Exhibitions of the V. I. Chapaev House-Museum in Balakovo

About exhibition

The museum was established in 1948 as a branch of the Pugachev Memorial House-Museum of V. I. Chapaev at the initiative of Chapaev’s fellow townspeople and wartime comrades. In 1986 it became a branch of the Saratov Regional Museum of Local Lore. The museum’s collections hold about 6,000 items. The memorial exhibition tells the story of V. I. Chapaev’s life and activities. Among the exhibits are unique items, for example a box of Vasily Chapaev’s carpentry tools and a sideboard he made in his youth. The exhibition recreates the interior of the house from the period when the Chapaev family lived there. Personal belongings and photographs of family members are displayed. A significant portion of the items were donated to the museum by Vasily Ivanovich’s children, Alexander and Klavdiya Chapaev. Also on display are the dress, glasses, wallet and lady’s handbag of machine-gunner M. A. Popova of the 225th Balakovo Regiment of the Chapaev Division, who became the prototype for Anka the Machine-Gunner in the well-known film by the Vasilyev brothers, "Chapaev".