The War Museum on Wheels reaches the heart of Estonia
On August 9 (Friday), starting at 14:00, the traveling exhibition “Military Museum on Wheels” prepared by the Estonian Military Museum will be opened in the yard of the Wittenstein Activity Museum in Paide (Tallinn street 9 and 11). It is a traveling exhibition that provides an overview of the military history of Estonia in the 20th century, dealing with World War I, the War of Independence, Estonian national defense in the period between the wars, World War II and the defense forces after the restoration of independence. The traveling exhibition is located in a specially adapted sea container. The outer surface is covered by text and images, the contents of the container are entirely owned by the objects. The showcases are filled with uniforms, weapons, equipment and models of military equipment.
“The idea of the traveling exhibition is that you don’t necessarily have to travel far to come to the museum, but the museum itself can come to visit,” said Hellar Lill, director of the Estonian War Museum. According to him, the military museum on wheels is a kind of continuation of the very successful armored train No. 7 “Wabadus”, which traveled along Estonian and even Latvian railways in 2019. “Due to our history, the whole of Estonia is a kind of big war museum,” said Lill and added: “With the exhibition, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of history as well as the will to be ready to defend Estonia if necessary.”
At the opening of the exhibition, Hellar Lill, head of the Estonian War Museum, and Kuido Pettai, head of the Defense League Järva Maleva, will speak. Visiting the exhibition is free. The exhibition is open during the opening hours of the Wittenstein Action Museum (Mon-Fri) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The exhibition will remain open until August 15.
Completion of the traveling exhibition was co-financed from the “Museum Accelerator 2023” application round of the Heritage Protection Board.
Additional information
Ründo Mülts
SA Time Center Wittenstein/Järvamaa Museum
56682165