Nikola Tesla Technical Museum
A hands-on technical collection in Zagreb where Tesla's coil is fired several times a day.
Saved in this browser only - no account, nothing sent anywhere. See your map
The technical museum in Zagreb holds aircraft, locomotives, engines, fire equipment and a planetarium in a large hall, but its centrepiece is the Nikola Tesla cabinet, where working reconstructions of his apparatus are demonstrated by staff at set times through the day - including a Tesla coil throwing visible discharge, which is what people come for. Tesla was born in Smiljan in what is now Croatia, and the museum treats him as an engineer to be demonstrated rather than a figure to be mythologised. Beneath the building is a walk-through replica of a coal mine, staffed and toured on the hour.
What you actually see
- Tesla apparatus demonstrated live - the coil fired at set times.
- A replica mine underground - toured with a guide.
- Aircraft, engines and locomotives - in the main hall.
- A planetarium - with its own scheduled sessions.
When to go
Year round; the demonstrations run at fixed times, so check on arrival. Two to three hours.
Honest expectations
The demonstrations and mine tour run to a timetable and mostly in Croatian, with English on request or in summer. Displays elsewhere are old-fashioned and thinly labelled. It is a tram ride from the old centre.
Nearby
The Mimara Museum is closer to the centre; Zagreb's lower town is north-east.
What to pack for Nikola Tesla Technical Museum
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
