Frunze Museum – Bishkek

Frunze Museum – Bishkek – Kyrgyzstan

The Frunze museum was originally opened in December 1925, centred on the small house where he was born. This house is now a feature on the ground floor of the modern building.

The present building was constructed after the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution in 1967. The murals that surround the exterior of the building were the work of Alexei Kamensky and Alexander Voronin. The murals depict events and personalities from the Civil War in which Mihkail Frunze played such an important role, especially in the Central Asia front, that part of the future Soviet Union from where he originated.

There are two exhibition floors (plus the family house on the ground floor). At the time of my visit in the summer of 2025 only the top (second floor) was open to the public. I have no idea why the first floor was closed or how long it will remain so.

The floor that is open tells the story of Frunze through photographs and documents, with an obvious emphasis on the period following the Revolution and the battle against the White (reactionary) Russian forces – assisted by the imperialist powers.

The sculptors of the large statue of Frunze at the end of the room were A Muhutdinov and V A Shestopal.

Although interesting for those who might know little about Frunze what is more impressive, I believe, and which is probably overlooked by many people who visit the museum, are the murals on the outside of the building. These include a profile image of Frunze just above the main entrance and scenes representing the Red Army in its struggle to defend the Revolution between 1918 and 1922. Unfortunately, in places the trees are starting to obscure some of the images but it is still possible to follow the story being presented.