The zither (the citra) was a popular “urban family solo musical instrument” (Ćaleta, 2001:430) played in Hrvatsko Zagorje, Gorski Kotar and in the villages of Podravina and Međimurje. The Collection of musical instruments comprises only five zithers and three of them are described below.
The zither marked with the inventory number Et 48228(a-b) was brought to the Museum from Daruvar where it was used in the old-town family environment in the late 19th century, which was also explained in a music book, written in German, which was found in the box.
The zither marked with the inventory number Et 48544(a-d) was also used in the late 19th and early 20th century. This instrument was manufactured by Gebrüder Kirchner, in Vienna, and it was played by amateur musician Ljubica Kritovac (the grandmother of the late Fedor Kritovac, a Croatian architect, sociologist, publicist and critic). The estate Jarak, near Sremska Mitrovica in Vojvodina, where Ljubica Kritovac lived, was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and string instruments were fashionable in the plains. At the beginning of the 21st century the zither was restored by a craftsman from Zagreb and the Museum purchased it in 2012.
