Strēlnieku laukums 1
Open: 11am- 5pm May- Sept
Closed: Mon Oct- Apr, holidays
The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is a private museum in Riga
maintained by the Association of the Museum of the Occupation of
Latvia, which presents the fifty-year history of the occupation of
Latvia from 1940 to 1991. It reflects the first Soviet occupation
(1940-1941), the National Socialist German occupation (1941-1944/45)
and the second Soviet occupation (1944/45-1991). The motto of the
museum is Remember. To mention. To remind.
The museum is
located in a separate building at 1 Latviešu strēlnieku lauku, but
due to the reconstruction of the building, from 2012 to the spring
of 2022, it was located at 7 Rainiš bulvāri.
The exposition of the museum tells about the life in Latvia at that
time: about the policy of the occupying powers, about the Soviet and
Nazi terror, the collapse of the Latvian state economy and the
cultural policy of the totalitarian Soviet and Nazi ideologies,
about the resistance of the people of Latvia to the occupying powers
until the restoration of the independent state of Latvia in 1991. At
the beginning of 2012, the collection of the museum contained more
than 50,000 items (documents, photographs, written, oral and
material testimonies, objects and memorabilia). Museum specialists
have recorded more than 2,000 video testimonies, and it is one of
the largest collections dedicated to the topic of occupation in
Europe.
The exhibition, renewed in 2022, covers 867 square
meters, is placed in 106 specially designed showcases, 15 video
projections and 19 screens with testimonies and other information
are used. The exposition is designed as a latticed labyrinth of
darkness between the bright stages of independence. The crimes of
the occupation authorities are shown in an explanatory and
emotionally appealing way with many testimonies and stories of fate.
In 1993, Paulis Lazda, professor of history at the University of
Wisconsin, submitted to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of
Latvia a proposal to create a new museum about the period of
occupation of Latvia from 1940 to 1991. In the spring of 1993, for
the establishment and maintenance of the Latvian Occupation Museum,
the Latvian 50-year Occupation Museum Fund was established, which
was sold in 2006 as the Society of the Latvian Occupation Museum. On
July 1, 1993, the museum's first exhibition was opened in the
premises of the former Latvian Riflemen Museum.
On November
18, 2012, in the temporary premises of the museum at 7 Rainiša
bulvāri, an honorary plaque of the museum's donors was opened with
the names of users who donated more than 5,000 lats. Among the
biggest donors is Aina Galēja-Dravniece, the founder of the Latvian
Occupation Museum scholarship, who supported the internship of
American Latvian youth at the Latvian Occupation Museum. She also
financially supported the organization of the Latvian Occupation
Museum's traveling exhibition.
In June 2021, the "Tactile of
History" commemorating the victims of the occupation was opened in
Latviešu strelnieki square next to the museum. Its authors are
artist Kristaps Ģelzis, architect Ilze Miķelsone and sonologist
Voldemārs Johansons.
In 2001, architect Gunārs Birkerts presented the vision of the
"House of the Future" project to the Museum of Occupation. In 2011,
the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decision on the financing of the
construction of the memorial complex for the victims of the Soviet
occupation, which provided that the reconstruction of the museum and
the construction of the extension should be completed by December
31, 2013. However, in June 2012, after receiving a submission
regarding a violation of the procurement procedure, the construction
tender was suspended. Only on March 1, 2013, "Valsts nekustamie
ipsumi" and SIA "Būvprojektu vādas" concluded an agreement on the
development and author supervision of the technical project for the
reconstruction of the building of the Museum of the Occupation of
Latvia.
In September 2018, with the ceremonial embedding of a
capsule with a message for future generations, reconstruction works
of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia began. At the end of 2021,
the reconstruction works of the building ended and on November 17,
the museum started moving to its original premises.
The new
exposition was opened in the premises of the rebuilt museum on May
30, 2022, the event was attended by President Egils Levits and
Minister of Culture Nauris Puntulis.