Ethnographic Museum of Kazan University

The Ethnographic Museum of Kazan University was established in 1815 as a cabinet of rarities, where various antique items of household content were stored, which immediately gave the museum an ethnographic orientation. During the first half of the XIX century. it was filled with numerous collections brought by scientists from trips to the Pacific Ocean, Mongolia, Tibet, China.

In connection with the transfer of the Eastern category (faculty) to St. Petersburg, ethnographic collections were transferred to the Department of Russian History, at which the Museum of Fatherland Studies was created. During this period, the museum was replenished with ethnographic collections on the culture of the peoples of Russia (Siberia, the Volga region).

In 1878, the Society of Archaeology, History and Ethnography (OAIE) was established at Kazan University. Under him, on the basis of the Museum of Fatherland history, the ethnographic museum itself was created.

In 1888, the Department of Geography and Ethnography was established at the university, which for educational purposes acquired collections on the life of many peoples of the world from the Umlauf Museum. At the moment they are the basis of all exhibitions.

In 1913, Professor B.F. Adler united all previously existing disparate museums into one ethnographic museum as a large scientific and educational institution.

During the XX century, the museum was replenished with collections on the history, culture and life of the peoples of the Volga region, Tuva and Vietnam.