Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum | |
 | |
| Established | 1957 Opened to visitors in 1964 |
|---|---|
| Location | Rocca al Mare, shore of Kopli Bay, Tallinn, Estonia |
| Coordinates | 59°25′53″N 24°38′17″E / 59.43139°N 24.63806°E |
| Type | Open-air museum |
| Director | Tanel Veeremaa |
| Public transit access | Rocca al mare bus stop (21, 21B, 41, 41B) |
| Nearest car park | Free parking for museum visitors |
| Website | www |
The Estonian Open Air Museum (Estonian: Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum) 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 (180 acres) 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.[1]
The museum is located 8 km (5.0 mi) to the west of Tallinn city center at Rocca al Mare.
The plans for founding the museum were first discussed in 1913, when Estonian literati, inspired by Scandinavian open-air museums, wanted to establish such a museum in Estonia.[2] It was finally established in 1957 and opened to visitors in 1964.
The museum's oldest exhibit is the Sutlepa Chapel of the Noarootsi Swedish church, which has been reported since 1670. The most modern exhibit is a prefabricated wooden house from 2019 constructed at the museum; and the most recent exhibit that has opened to visitors in 2021 is the Kolhoz apartment building from the 1960s, brought from Southern Estonia from a former collective farm.
- ^ Vernacular architecture at the Estonian Open-Air Museum. Catalog. Tallinn: HUMA. 1997. ISBN 9985-801-78-4.
- ^ Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum. Ideest Tegudeni/ Estonian Open Air Museum. From thoughts to reality/ Estnisches Freilichtmuseum. Von Ideen zur Wirklichkeit. Tallinn: Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum. 1996. pp. 77–78. ISBN 9985-801-59-8.