Established | 14 April 1909 [1] |
---|---|
Location | Tartu, Estonia |
Type | National museum |
Website | Official website |
The Estonian National Museum (Estonian : Eesti Rahva Muuseum) founded 1909 in Tartu is a museum devoted to folklorist Jakob Hurt's heritage, to Estonian ethnography and folk art. The first items for the museum were originally collected in the latter part of the 19th century. [2]
The museum tracks the history, life and traditions of the Estonian people, presents the culture and history of other Finno-Ugric peoples, [3] and the minorities in Estonia. It has a comprehensive display of traditional Estonian national costumes from all regions. A collection of wood carved beer tankards illustrates the traditional peasant fests and holidays. The exhibition includes an array of other handicrafts from hand-woven carpets to linen tablecloths. [4]
The museum opened at Raadi Manor in 1922 with the Finnish ethnographer Ilmari Manninen as its director. [5] Manninen had been working for Tartu University since 1919. [6] Raadi Manor had been the ancestral home of Baltic German art collectors like Karl Eduard von Liphart and his son Ernst Friedrich von Liphart. They had moved away in 1860 but their collections remained although the most valuable parts had been sold starting in 1920. Although they were lovers of art the Lipharts were not well regarded by the local Estonians. They were seen as "culturally revolting" Baltic Germans at that time. [7]
Raadi Airfield was built on the manor's land in 1940. Raadi Manor, the main building of the museum, was destroyed in the Tartu Offensive during World War II. [8] After this the airfield dominated not just the museum but the whole of the city. The airfield became a secret Soviet bomber base and there was no room for the museum's collection. During this time Tartu's culture was hidden. The museum's artefacts had to be stored in churches and other spare space around the city and the air base meant that foreigners were not allowed to visit the city. [7]
In 2005 the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Union of Estonian Architects announced together with the museum an international competition for the Estonian National Museum's new building. [9] The project was won by an international collaboration of architects for the work Memory Field: Dan Dorell (Paris, France), Lina Ghotmeh (Paris, France), and Tsuyoshi Tane (Paris, France). [10]
The grand opening took place in Autumn 2016. [11] [12] The new single storey building houses the museum as well as supplying conference space and a cinema. The building design incorporates the history of the site including the manor, the war and the airfield. [7] [13]
In August 2021 the head of the museum, Alar Karis, was elected by Estonia's parliament to the position of President of Estonia. [14]
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,435. It is 186 kilometres southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the two largest lakes in Estonia, Lake Võrtsjärv and Lake Peipus. From the 13th century until the end of the 19th century, Tartu was known in most of the world by variants of its historical name Dorpat.
Tapa is a town in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia, located at the junction of the country's Tallinn–Narva (west–east) and Tallinn–Tartu–Valga (north–south) railway lines. It is an important centre of transit for freight as well as rail passengers, a home to soldiers since the 1930s. Tapa also plays an important role in training young men and women in the Estonian Defense Forces, being nearby to Keskpolügoon. The Valgejõgi River passes Tapa on its northeastern side.
Tartu Airport is an airport in Reola, Ülenurme Parish, 5.9 nautical miles south southwest of Tartu, the second largest city in Estonia. It is also called Ülenurme Airport due to its proximity to the village of Ülenurme. The Tallinn–Tartu–Võru–Luhamaa highway (E263) passes near the airport.
Raadi Airfield(ICAO: EETR) is a former air base in Estonia located in Raadi, 4 km (2.5 mi) northeast of Tartu. The land once belonged to Raadi Manor and is now the new site of the Estonian National Museum.
The Estonian Students' Society is the largest and oldest all-male academical student society in Estonia, and is similar to the Baltic German student organizations known as corporations (Corps). It was founded in 1870 at Tartu. It has over 900 members in Estonia and abroad.
The Estonian Open Air Museum is a life-sized reconstruction of an 18th-19th century rural/fishing village, which includes church, tavern, schoolhouse, several mills, a fire station, twelve farmyards and net sheds. Furthermore, it includes a recently opened 20th century Soviet kolkhoz apartment building, and a prefabricated modern wooden house from 2019. The site spans 72 hectares of land and along with the farmyards, old public buildings are arranged singularly and in groups in a way that represents an overview of Estonian vernacular architecture of the past two centuries from across Estonia.
The Tartu offensive operation, also known as the Battle of Tartu and the Battle of Emajõgi was a campaign fought over southeastern Estonia in 1944. It took place on the Eastern Front during World War II between the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front and parts of the German Army Group North.
Oskar Kallas was an Estonian diplomat, linguist and folklorist. He was the husband of the Finnish writer Aino Kallas.
Ants Laikmaa was an Estonian painter.
Raadi-Kruusamäe, or Raadi for short, is a neighbourhood of Tartu, Estonia. It has a population of 4,498 and an area of 2.83 km2 (1.09 sq mi). Raadi is mainly suburban area.
Kalli Kalde is an Estonian painter, graphic artist and illustrator.
Baron Karl Eduard von Liphart or Carl Eduard von Liphart was a noted art expert and collector from Estonia. The family manor was near Dorpat.
Baron Ernst Friedrich von Liphart (1847–1932), russified as Ernst Karlovich Lipgart and also referred to in English as Earnest Lipgart, was a painter, a noted art expert and art collector from what is now Tartu in Estonia. After living for a time in Florence, he moved to France and then to Russia, where he was a curator at the Hermitage Museum.
Raadi Manor was in the area known as Raadi-Kruusamäe, on the outskirts of Tartu in Estonia. The manor and Raadi Manor Park were the home to the Liphart noble family who were significant art collectors. The family moved away and the buildings housed the Estonian National Museum until the manor was destroyed during the Second World War. Part of the grounds became Raadi Airfield which was used as a secret Soviet bomber base for fifty years. Today the park is open, some buildings are in use by the museum and plans are underway to create a new museum building here.
Ilmari Justus Andreus Manninen was a Finnish professor, writer and ethnographer. He led the Estonian National Museum when it opened at Raadi Manor.
The Tartu Art Museum is a state-owned museum of art located in Tartu, Estonia. It was founded in 1940 on a private initiative by the members of local art school Pallas. This is the largest art museum in Southern Estonia.
University of Tartu Museum is the museum for the University of Tartu. Its entities include the University of Tartu Museum in the historic Tartu Cathedral, the University of Tartu Old Observatory, the University of Tartu Natural History Museum, the University of Tartu Botanical Gardens, and the University of Tartu Art Museum.
Helmi Üprus was an Estonian architectural and art historian. She trained in romance languages, studied English and ethnography, and earned a master's degree in art history from the University of Tartu in 1936. She worked her way up to head the cultural history department of the Estonian National Museum, where she researched folk art. In 1947, she began working at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR. Persecuted by Stalinism she lost her job in 1950 and worked in a factory until Stalin's death. From 1953, she was the chief specialist in architecture and history for the government monument restoration service.
Enn Tarvel was an Estonian historian.
Julius Genss was an Estonian bibliophile, art collector, art critic and patron.