The collections were officially opened to the public in 1817, making the museum the oldest institution of its kind on the territory of modern-day Romania.

Today, in its extended form, it is a complex comprising six museums, which, without being separate administrative entities, are situated in different locations around the city and have their own distinct cultural programmes.

The Museum of History is part of a building which is considered to be the most important ensemble of non-religious Gothic architecture in Transylvania.

The museum initially focused its activities on representing the historic characteristics of Hermannstadt (Nagyszeben, present Sibiu) and its surroundings, but in time it has come to reflect the entire area of Southern Transylvania.

At the front, a reconstructed shop is decked out with wooden counters and stacks of glass jars creating the atmosphere of an 18th-century apothecary.