The Henriquez collection has about 15,000 items in its inventory , including 2,800 weapons. It also has a considerable archive of 24,000 photographs, 287 diaries (38,000 pages), 12,000 books, 2,600 posters and flyers, 500 prints, 470 geographic and topographic maps, 30 archival estates, 290 musical documents, 150 paintings and a film archive (250 cinematic documents kept at the Istituto Luce in Rome). The Henriquez collection is now owned by the City of Trieste, which continues the restoration of materials not yet on show exhibit it in its entirety. There are currently 420 perfectly restored pieces.
Diego de Henriquez was a great collector of the twentieth century (1909-1974) and gathered historical objects of a varied nature throughout the course of his life.
He took part in the Second World War and on that occasion, with the permission of his superiors, began collecting war matériel, creating the first nucleus of his museum. His passion for historical memory also led him to record news of great importance to local history in his diaries and even today they are often the subject of consultation by many scholars and afficianados of local history. He developed his own pacifist view that also explains the curious name of his collection of war finds, which is well summed-up in the following sentence: "Unlike other War Museums (Rome, Turin, London, Paris, New York ...), the Trieste Museum Has a spiritual and educational task. It is organized so as to teach men that the well-being of humanity is not in the hatred but in love."
1. Italian 305/17 Howitzer produced in 1918 by the Armstrong-Pozzuoli factories, to date the only specimen visible to the public. Loaded weight of 33.8 tons, it fired projectiles weighing 440 kilogrammes, one round every five minutes at a maximum range of 17600 metres.
2. Italian minisubmarine, manufactured by Caproni (type CB).
3. Documentary archives, in particular the diaries in which Diego de Henriquez recorded events, testimonies and the fruits of his research.
