General route
433 km
79 h
27 h
6 h30 min
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During the interwar period, the Research Laboratory of the Weaponry Department of the Ministry of National Defence cost Lithuania as much money as the biggest and most modern arena in the Baltic States, Žalgiris Arena, cost in the 21st century. What’s also symbolic is that the laboratory, too, was the most innovative building in the Baltic States at the time. It’s not only stylish and modern, but is also full of modern technology.
Interestingly, construction of the elegant, Functionalist-style laboratory, designed by Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis, was supervised by a military officer as the building was supposed to be protected from any accidents. The colonel, engineer and doctor of chemistry Juozas Vėbra became the head of the laboratory after it was set up. He searched for ideas for the building visiting the most advanced laboratories in Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Spain.
The inhabitants of Žaliakalnis, of course, were not too happy, considering they were the neighbours of this building on the edge of Ąžuolynas, even going so far as to call it a gas factory. However, construction began in 1932 and lasted for three years. Such a laboratory, if built out of town, would have probably disturbed the peace of fewer people, but it was also necessary to have easy access to the authorities and the university. Special locks, exhaust booths, a constant pressure water system and anti-gas hide-outs—the laboratory really was a building of the future. One of the purposes of the institution was to work with chemical weapons, which, although prohibited internationally, were the subject of frequent military debates.
An interesting fact that says a lot about the wisdom of the people of Kaunas during the interwar period and future events that, unfortunately, did happen, is that high-quality custom-made equipment made abroad wasn’t stolen by the occupants just because the laboratory was built into the frame and was an organic part of the building. Today it’s possible to visit the Faculty of Chemical Technology of Kaunas University of Technology established inside the building. Thematic excursions take place here.
In 2015, the European Commission awarded 44 objects of Modernist interwar architecture in Kaunas the European Heritage Label, among them the Research Laboratory.
During the interwar period, the Research Laboratory of the Weaponry Department of the Ministry of National Defence cost Lithuania as much money as the biggest and most modern arena in the Baltic States, Žalgiris Arena, cost in the 21st century. What’s also symbolic is that the laboratory, too, was the most innovative building in the Baltic States at the time. It’s not only stylish and modern, but is also full of modern technology.
Interestingly, construction of the elegant, Functionalist-style laboratory, designed by Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis, was supervised by a military officer as the building was supposed to be protected from any accidents. The colonel, engineer and doctor of chemistry Juozas Vėbra became the head of the laboratory after it was set up. He searched for ideas for the building visiting the most advanced laboratories in Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Spain.
The inhabitants of Žaliakalnis, of course, were not too happy, considering they were the neighbours of this building on the edge of Ąžuolynas, even going so far as to call it a gas factory. However, construction began in 1932 and lasted for three years. Such a laboratory, if built out of town, would have probably disturbed the peace of fewer people, but it was also necessary to have easy access to the authorities and the university. Special locks, exhaust booths, a constant pressure water system and anti-gas hide-outs—the laboratory really was a building of the future. One of the purposes of the institution was to work with chemical weapons, which, although prohibited internationally, were the subject of frequent military debates.
An interesting fact that says a lot about the wisdom of the people of Kaunas during the interwar period and future events that, unfortunately, did happen, is that high-quality custom-made equipment made abroad wasn’t stolen by the occupants just because the laboratory was built into the frame and was an organic part of the building. Today it’s possible to visit the Faculty of Chemical Technology of Kaunas University of Technology established inside the building. Thematic excursions take place here.
In 2015, the European Commission awarded 44 objects of Modernist interwar architecture in Kaunas the European Heritage Label, among them the Research Laboratory.
