With the start of the new school year, we have chosen as September's theme an artifact of the history of education that has very recently added to our collection. The badge of the State Gymnasium for Girls of the Hungarian Kingdom in Miercurea-Ciuc was donated to the city by the historian Dr. Lukács Bence Ákos, former senior consul of the General Consulate of Hungary in Miercurea-Ciuc, which he found during his research.

This cap badge was in use in the years after the Second Vienna Decision, between 1940 and 1944. On it, next to the royal crown and the Hungarian coat of arms, you can see the coat of arms of the city of Miercurea-Ciuc, with the following inscription: CSÍKSZEREDA M. KIR. ALL. LEÁNY GIMNÁZIUM (translation: Miercurea-Ciuc State Gymnasium for Girls of the Kingdom of Hungary) It also forms the basis of the current coat of arms of the gymnasium's successor, the "Petőfi Sándor" General School.

The first school year of the Civil School for Girls in Ciuc County was opened in 1880 in the old barracks of the border police, under the leadership of the headmistress Lakatos Jánosné Pintye Karolina. In 1891 the school moved to a new building built by the Association of private goods of Ciuc, a building where educational activities are still held today.

The girls who were admitted to the school supported by the Association of private goods of Ciuc could study, under strict conditions, in addition to traditional subjects, such as home economics, education, health and handicrafts. They could also participate in various workshops, theater groups and choirs. Even outside of class, female students were subject to the school's strict rules and could only go to the theater or various events with the permission of the principal and under the supervision of their parents.

After the First World War, the school went through a period of crisis. In 1927, the institution was abolished, and the building became the Petru Rareș Secondary School, a mixed school for boys and girls, with teaching in the Romanian language.

After the second decision in Vienna, starting from the school year 1940-1941, the Civil School for Girls was re-established and its transformation into a Gymnasium for girls was initiated: "A movement was initiated among the city officials and parents to transform the Civil School for Girls into a secondary school for girls. The movement was based on the fact that many talented girls could not pursue an intellectual career because there were no girls' high schools in the county. The movement has been welcomed by the Ministry of Culture and it is hoped that the Girls Gymnasium will be operational from September this year. According to the information available so far, the new gymnasium will be temporarily located in the building of the Girls' Civil School, maintaining, of course, at least for the moment, the Girls' Civil School, whose teaching staff is mostly also qualified as gymnasium teachers". (Székely Nép, 30 August 1942)

The period after the Second World War brought serious changes again, as a result of the educational reform of 1949, the teachers' school from Șumuleu Ciuc was moved into the building, so that the Girls' Civil School was abolished. After the closure of the normal school in 1955, the institution continued to function under the name of General School no. 1, and after the change of regime, in 1990 it was named "Petőfi Sándor" General School.

The school badge can be admired at the museum ticket office, from Tuesday to Sunday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.