The exhibition „And be with Him for ever. Changing burial customs from medieval period until National Awekening“ presents research results on the cemeteries and burial chapels of Tartu.
From the 13th century onwards, members of town communities in Estonia were buried in churchyards and chapel graveyards. The social elite were also buried in churches. In the 1770s, new burials in these places were prohibited, and new cemeteries were founded outside the borders of contemporary towns, several of which are still in use today.
The exhibition will give an overview of the burial sites used in Tartu since the beginning of the Middle Ages. Our focus is on the results of the archaeological investigations in the Münnich Chapel in St. John’s Church, Tartu, and in Teller Chapel in Raadi Cemetery. The Chr. W. von Münnich Chapel, built in 1746, was the first of its kind in Tartu. Archaeological excavations took place in 1988, due to the restoration of the church. The J. F. Teller family chapel in Raadi Cemetery, consecrated in 1795, was at the time a landmark of the new cemetery, since its roof of copper sheet could be seen from far away. Investigations took place there in 2017 during the restoration of the chapel. Although the two chapels were built only a few decades apart, they represent the end of a centuries-long tradition, that of burial in churches, and the beginning of the town cemeteries still in use today.
Constant urban development inevitably results in earlier cemeteries hindering new construction. Therefore, archaeological research on medieval and modern burials is inevitable for urban development; from a scientific perspective, it offers otherwise inaccessible knowledge about the people and society of that time. The used methods and obtained knowledge are also presented in the exhibition.
The most eloquent item on display is Anna Elisabeth von Münnich’s extensively decorated coffin, made of oak, which was made in Lübeck in 1757 and discovered during the investigations of 1988. The coffin, first exhibited during the 1990s, is on display again after new conservation. For the first time, the exhibition displays decorations, parts of clothing and church textiles from other coffins placed in the same chapel. We will also display decorations spanning from the Middle Ages to the modern era, found while surveying the cemeteries, and other items related to mourning customs found in the collections of Tartu City Museum, the Estonian History Museum and the Art Museum of Estonia.
The curators of the exhibition are Arvi Haak, Mari Tõrv, Elis Tiidu, Riina Rammo and Martin Malve. Exhibition designer is Mari Kurismaa, graphic design was done by Mari Kaljuste. The reconstructions and drawings of clothing were made by Eve Valper. The exhibition was supported by the City of Tartu, the Ministry of Culture and the Archemy Research Group.
The exhibition is open to visitors in the Tartu City Museum from 29 October 2021 till 22 May 2022.