Contemporary history museum focuses on medicine, end of WWII in 2025

The museum, whose only permanent exhibition in Ljubljana is titled Slovenians in the 20th Century, hosts a number of temporary exhibitions every year.

It is located in Cekin Mansion in Ljubljana's Tivoli Park, but outside the capital, one of its homes is also Rajhenburg Castle in Brestanica in the east of the country, where it displays three permanent exhibitions, including one on WWII deportations of Slovenians.

Slovenia's medical advances

Held in Cekin Mansion, this year's exhibition on medicine will focus on the development of medical practices from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, the museum has recently told the STA.

It will shed light on some of the extraordinary medical advances that put Slovenia on the map, featuring rarely seen objects, photographs, films and stories.

The exhibition will provide insight into the history of healthcare, the work of health staff in emergency situations such as wars, natural disasters and epidemics, and the achievements that have shaped Slovenia's medical heritage and made the country's healthcare one of the most advanced in the world.

Starting in mid-March, this will be the country's first comprehensive exhibition on this topic held at one place.

80th anniversary of the end of WWII

The museum will hold a series of exhibitions and other events to mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War.

The dedicated programme will start on 24 January when an exhibition featuring objects from Nazi prisons and camps will open in Ljubljana. It will focus on memory-keepers and cookbooks as well as other personal objects revealing tragic stories.

From April to May, the outdoor venue in front of Cekin Mansion will host the End of World War II exhibition, which will include photographs taken on Slovenian soil depicting the war as well as its consequences.

The commemoration will wrap up with another exhibition, this one dedicated to art created by the deportees in concentration camps. Paying tribute to the universal value of resistance and creativity, it will be held from November 2025 to January 2026.

Series of small exhibitions

There will also be a series of smaller-scale temporary exhibitions complimenting the Slovenians in the 20th Century permanent exhibition. It will focus on a range of issues such as sports, art, war and social affairs, and mark a number of anniversaries observed this year.

One of the anniversary exhibitions will be dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. It will feature stories of Srebrenica survivors living in Slovenia.

World War I will feature in the exhibitions as well as there will be a display of photographs taken by Slovenian soldier Stanko Oražem (1887-1965), who fought in the war.

The series will moreover include a photography exhibition titled Ljubljana - City in Green, which will be held in Ljubljana Castle, and an exhibition celebrating pop singer-songwriter Andrej Šifrer. Another one will mark the 90th anniversary of the Slovenian Chess Federation.

The museum's 2025 programme also includes exhibitions dedicated to 70 years of social work in Slovenia and the rise and demise of the construction giant Gradis.