Ataturk House (Thessaloniki)
The Ataturk House ( Greek Μουσείο Ατατούρκ Mousío Atatúrk , German 'Ataturk Museum' ) in Thessaloniki , Greece is the birthplace of the Turkish founder Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938). It is located at 17 Apostolou Pavlou Street and houses a permanent exhibition that shows photographs, clothing and other exhibits from the life of the President.
The House
The building is mirror-symmetrical and has a spacious garden on the courtyard side. Inside there is also a large pomegranate tree that Ataturk's father planted. The Turkish Consulate General is also located on the property .
history
The house was built before 1870 in Selânik (Turkish name for Thessaloniki), which was then part of the Ottoman Empire . Since the marriage of Ali Rıza Efendi and Zübeyde Hanım in 1878, it has been inhabited by the Ataturk family. Kemal Ataturk was born in a fireplace room on the second floor in 1881 and spent his childhood there. After the father's death in 1888, the mother and her three children moved into another building.
On November 9, 1933, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey by Kemal Ataturk, a marble plaque donated by the city of Thessaloniki was unveiled on the house. In 1937 the city bought the building and gave it to Ataturk. Without visiting the house again, Ataturk died a year later.
In 1950 the house was renovated according to plans by the literary scholar Enver Ziya Karal. In addition to the original furniture, other pieces of furniture and carpets from the holdings of Dolmabahçe Palace and Topkapı Palace in Istanbul were added to make the house as it could have been in 1878. Clothing from the Anıtkabir Museum in Ankara was also made available. A library was set up on the ground floor. The house was reopened on November 10, 1953.
On the night of September 6, 1955, an explosive device exploded on the house and caused considerable damage to both the house and the surrounding buildings. The reporting in Turkey about the event was a trigger for the pogrom in Istanbul , which was directed primarily against the local Greek minority. Six years later a Turkish court convicted the Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and his circle for the attack.
In 1981 the building was renovated; at the same time, a replica was built on the site of the Ataturk forest farm in Ankara.
The Ataturk House in Thessaloniki is a popular destination for Turkish tourists.
literature
- M. Önder: The Ataturk House in Saloniki. In: Cultura turcica. Volumes 8-10 (anthology) Türk Kültürünü Araştırma Enstitüsü, 1973, p. 43ff.
Web links
- Information about the museum on the website of the Turkish embassy in Vienna
- Photos with comments (German)
Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′ 8.6 ″ N , 22 ° 57 ′ 15.6 ″ E