To the Museum, March!
Text Timo Raussi Photos Aime Ritari, Anu Vahtra, Estonian Sports Museum, Toomas Tuul
Narva Museum organises guided tours to the Kreenholm factory area, normally closed to the public. The photo shows one of the historic halls of the spinning mill.
There are around 170 museums in Estonia. When the editor-in-chief asked me to write a “Top 10” feature about museums worth visiting, I paused for a moment.
During my 20 years living in the country and two years as a holder of an Estonian Museum Card, had I visited enough places to qualify as a reliable guide, especially for travellers who probably do not speak Estonian? Museums are like different literary genres, after all, so it is impossible to avoid the influence of personal taste. Here, then, are my recommendations, listed alphabetically rather than by ranking:
A. Le Coq Beer Museum
Completely redesigned in 2022 with an interactive exhibition, the beer museum in Tartu occupies the malt tower of a brewery that was still producing beer as recently as the 1990s, a rarity even by European standards. Highlights include what may be the world’s oldest unopened bottle of beer, recovered from a shipwreck that sank more than 150 years ago, a Finnish-language video about the brewery that has produced malt beverages since 1783, and a museum shop selling various special production batches.
Järva-Jaani Museum Centre
I fully agree with Jaakko Ahti, who wrote a similar article earlier, and Antto Terras, who has also visited the site: drive 97 kilometres southeast of Tallinn and discover more than 600 “treasures” of Soviet technology preserved outdoors and in exhibition halls. Cars, buses, combine harvesters, a tram, fire engines, and other curious vehicles, along with typewriters, calculators, film projectors, and much more on display elsewhere in the centre, are guaranteed to bring out the grin of an excited little boy.
Kadriorg Art Museum
More than 250 classical sculptures or reproductions from the 18th to 20th centuries on display free of charge in Tallinn? Yes, and in a palace built by Peter the Great for his wife in 1718, now the street-level collection storage area of the art museum. In the other halls, major works from the Serlachius art collection representing Finland’s Golden Age of art remain on display until 23 August.
Mulgi Experience Centre
Mulgimaa is a region spanning parts of Viljandi and Valga counties, where local people rapidly prospered after the abolition of serfdom in the 19th century. By nature, they were—and still are—easy-going like the Savonians and lively like the Karelians, in other words excellent traders. This interactive museum centre presents their history, explains the present and inspires confidence in the future in an entertaining yet informative way.
Narva Museum / Kreenholm Manufacturing Company
During the coronavirus summer, Narva Castle reopened its eastern wing ruins, previously in danger of collapse, as part of the new Narva Museum, complete with glass lifts, wheelchair ramps and windows overlooking the river. The audio guide tells stories in Finnish about the fortress and its objects. On summer Saturdays, guides also lead English-language walking tours through the now-empty giant Kreenholm textile factory, once home to more than 10,000 workers.
Tartu City Museum
I got to know Tartu in the same way many people now explore Tallinn: by venturing beyond the centre. The permanent exhibition “Our Tartu” provides an excellent introduction, telling everyday stories about the character of each district through objects, themes and residents’ own words. Also on display until autumn is an exhibition about the Emajõgi River, featuring scale models of barges received from Lübeck and even a Ford Sierra recovered from the riverbed.
Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
When I once met the person who inspired me to move to Estonia, I watched films about the Singing Revolution and ended up falling in love with the entire nation. Vabamu tells the story of occupation, resistance and freedom through the memories, objects and destinies of Estonians of our grandparents’ generation.
Estonian Police Museum
Online photos of Rakvere are misleading, because this is much more than a children’s play museum. I know Finnish police officers who have praised the creators of the exhibition: the activities genuinely illuminate the everyday work of the police, past and present. Adult favourites include the practical shooting range, hanging upside down in a rolled-over car while strapped in with seatbelts, nostalgic Estonian patrol cars and equipment, and the latest exhibition on smuggling.
Estonian Health Museum
My curiosity was sparked after the acclaimed sleep exhibition, when the newest exhibition, “Goodbye Youth!”, about the effects of aging on body and mind, won the Museum Exhibition of the Year award and remains on display until 15 November. So I headed to Lai Street in Tallinn, and alongside the usual anatomy themes, I now understand my various aches, stiffness, swelling and other “bonuses” of aging in a completely new way.
Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum
…or rather the Sports and Olympic Museum in Tartu, which may not possess a medal and trophy collection quite as grand as its Finnish counterpart. Nevertheless, the engaging exhibition is an excellent experience, with its basketball cage, reaction tester, audio guide narrated by Jari “Litti” Litmanen, exhibition section about para-sports equipment, and a surprise in the basement: a room dedicated to the devastating fire of 1775.
The standard admission tickets to these museums cost a total of €130. The Estonian Museum Card costs €75. It is valid for 365 days from first use and grants access to more than 130 museums. Sounds like a good deal?
To learn more about this and similar topicsattractions beer museum Mulgimaa Museums sports museum Tartu Vabamu vehicles
