The People’s Museum of Tallinn introduces the changes in the architecture of the house over the centuries, intertwining the cultural history and the people related to the house.

You can book a guided tour for your group. A guide will be there just for you.

GUIDED TOURS HAVE TO BE BOOKED IN ADVANCE by e-mail:

See tour options below.

The Story of the House

On the surface, the houses of Tallinn’s Old Town are all quite similar. However, their histories along with the fates of their owners are very different.

The People’s Museum of Tallinn is located in a former merchant house. Pikk Street was one of the town’s commercial hubs in the Middle Ages. The building has been rebuilt several times but its medieval layout can still be seen today. The house has preserved a number of details from different periods, from the facade to the vaulted ceiling and wall murals on the second floor.

The owners of the house have also been notable. The owners changed over the years, but they were all wealthy and important citizens of the town. One of the most influential was the von Nottbeck family. Ants Laikmaa, already a renowned portraitist, rented rooms from them on the 2^nd floor of the building. In 1903, he opened his own studio school here, which became a pivotal undertaking in the history of Estonian art and culture. On the tour, we will learn about the history of the house and take a brief look at the exhibitions currently on display.

Guided tour fee

Museum ticket adult 4€ / Concessions 3€ (ITIC card, pupils, students, seniors)
+ guide fee 55 €

Places related to Finland and Finns in the Old Town

The Estonian National Opera, Saarinen House and Sokos Hotel Viru stand like pillars close to one another in the city centre, symbolising the shared history of the Estonians and the Finns. These buildings are well known, but at the same time are only three reminders of Finnish activity in Tallinn. The reality, of course, is much richer.

Finnish people have lived in Tallinn since as early as the Middle Ages, but they were especially numerous during the era of Swedish rule in the 16th and 17th centuries. Thousands of Finns also came here during the War of Independence, but our northern neighbours were especially eager to visit the capital of the newly independent Estonia in the 1920s. Finns were also the main group of foreigners who visited Tallinn as Western tourists during the Soviet occupation. What has brought Finnish people to Tallinn? What have they seen as the upsides and downsides of our city?

Tours will explore the traces – both physical landmarks and intellectual influences – our tribal relatives have left on Tallinn’s urban space and the lives of its inhabitants over the centuries. Who were these architects, builders, soldiers, clergymen, athletes, musicians, artists, writers and ordinary tourists?

Bearing in mind the fact that our northern neighbours are coffee lovers, the tour will end at a coffee table in the People’s Museum of Tallinn, where we will reminisce and discuss everything we didn’t have time to cover on the tour.

The tour will be led by historian and musician Tõnu Pedaru.

Starting point: Tammsaare Park, near the statue of Tammsaare

Ending point: People’s Museum of Tallinn (Pikk 29a)

You can also book a private tour for your group in Estonian, Finnish, English or Russian by e-mailing