Made after the model of complex scientific and technical museums of the world, Zagreb's Technical Museum is of a more general orientation i.e. constitutes a rather complex scientific and technical institution, as opposed to more specialized technical museums covering individual technical fields.

The idea of establishing such a museum in our midst dates back to the end of the past century, which is why a Trades & Crafts Museum existed for a while in Zagreb. The real Technical Museum's history began in 1954, when a decision was made on its establishment, while, in 1959, the Museum was assigned its present location at Savska cesta n° 18. The construction of Museum's facilities (designed by architect Marijan Haberle) began back in 1948. Since they were originally intended for the Zagreb Fair, they were made of timber and only temporary. When the fair moved to another location, the facilities were used for all kinds of social and sports activities, after which they were donated to the Museum that has kept them ever since.

The idea on establishing a technical museum came from Dr. Bozo Tezak, university professor, who later became the Chairman of the Museum's Council and kept his office for a long time. The one who actually implemented the idea and acted as the Museum's first Director was Predrag Grdenic. The holdings' visual display was designed by architect Emil Vicic.

The Museum's first departments (Energy Transformation, Means of Transportation, and Mining) were opened for public in 1963, followed by the Oil collection (1964); the Planetarium (1965), Nikola Tesla's demonstration room (1976); the Essential Agriculture department (1981), the Fire-Fighting department (1992); the Beehive Collection (1994), and the Surveying/Land Registry dept. (1994).