PHILOSOPHY OF THE EUEOPEAN MILITARY

MUSEUM

PHILOSOPHY OF THE EUROPEAN MILITARY MUSEUM

A museum performs a unique role in recording man's history,
for it has the responsibility of systematically collecting, pre
serving, and exhibiting significant objects which are historically
important to the development of a particular society or culture.
Whether its collections cover many fields of knowledge or are
limited to one specialized area, the role is the same: to provide
through the subject matter of its exhibits a graphic presentation
of some period of history. In this respect the role of the military
museum is not dissimilar from that of any other museum. Its
general subject area is warfare and military science, and its
artifacts are the weapons, techniques, and equipment employed by
the serviceman as he experienced the incidents of military history.
In

conjecturing about the philosophy of any particular mili

museum,
it is necessary to observe that the museum has four
tary
basic functions. This philosophy can often be discovered by noting
the emphasis

it gives to each of these and the methods it adopts

It is doubtful that any

museum can ascribe equal weight to each, although these functions
However, the tendency is to
are not mutually antagonistic.
emphasize one or two at the expense of the others. The choice of
in giving expression to its objectives.

which function is to take precedence is not often a free one. It

may be, and often is, determined by the amount of money available
to the museum for its total operations. A museum director may
also have his course definitively charted by the museum's author
izing legislation, the views of its policy-making body, or the limited
competence of his staff. Nevertheless, each museum attempts to
carry out in some form its four basic functions.

Every museum is a repository of specimens.

Each brings together objects of historical importance and assures
their preservation for posterity. The museum performs the useful
Custodial.

service of systematic collection, identification,

and description,
and relates these objects to the particular period of history in
which they may have been used. The final and ultimate responsi
bility of the museum as custodian is to make the specimens
to public view and study. In doing so it must choose
whether to display only those significant artifacts which will
make a real contribution to the value of its exhibition, or to show
available