Once a museum honouring the Latvian Red Riflemen, the building now houses a fascinating museum dedicated to the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Latvia. The various exhibits display the atrocities committed against the people of Latvia and the systematic destruction of their nation's sovereignty. Visitors can walk into a reconstructed gulag barracks and catch a glimpse of the intolerable living conditions in Siberian labour camps. Exhibits are available in English, German, Latvian and Russian, but you can also choose to use an audio guide with headphones in English or German or just ask for a live guide. A virtual museum tour is also available at
www.e-okupacijasmuzejs.lv.
Admission: donations; audio guide 2Ls; photos 2Ls.
The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia comments
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This is a must-see for anyone visiting the Latvian capital. Located smack-bang in the centre of town, just in front of the House of Blackheads, this grey slab of Soviet concrete sticks out like a sore thumb from the picturesque buildings that surround it.The museum tells the story of the so-called 'Three Occupations of Latvia' when, between the years of 1940 and 1991, Latvia was occupied firstly by the Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany, then the Soviet Union again. The museum’s collection includes photographs, letters, diaries and numerous other personal artefacts and eyewitness accounts that recall the executions, deportations, repression and hardship suffered by the Latvian people under the Soviet and Nazi regimes. Some of the exhibits are in English but you really need either an audio guide or a personal guide to fully appreciate the content. There’s a good museum shop too that sells a wide range of books and DVDs many of which are in English. The staff working throughout the museum are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Anyone who wants to gain even the most superficial understanding of modern day Latvia and its people needs to spend some time here. Oh, and as another reviewer points out below, this museum is free so, if you can afford it, please have the courtesy to leave a donation on your way out.
Very interesting and important museum about a tragic era of Baltic history.The museum is free, so be as kind as to leave a donation at the exit.
Very unique perspective of Latvian / European history! Highly recommend!!! Eric DobbsSan Diego
Can be interesting to get to know about Latvian culture and history what was undercovered. BUT! Your time in museum will depend on translator who will tell you about everything you see. Don't let it take forever.