This collection is one of the oldest, but also one of the most complex collections in the Museum. Immediately after the purchase of the building at 18 Opaticka Street for the National Hall and the Illyrian Library, and the birth of the idea of founding the National Museum, some of the earliest donations made by patriotically-minded citizens included old weapons. Since the Collection holds items from the estate of the leader of the Illyrian Movement, Ljudevit Gaj, and they were kept at the Museum while he was still alive, we consider them to be the first acquisitions made by our Museum. Through numerous succeeding donations of entire collection or of individual items by great Croatian patriots like the Jelacic, Kulmer and Daubachy families, no name but a few prominent examples, as well as through continuous purchases, the Weapons Collection has grown to become one of the largest and most varied collections with specimens of weapons used in our region from the 13^th century to the present day.

The complexity of the Collection is reflected in the diversity of the items, from the basic division into cold steel and fire-arms to further subdivisions within these two groups. The cold steel collection contains a number of specialised collections arranged by types – for example: swords, daggers, knives, sabres, yataghans, and weapons on clubs and poles, which further subdivide into maces, clubs, battle flails, axes, halberds, glaives, partisans, spontoons and spears. This part of the collection also includes bows and arrows, and several beautiful crossbows. Apart from offensive weapons, the Collection holds a large number of defensive weapons – chest and back armour, chain-mail, shields and helmets. These collections hold various specimens, catalogued by type, workmanship, and period of production and use.

The advent of fire-arms in the 15^th century marked a new page in the history of warfare and the history of development of weapons. Our museum can indeed be proud of the number and types of these items, which encompass the range from the oldest manufactured fire-arms from the 15^th century to contemporary exhibits made after 1990.

The Collection holds the oldest matchlock rifles, the most luxurious wheel-lock rifles and pistols, the finest specimens of flintlock and percussion-lock fire-arms made by the best gunsmiths in Europe, and, what is most important, in many cases by gunsmiths in Croatia: in Zagreb, Karlovac, Otocac and elsewhere. The quality and beautiful workmanship of these fire-arms made by Croatian gunsmiths can be compared with those of the best gunsmiths from Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Austria.

Since the historical and political factors were such that Croatia never produced weapons on a mass scale, the variety of manufactures and the types of weapons used in our region has made the Weapons Collection of the Croatian History Museum especially interesting.

Diligent curators, like Dragutin Rakovac, Ljudevit Vukotinovic, Sime Ljubic and many others, have collected and catalogued items received by the Museum, so that the Weapons Collection today holds some 4.000 various items.

As a result of the tireless work of Mrs Marija Sercer, who was in charge of the Museum’s Weapons Collection form many years, and who devoted her entire career to the study and professional cataloguing of the Collection, we have a number of scholarly publications and catalogues which established her as one of the best-known weapons experts not only in Croatia but in Europe as a whole.