The history of the formation of the modern museum begins with the Zeughaus (from the German Zeughaus — armory), founded in Saint Petersburg in 1703 by Peter I, who in 1702 issued a decree to collect military relics "for memory and eternal glory," and in 1703 ordered the preservation for history of a mortar cast in 1605 by the cannon master Andrey Chokhov and his apprentice Pronei Fyodorov, which was kept in the Moscow Arsenal.
In 1711, the Saint Petersburg Foundry Yard was established. In 1776, Prince G. G. Orlov built a three-story arsenal building on Liteyny Prospect, where the Memorial Hall was located on the second floor — a place for storing museum rarities. In 1817, P. P. Svinyin published the first description of the Memorial Hall in Russian and French, and by 1860 this collection numbered more than 10,000 items, housed in 19 halls of the arsenal. In 1850–1851, the Foundry Yard along with the Arsenal was moved to new buildings on the Vyborg side, which thereafter were called the "New Arsenal." Since 1868, the museum has been located on the crownwork of the Peter and Paul Fortress; this building was constructed between 1851 and 1860 by architect P. I. Tamansky according to a plan proposed by Emperor Nicholas I. The collection was initially called the "Hall of Memorable Items of the Main Artillery Directorate," then the Artillery Museum, and since 1903 — the Artillery Historical Museum.
In 1890, the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary described this museum with the following words:
The Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg represents one of the most remarkable historical repositories of all kinds of weapons and military armor and accessories. Its collections are divided into two departments: Russian and foreign. The first encompasses the history of Russian armament and artillery from the late 14th century to contemporary specimens inclusive. The second, foreign department mainly consists of trophies from wars, predominantly of the 18th century. Additionally, the museum houses various historical items that have accidentally ended up there, such as, among others, the uniforms and weapons of Peter I, Peter III, Catherine II, Alexander I, Nicholas I; the saddle of Ivan the Terrible, the working mace of Peter the Great; the uniform and underwear of Frederick the Great; a posthumous cast of Suvorov’s face; the uniform of General Miloradovich, in which he was killed on December 14, 1825; the stool and cane of Stenka Razin, etc.
A significant contribution to the preservation of "inventory, curious and memorable items" was made by the head of the artillery department, Count P. I. Shuvalov; since 1756, the storage was managed by Lieutenant I. I. Meller. In 1872, N. E. Brandenburg was appointed head of the museum, who published the "Historical Catalog of the St. Petersburg Artillery Museum" between 1877 and 1883.
During the Great Patriotic War, a significant part of the museum’s collection was evacuated to Novosibirsk (accompanied by the museum chief, Colonel F. Ya. Kuske), but about one-third remained inside the blockade ring. Under incredibly difficult conditions, the "Novosibirsk" and "Leningrad" groups not only saved unique exhibits but also organized temporary exhibitions, gave lectures in hospitals and military educational institutions, and since 1943 conducted fieldwork collecting rare and valuable exhibits at the front and defense enterprises (trophy weapons, weapons of warrior-heroes, experimental samples, etc.). The museum staff remaining in Leningrad also organized an air defense squad: only after the air raid on October 8, 1941, did it extinguish 120 incendiary bombs on the museum grounds.
In 1963–1965, the funds of the Central Historical Military Engineering Museum and the Military Communications Museum were incorporated into the Artillery Historical Museum.
The exhibition of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops, and Communications Troops is housed in 13 halls arranged in chronological order. Today, the museum’s collection numbers over 850,000 exhibits and covers the period from the 14th century to the present day. After reconstruction in November 2002, more than 250 samples of cannons, self-propelled artillery mounts (SPGs), missile systems, and several tanks are displayed in the museum’s inner courtyard. Among other things, the museum houses ancient bronze guns with rich ornamental decoration by Russian and European founders — Swedish and French trophies. There are several cannons made by the outstanding master Andrey Chokhov. The halls feature many Soviet and German models of small arms and artillery weapons from the Great Patriotic War.
On November 19, 2013, a monument-bust to Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich (sculptor A. A. Apollonov) was unveiled on the museum grounds. In the courtyard to the right of the museum building, near the Kronverksky Canal, there is a monument to the Decembrists executed at this site in 1826. In November 2019, a monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov was unveiled in front of the museum entrance.
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Военно-исторический_музей_артиллерии,_инженерных_войск_и_войск_связи
