Estonian History Museum - Great Guild Hall — Attraction in Tallinn

The Great Guild Hall is one of the most historically significant Hanseatic era buildings that you will come across on this free Tallinn walking tour. The Gothic building dates to 1417 and has retained its original appearance through the centuries, although the windows were restructured in the late 19th century. The Great Guild Hall served as the home of the most powerful of the city’s guilds, uniting the German-speaking mercantile elite into an organization that effectively controlled Tallinn’s commerce. Its doors were closed to smaller merchants and artisans, who were instead forced to form lesser institutions. Besides being the gathering place for its members, the Great Guild was also the focus of many of medieval Tallinn’s social events. It was often rented out for wedding parties and court sessions and used to be the starting as well as the endpoint of most festive cavalcades. Today, the building is home to a branch of the Estonian History Museum whose collection of historical artifacts covers Estonian history from the Stone Age to the...

This is a quirky museum of the Estonian nation that is worth going to and checking out if in Tallinn. The emphasis of the museum is on the earlier periods of Estonia, rather than the modern history, and perhaps the best collections are the old weaponry (with interspersed modern weapons) in the cellars. You will get a good sense of where the Estonian people emerged from. The money section of the museum is also very interesting, and there is a fascinating comparison of the prices of different goods over time. Don't miss it.

One big, very strange omission was any mention of the Holocaust in Estonia. Despite mentions of occupation and WWII, the Holocaust in Estonia was not mentioned AT ALL. This is a strange historical (and moral) omission.

Aside from that, this is worth a visit. There is also a weird but interesting exhibit on Freemasonry in Estonia, which feels hilariously propagandistic, but is also worth...

Top floor is not great, kind of gimmicky, and has a bunch of relics and imitations of relics that are irrelevant to Estonian history or not related to the plaque they’re under. It tries to answer why Estonia didn’t become a monarchy, but then features a throne where you can take tourist pictures as a king and queen…? I will say however that there is one very worthwhile thing on the top floor and that is the video that auto plays in the first room. Very educational and well done.

Underground exhibit is much better and feels like an entirely different museum.

There’s also weird sound effects and music that start playing when you enter the restrooms. That being said, if you’re in Tallinn, it’s still worth...