Tartu City History Museums are the only ones to focus solely on telling the story of Tartu.
The museums recount the history of Tartu to anyone interested. All of the museums focus on different periods in the city’s history. The museum buildings and locations are of historic value and complement their fields of specialisation.
Tartu City History Museums is an umbrella organisation comprising five museums of equal importance:
- Tartu City Museum
- Song Festival Museum
- KGB Cells Museum
- Oskar Luts Home Museum
- 19th-century Tartu Citizen’s Home Museum
Come and experience the history of Tartu through our exhibitions, tours and events!
Our values
Competence and professionalism. Our museum staff are highly qualified experts in their field. Continually striving for more knowledge and self-development is what best describe us. We feel a great sense of responsibility for our museum collections, our profession and our visitors.
Cooperation. The museum enjoys a sense of team spirit that is orientated towards achieving our goals. We have a good reputation for working well with our partners, interest groups and the community.
Creativity and openness. We are highly creative in our work and we foster creative thinking in visitors through our exhibitions and programmes. We are open to new ideas. We are friendly, positive and more than glad to help our visitors, colleagues and partners.
Our history
Tartu City History Museums date back to 1955 when the All-District Local History Museum of Tartu was founded. The museum was tasked with researching and reflecting in its exhibitions the history, culture, nature, industry and agriculture of Tartu and its eight districts: greater Tartu, Elva, Jõgeva, Kallaste, Mustvee, Otepää, Põlva and Räpina.
The museum was renamed the Tartu City and District History Museum in 1957.
Two years later, in 1959, the All-District Local History Museum of Elva was founded, focussing on the districts of greater Tartu, Elva, Jõgeva, Põlva and Räpina. The Tartu City and District History Museum became Tartu City Museum, researching, collecting, preserving and showcasing the history and culture of Tartu.
The Oskar Luts Home Museum was founded in 1964, the 19th-century Tartu Citizen’s Home Museum in 1993, the KGB Cells Museum in 2001 and the Song Festival Museum in 2007. The umbrella organisation for these five museums was given the name ‘Tartu City History Museums’ in 2020.