Museum of the Pharmacy in Viekšniai

Contacts
Address: Tilto g. 3, LT-89492, Viekšniai, Mažeikių rajonas. 
Tel. (+370 ~ 443) 37 420.
Head of the Museum – Danutė Končienė.

Information for Visitor

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 9–17;
Saturday 9–16.

Admission:
adults – 2 Lt;
children, pupils, students – 1 Lt.

Guided tours:
adults – 15 Lt;
children, pupils, students – 10 Lt.

Exposition
The flat of the intellectual of the beginning of the 20th century;
History of pharmacy;
Household utensils.

The museum of Viekšniai pharmacy is a museum – chemist’s shop. In this building, the exposition of the former pharmaceutist’s J. Aleksandravičius daily house life is also presented. The founder of the museum is the municipality of Akmenė district.
The exposition is continually renewed. In the future it should be enriched with new exhibits and considerably enlarged. The workers of a museum -chemist’s – V. Lizdenis and D. Končienė – pleasantly welcome visitors. One of the rarest exhibits of the museum is the straps for human skin, earlier used for curing wounds and ulcers.

About the Pharmacy of Viekšniai
The museum of Viekšniai Pharmacy is established in a wooden building situated in the centre of the town. In 1859 the pharmaceutical chemist Theodore von Geldner, who had arrived form Telsiai to Vieksniai, bought this building and adapted it for pharmacy business. During these times, the pharmacy prospered, but Theodore von Geldner started supporting the rebels of 1863 revolt, and consequently had suffered because of that. As a result, his pharmacy business deteriorated. In 1870 Theodore von Geldner died, and the pharmacy was sold by auction.
Having purchased the pharmacy, Vincent Aleksandravičius transformed it into an exemplary institution. For many years Viekšniai pharmacy has been a good practice centre for the students of pharmaceutics. The pharmacy stores a recipe for furuncles that had been prescribed for Simonas Daukantas, a famous Lithuanian writer. A frequent visitor of the pharmacy was the doctor J. Biržiška, as well as other intellectuals of Viekšniai. The last owner of the pharmacy, Juozas Aleksandravičius, had enlarged the pharmacy base: he collected many old pharmaceutical instruments, apparatus and necessary equipment.
For a long time the local people considered the pharmacy to be ‘magical’. In 1915 a Viekšniai suffered a huge fire that destroyed the whole town but the pharmacy: the fire stopped beside the building. For the inhabitants of Viekšniai this was a true miracle. During the WWII another ‘miracle’ had happened: the fragments of cracked shells holed all the pharmacy’s premises, one corner of the building was demolished, the roof was torn down by a grenade, yet the pharmacy remained unharmed. The second huge fire that had stormed in Vieksniai did not strike the ‘magical’ building either. In 1995, after the restoration a museum - chemist’s shop was brought into operation in the former building of the pharmacy.