Museum for K.G.B. Aficionados? Da!". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  7. "Announcing Exclusive Mysterious Tour 'The Darkside of the KGB'". KGB Espionage Museum. January 13, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  8. "Announcing New Experiential Show 'Come Back in the USSR 1991'". KGB Espionage Museum. January 13, 2020. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.