Establishment of the Museum

The establishment of the museum in Bjelovar, an "institution of memory" that collects, preserves, processes, interprets and presents to the public the most significant and precious memories from the past of the inhabitants of Bjelovar and its area, was preceded by the existence of several private collections: collector Heinrich (Hink) Kamer, an employee of the Austro-Hungarian Railways who often changed places of residence, serving for the longest time in Carinthia until he settled permanently in Bjelovar, and Ivan Barešić, a construction entrepreneur and musician, collector of antiques and honorary conservator for the city and district of Bjelovar, who opened his private collection to the public on November 15, 1953. Today, the Town Museum of Bjelovar owns the largest part of Barešić's collection and only a smaller part of Kamer's.

The initiative for the foundation of the Town Museum of Bjelovar was initiated in 1946 on behalf of the then Cultural Center by the teacher Rade Kovač, later one of its first directors. Three years later, on August 25, 1949, a decision was made to establish the Regional Museum, which employs two curators and one part-time administrative officer. By decision of the People's Committee of the Bjelovar municipality on April 27, 1954, the museum changed its name to the Bjelovar City Museum.

In the beginning, it changed several locations until it settled permanently in the one-story building of the old city administration, built-in 1832 in today's historical center of the city, which has the status of a first-category cultural property. It was completely renovated in the period from 2007 to 2010.