Okupatsioonide Muuseum - Tallinn, Estonia
N 59° 25.962 E 024° 44.393
35V E 371799 N 6590412
The permanent exposition of the Occupations Museum in Tallinn, which was opened in 2003, reflects developments in Estonia from 1940 to 1991, when Estonia was alternately occupied by the Soviet Union, Germany, and by the Soviet Union once more.
Waymark Code: WMFBQM
Location: Estonia
Date Posted: 09/25/2012
Views: 6
"The Kistler-Ritso Foundation aims to establish an Occupation Museum of the recent past in Estonia, where the developmental processes during the period 1940-1991 can be studied and where relevant materials, both objects and documents, can be collected and exhibited. The museum will be a modern institution, which will use advanced technical means, both for exhibitions and for study. Its homepage is part of a so-called virtual museum, which will form the basis of an interactive exposition of the future museum.
The museum deals with a period about which we have incomplete information - an epoch characterised by totalitarian power and mass repression - and there is a plan to create a memorial complex, to remember those who did not return to their homeland.
It would be a tombstone for the thousands of countrymen buried in anonymous graves. Our dead will remain unburied until the memoirs of those that perished are immortalised.
Our task is to document the catastrophes and cataclysms, which took place during the last fifty years and to find detailed proof about the past based on facts and analysis. We are interested in how the generation which re-established Estonia's independence in 1991 was formed and want to learn which obstacles they had to overcome. We are interested in the life of Estonians, and also of Russians, Germans, Jews, Swedes and other minorities under the totalitarian regime of the second half of the XX century. We have no reason to be ashamed of our history, rather the reverse. At the same time we should not forget our experiences and keep silent. On the contrary, we must prevent the dreadful offences from being forgotten.
The Occupation Museum needed a permanent physical home. Unfortunately, Estonia has had little experience with building museums. Since this particular establishment deals with a very dramatic and important period of Estonia's history, a convenient and presentable location had to be found for the building. Next, an open and international architectural competition was declared in October 2000, to find the best solution for the lot which had been obtained at the corner of Kaarli Boulevard and Toompea Street. The final date for entries was 15 January 2001, and the jury of experts made its choice known on 2 February 2001. A booklet was published, to familiarize the public with the winning designs.
Cornerstone to the building was laid on October 22nd of 2002, construction was completed in June 2003. Opening ceremony took place on June 27th(speeches) and museum opened for public on July 1st." (
visit link)
There is a small museum shop, where one can purchase Memento and Kistler-Ritso Eesti Foundation publications and souvenirs.
The Museum rooms can be rented for seminars, receptions, presentations, etc. Available films can also be viewed on a large screen in the museum cinema hall.