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The Tallinn City Life Museum has reopened its diverse exhibitions to the public after nearly a year of renovation work. The museum gives visitors an understanding of who the business angels operating in the Hanseatic League more than 500 years ago were, what the local professional communities were like, and how all of this was reflected in the city\u2019s social life.<\/p>\n
The wealth of medieval Reval, as Tallinn was known at the time, was based on trade. The Brotherhood of the Blackheads was an organisation of young, unmarried merchants, and, for several centuries, a driving force of innovation and development in the city. They brought new fashions and customs to Reval from abroad, and they led colourful social lives filled with parties, competitions, balls, and parades. At the same time, they also protected the city by maintaining Tallinn\u2019s first volunteer fire brigade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe art treasures of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads are among Tallinn\u2019s most valuable historical items. Before the renovation, they could not be displayed on such a large scale,\u201d said Heli Nurger<\/b>, Director of the Tallinn City Life Museum, at the opening of the renewed exhibition spaces.<\/p>\n
The entire second floor of the museum now features an interactive exhibition titled \u201cThe Rich and Handsome\u201d, which focuses on the theme of the Blackheads. It has been 625 years since the first mention of the brotherhood in historical records. The community, which operated in Tallinn until 1940, and later lived quietly in exile in Hamburg, is the oldest organisation continuously connected to Tallinn\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
A new permanent exhibition, \u201cLyndanise\u2013Reval\u2013Tallinn. City Life Through the Centuries\u201d, has been created on the museum\u2019s fourth floor. It presents various aspects of everyday life in Tallinn, including education and church life, industry, and trade. What has Tallinn looked like in the visions of different eras? Some of the plans on display were never realised.<\/p>\n
Among the exhibition items are several of Tallinn\u2019s treasures: the original weathervane of Old Thomas that once stood atop the Town Hall, a gilded city key, a treasure chest used to store the Town Hall\u2019s most important documents, and the Dannebrog\u2014a flag gifted to the city by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.<\/p>\n