We see them on the street patrolling, providing security in various institutions, and being present on the occasion of large-scale events (matches, concerts, protests, etc.) in their blue uniforms, like the deep sea. They are confused with the police and few people know their history of over 170 years. They are the gendarmes and an exhibition was dedicated to them, which will also be at the Golești Museum, from July 19, 2024.
The Romanian Gendarmerie 1850-2020 exhibition was organized by the National History Museum of Romania in collaboration with the ASTRA National Museum Complex in Sibiu, the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie, the RoMilitaria Association and various private collectors.
The exhibition aims to present the history of this institution, founded by royal order on April 3, 1850, by the ruler Grigore Alexandru Ghica.
Until the Organic Regulations of Moldova and Wallachia (1831-1832), internal order, safety of property and people, border guarding were entrusted to the commandants of the armies. The first state bodies for the protection of internal order were created, which bore the names “Land Guards” and “National Militia”. With the ascension to the throne of Moldova, on June 22, 1849, of Grigore Alexandru Ghica, along with numerous economic and administrative measures aimed at the modernization of Moldova, the ruler promulgated the “Legislation for the reformation of the Corps of Servants into the Corps of Gendarmes”. The adoption of the law by which the structures and attributions of the institution were regulated constituted the source of the new and numerous regulations in the period that followed. This moment marks the consecration of the Romanian Gendarmerie.
The Rural Gendarmerie was established on the initiative of Lascăr Catargiu, in 1883. The gendarmes participated with troops in the War of Independence (1877-1878), in the Balkan War of 1913, in the First World War (1916-1918), in the Second World War. The gendarmerie was involved in historical events with a particular impact on society, such as the Uprising of 1907, the Great Union, the guidance and sorting of refugees from Poland in 1939, the defense of the Romanian population that took refuge from the ceded territories in 1940, the neutralization of the Iron Guard during the rebellion in 1941, ensuring order after August 23, 1944, defending the population against the abuses of the Soviet Army of occupation.
In April 1948, the process of sovietization of the Army and Gendarmerie began, by hiring personnel with “healthy origins”, changing the uniform, closing the school of gendarmerie officers in Bucharest. The establishment of the Security Forces (1949) and the People’s Militia led to the disappearance of the Gendarmerie. The institution was re-established in 1990, with the return to the democratic system of government, receiving as its fundamental mission the protection of the population.
The exhibition includes heritage pieces from the collections of the National History Museum of Romania and the Romanian Gendarmerie Museum, as well as objects from private collections. 15 replicas of uniforms made by the RoMilitaria Association and documented by Nicolae Adrian Alexe, museographer degree I A within the ASTRA National Museum Complex in Sibiu, give us an image of the historical evolution of these outfits.
This fund has been supplemented with items of historical value from private collectors who are passionate about military history. Uniforms of the Security forces, of the current Gendarmerie will be able to be seen in the exhibition that will stop at the Golești Museum.
The opening will take place on July 19, 2024, from 12:00 p.m., at the museum headquarters.
The exhibition can be visited until November 3, 2024.
Curator of the exhibition is Flavius Nicolae Roaita, museographer degree I A, Department of the National Research and Documentation Center in the Field of Museography, “Radu Florescu”, National History Museum of Romania.
Author of presentation text: scientific researcher III Dr. Camelia Călin
