The Latvian War Museum ( lv, Latvijas Kara muzejs) is a

military museum Military Museum may refer to museums of military and war, or specific museums including: * Aldershot Military Museum, in Aldershot, England * Athens War Museum, in Athens, Greece * Base Borden Military Museum, Borden, Ontario, Canada * California ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, the capital of Latvia. The Latvian War Museum was established on 15 October 1916 as the Latvian Riflemen Battalion Museum. Initially the museum had its premises at Tērbatas Street 1/3. The museum collected material relating to the Latvian Riflemen and World War I. In 1917, when Riga was bombarded, the museum was evacuated. In June 1919 the museum restored operations at the

Powder Tower A powder tower (german: Pulverturm), occasionally also powder house (''Pulverhaus''), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th centur ...

in old town Riga. The museum opened to the public in June 1921. In 1936 the government acquired the neighbouring land lot. The erection of a new museum building was initiated in 1937, according to a project by architect Artūrs Galindoms. The interior works were additionally designed by architect R. Legzdiņš. All museum artifacts were temporarily stored at the museum workshop in Torņa Street. The new museum building was finished in the summer of 1940, but the museum did not manage to arrange *the exhibitions prior to the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed in A ...

. The Latvian War Museum came under the jurisdiction of the Latvian People's Army's liquidation commission, which handed the museum artifacts over to the People's Commissariat of Education, and were stored at the previous

Riga Stock Exchange The Nasdaq Riga, formerly Riga Stock Exchange, is the sole stock exchange operating in Riga, Latvia. It is owned by Nasdaq, which also operates exchanges in the USA, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Armenia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Established i ...

building; and the museum premises were handed over to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

. On 15 January 1941 the Latvian War Museum ceased to exist. Beginning in 1945, the building housed the

Riga Nakhimov Naval School The Riga Nakhimov Naval School (; ) is one of the former Nakhimov Naval Schools in the Soviet Union. It existed from 1945 to 1953 in Riga, the capital Latvian SSR, where it was located. Throughout its eight year existence, it operated from the ...

and continued to house it until 1953. From 1957 to 1990 the premises were occupied by the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

Revolution Museum, which interpreted 20th century Latvian history through the point of view of

Soviet ideology The ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was Bolshevist Marxism–Leninism, an ideology of a centralised command economy with a vanguardist one-party state to realise the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Soviet Union' ...

. However, the museum had during its existence gathered valuable, representative Soviet artifacts for its collections. On 11 June 1990 the

Government of Latvia 200px, Meeting room of the Government of Latvia in the Palace of Justice The Government of Latvia is the central government of the Republic of Latvia. The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) outlines the nation as a parliamentary republic ...

restored the Latvian War Museum.

Exhibits

The museum contains a range of exhibits focusing on different wars that Latvia has been involved in. There is an exhibit on the history of Latvia and Riga before modern times and one focusing on the 18th-19th centuries. There are major exhibits on Latvia's involvement in the first and second world wars covering multiple battles in great detail. Latvia's recent military activities are also explored, including involvement in United Nations peacekeeping missions.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Museums in Riga Military and war museums Museums established in 1916 History museums in Latvia 1916 establishments in the Russian Empire