Atatürk’s Residence and Railway Museum in Ankara, Turkey

Atatürk’s Residence and Railway Museum occupies the historic Direksiyon Binası within the Ankara Train Station complex. Built in 1892 during work on the Baghdad Railway, the two-storey structure became Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s residence and Commander-in-Chief headquarters after his arrival in Ankara on 27 December 1919. It served this role during the Turkish National Struggle until 1922.

From Railway Administration Building to Museum

The Direksiyon Binası was one of the state buildings available in Ankara when Mustafa Kemal and the Representative Committee established themselves in the city. Meetings and decisions connected with the National Struggle took place here while the building also functioned as Atatürk’s residence.

Turkish State Railways later reorganized the building as a museum and opened it to the public on 24 December 1964. Personal objects, furniture and other material associated with Atatürk and the National Struggle underwent conservation and restoration work beginning in April 2012. The museum reopened on 23 September 2012, the 156th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish railways.

The stone building retains its two-storey form, arched window details, stone-decorated corners and wooden roof eaves. Its floors now serve two related purposes: the ground level presents railway history, while the upper level preserves rooms associated with Atatürk’s use of the building.

Railway Collection on the Ground Floor

The ground floor contains railway objects documenting different periods of rail transport in Turkey. Exhibits include railway documents, commemorative medals, track switches, rail samples and silver service pieces once used in dining and sleeping cars.

Administrative and communications material forms another part of the collection. Visitors can see Ottoman-period seals, diplomas, identity documents and tickets alongside locomotive plates, telephones and telegraph equipment used in railway operations.

Several individual objects connect the collection with people and events beyond routine railway operations. Among them are a gold-plated miniature railway carriage presented by the British government to Sultan Abdülaziz and a mother-of-pearl-inlaid desk associated with the sultan’s private railway carriage. The museum also preserves the pick and shovel used by Atatürk during the 1925 groundbreaking ceremony for the Samsun–Çarşamba railway line.

A model steam locomotive presented by the German railway administration to Behiç Erkin, the first general director of the State Railways administration, is also held in the museum.

İbrahim Çallı’s 1920 Painting

The ground-floor displays include İbrahim Çallı’s 1920 painting Kurtuluş Savaşı’nda Kağnı Çeken Kadınlar, commonly rendered in English as Women Pulling an Oxcart in the War of Independence. The oil painting measures about three metres by two metres and retains its original single-piece wooden frame.

The Residence Rooms Upstairs

The second floor changes the focus from railway technology to the building’s residential history. The preserved arrangement includes Atatürk’s reception room, study and bedroom, as well as a room associated with Fikriye Hanım.

Furniture and personal objects help document how the upper floor was used during the early 1920s. Material connected with Fikriye Hanım includes photographs, a bedspread, an oud, identity documentation, family records and a 1924 issue of the newspaper Vatan containing her death notice. Some of these objects entered the collection through a donation by her nephew Hayri Özdinçer.

Atatürk’s Railway Coach

Ankara Train Station is also the location of Atatürk’s preserved railway coach, displayed by TCDD since 1964. The coach belonged to the White Train used for Atatürk’s domestic journeys during the final years of his life. Its surviving interior includes spaces arranged for sleeping, sitting, bathing and staff use.

Visiting the Museum

The museum is inside the Ankara Train Station complex in the Ulus area. TCDD currently lists visiting hours as 09:00–12:00 and 13:00–17:00 on weekdays. It is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and religious holidays. Because opening arrangements can change, visitors planning a specific date can check the current information on the official TCDD museum page before travelling.