The heritage collection of the Open University "Dragutin Novak" in Ludbreg is one among noteworthy examples of preservation of traditional and cultural heritage. It came into existance due to efforts of Mr Stjepan Belović, a history and geography teacher at Ludbreg's "Dragica Kancijan" elementary school (today's Ludbreg elementary school). With great enthusiasm and affection toward artefacts of folk provenance, supported by students from the school's "history group", Mr Belović gathered various items and fragments of Ludbreg's folk and cultural heritage. Being a higly stimulative and educational activity, gathering of artefacts started in 1964/65, and resulted in a collection of more than 260 items.
His providence and sense for cultural heritage were not related only to recognizing the evident vulnerability of ethnographic materials and the necessity of methodical gathering of these, but they were also related to the necessity of prevention of losing these artefacts to export and the possibilities of their presentation as parts of the future "Heritage collection".
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| Collection of Ludbreg's heritage artefacts changed several locations during time. It was situated in the Elementary school until 1974, when it was relocated to the Batthyany castle. At last, after being subjected to 3 burglaries and devastation, it was moved to it's today's location – Ludbreg Open University - in 1991. The first exhibition of the heritage collection after it's relocation took place in 1992, and the permanent exhibition was opened to public on 17th of December 1997. The permanent exhibition was formed under supervision of the senior curator, Professor Ljerka Albus, and includes 54 objects (of which some are not publically accessable, due to current conservation and preservation work).
Systematic gathering of heritage artefacts continued in 1998. Since majority of items was obtained through donations, many letters of thanks were granted to those particulary deserving, aiming to foster the sense of preserving the rich cultural heritage of Ludbreg area.
Owing to the management of the Open University, in particulary the Headmaster Mr Branko Dijanošić, in 2005 the Heritage collection was finally moved to an appropriate depot, where it should be kept and treated by experts. The permanent exhibition of the Heritage collection was also placed in the newly organized location, waiting to be exposed in the future museum.
Today, the collection comprises of more than 450 items, and it's being constantly updated. In 2005, we mark the 40th anniversary of the initial collecting of items. The collection is registrated with the Croatian institute for preservation of cultural monuments, and the treated items can also be seen on the Internet.
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