ICOM International Council of Museums - Museo Estancia Jesuitica ...

Õunapuu: National Museum as Memory Bank
1864, starting several cultural and farmers societies in 1865 and the first song festival
in 1869. In this context coming up with an idea of the Estonian museum was only
natural. But the idea came to nothing at that time.
The sudden enthusiasm for the project of establishing a museum grew in more educated
men of Estonia when they saw the similar work that had been done in Finland. The
Finns, our kindred people, who our first intellectuals looked up in great respect, had
succeeded in establishing a national museum. Since the 1860s the issue had been
discussed in the academic circles, press and government. Students were very keen on
collecting antiquities. The process reached its apogee in 1893 when different institutions
were conjoined to establish The Finnish National Museum. At the beginning of the 20 th
century a marvellous museum building was erected (Kopisto 1981).
What could be the reason that The Estonian Museum, unlike the other events that
united the people of Estonia and were important in the field of culture, did not get
going? Obviously there is not the only true answer. The strivings of the intellectuals of
that time were aimed at more definite cultural aspects. Folk culture in its rustic ways
was still full of vitality. In several places people wore national costumes, maybe not
every day anymore, but elderly people were definitely clad in national costume when
going to church. A considerable part of Estonian people lived like in a museum.
Actually it was a reminder of old times that people tried to get rid of sending their sons
to town schools to provide a better and more cultural future for them. People did not
have a feeling that everyday things they used could be of any value. Surely the reason
behind the failure was lack of money, but in my opinion the major reason was the
attitude of the public, including the intellectuals. The time was not ripe yet.
Folklore became the narrative of the national memory. In this field a very powerful
personality, Pastor Jakob Hurt, emerged. He encouraged hundreds of people to collect
folklore. Our oral folklore was of outstanding importance and the collection of it was
unprecedented thanks to Jakob Hurt's tireless efforts and work. Publishing our national
epic in 1857-61 had also played a crucial part in understanding folklore and inspiring
people to collect it. The time for antiquities came later. And it was so not only in
Estonia, but the similar process had taken place in other European countries.
The time came after the official founding of The Estonian National Museum in 1909. As
to the motive, parallels may be drawn with the establishing of the well-known British
Museum about 150 years earlier. Sir Hans Sloane, a doctor and a collector, did not
want his big collection to be dispersed and he left it to King George II for his country
and people. In the same way Jakob Hurt left his enormous folklore collections to
Estonian people, who it had been collected from. The caretakers of both museums
started taking active steps to find possibilities to house the collection. The money for
maintenance of the museum was mostly got from donations and charity lotteries.
People's attitude to folklore had changed compared to the time of national awakening.
Traditional peasant culture started to disappear quickly, new modern phenomena
appeared in different areas of life. Nobody wore a national costume anymore and people
did not eat porridge out of wooden bowls. The distance and time helped to place a high
value on old things. The understanding of the value of antiquities was not a privilege of a
limited number of people, but it was clear to every, at least a little, educated person. The
mission of the museum was to promote the idea and make people fully conscious of the
fact. The role of the inspiring leaders was extremely important.
During the first five years of the museum nearly 15,000 items were collected. That kind
of result is probably unknown to any museum in any country. The museum was based
on voluntary work for the motherland, as there was no paid labour. Nevertheless,
dozens of students and young artists went on collecting trips in summer and people
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