Ton Duc Thang Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

Ton Duc Thang Museum is a famous memorial museum in Vietnam, located at No. 5 Ton Duc Thang Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The museum has the task of researching, collecting, inventorying, preserving documents and artifacts related to the life and revolutionary career of President Ton Duc Thang, the affection of the people of the country and international friends for him. Ton Duc Thang Museum is one of the Top 12 museums in Ho Chi Minh City and worth a visit.

General information

Opening hours: 8:00 – 11:30, 13:30 – 16:30 from Tuesday to Sunday

Address: 5 Ton Duc Thang, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. The museum is located in the heart of Saigon, looks over Saigon River and Bach Dang Harbor Garden. It is only 550 m from Saigon Opera House, 950 m from Ho Chi Minh City’s People Committee and Nguyen Hue walking street. So that it is easy to reach this museum to learn more about Vietnam history and the life of the famous president of Vietnam.

Free entrance

Website: http://www.baotangtonducthang.com

Phone : +84 2838.297542, internal number 114 or +84 28 38.257478

History

Ton Duc Thang Museum was established under Decision No. 86 / QD-UB of May 18, 1988 of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth (August 20, 1888 – August 20, 1988), originally named “Exhibition House of Life and Career of President Ton Duc Thang” (Briefly, President Ton Duc Thang Memorial House). After that, it was officially renamed Ton Duc Thang Museum according to Decision No. 894 / QD dated August 13th, 1990, of the Minister of Culture – Information – Sports and Tourism (now the Ministry of Culture and Sports and travel). The main building of this museum was formerly the residence of Tran Thien Khiem, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam and later embellished into a museum.

Garden and building

The museum was built on a land with on land with 2500 m2, the front building has two floors and an area of 700 m2. The back building has only one floor. The architecture of the two-story building is simple and modern, it has a cubic shape, the facade is painted white and cream. A flag of Vietnam is hung on the facade, a small water lily pond and the car used by Uncle Ton are on the left of the building.

The spacious garden is decorated with lots of green grass, trees, plants and flowers, lamposts. In the center of the garden is placed an eye-catching bust of President Ton Duc Thang on a high black granite pedestal on which written “Chủ Tịch Tôn Đức Thắng (1888 – 1960)” (President Ton Duc Thang, year of birth and year of death).

The building of Ton Duc Thang Museum and a large garden with Uncle Ton’s statue, lotus pond, green grass and trees

Car used by Uncle Ton is displayed outside of the Ton Duc Thang Museum, Ho Chi Minh City

Displayed artifacts in the museum

At present, Ton Duc Thang Museum has the memorial room, 05 permanent galleries (Uncle Ton with the workers; Life and career; 15 years in Con Dao prison; Uncle Ton at the ATK – Viet Bac; Uncle Ton through the Fine Artworks) and 01 thematic showroom (Gifts of President Ton Duc Thang), with an area of ​​over 700 m2. The museum has vividly expressed and generalized Ton Duc Thang’s life and career through many artifacts, documents, and pictures. The museum has a display system with about 1,000 artifacts, documents, and pictures. After many donations, the Museum is currently storing more than 16,500 artifacts, documents, and pictures, including precious ones about the revolutionary life and career of President Ton Duc Thang and the leaders of the Party, State and Government of Vietnam through the periods.

Some typical relics such as a childhood house at Ong Ho islet (My Hoa Hung commune – An Giang); the picture of the young Ton Duc Thang when being 18 years old, going to Saigon to study and work as a mechanic; a wooden chest used for time being a student of Asian Mechanical School; events pulling anti-war flags in the Black Sea; founding the guild and leading the movement of Saigon workers in the 1920s.

First Floor

Memorial room

Memorial room facing the main entrance is the most solemn rooms in the museum. Visitors usually enter the room, burn incenses and show their respect to Uncle Ton. Every year, on birth and death anniversaries of President Ton Duc Thang and great national events, the government and Vietnamese people usually come here to present Uncle Ton with incenses.

The memorial room was designed according to religious culture of South Vietnam. Wood tile flooring, clay tile and wood roof add warmth to the room. The wooden pillars, carved wood decors in Vietnamese traditional style and lotus decorations on the wall make the memorial room familiar with Vietnamese people.

In front of the room are placed two big ceramic vases, the left one is a President Ton Duc Thang’s portrait vase, the right one depicts Uncle Ho and Uncle Ton shaking their hands. In the room are hung two paintings depicting the stilt house where Uncle Ho lived and landscape outside.

2 big vases depicting Uncle Ton and Uncle Ho

Memorial room of President Ton Duc Thang

Lacquer painting depicts the stilt house where Uncle Ton lived

Room of Uncle Ton with the workers

Room of Uncle Ton with the workers

A set of carpentry and vehicle repair tools that Uncle Ton used to repair bicycles and other household appliances

15 years imprisonment in Con Dao

Room of 15 years imprisonment in Con Dao

Model of Rice grinding cellar in which prisoners with over 5kg fetters and chains were beaten and forced to push giant holders to grind rice.

An iron set of fetter that used to detained prisoners in Con Dao

Uncle Ton at ATK Room

Room of Uncle Ton at ATK

Comrade Ton Duc Thang’s spectacles and bamboo pen during his stay in Northernmost Vietnam

Second floor

Uncle Ton through the Fine artworks

Dozens of paintings and artworks about Uncle Ton

Uncle Ton’s Life and Career Room

23rd September 1945, 13 prisoners including Uncle Ton left Con Dao prison by a canoe

Read more about Top 12 museums in Ho Chi Minh City