Kreutzwald Museum
The Kreutzwald Museum ( Estonian Kreutzwaldi Memoriaalmuuseum ) is a museum in Võru , which is housed in the house in which Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald lived from 1833 to 1877.
history
The house was built in 1793 and is one of the oldest buildings in the city, which was only founded in 1784. When Kreutzwald came to Võru as a city doctor in 1833, he initially rented the house. In 1839 he bought it for 5,000 bank rubles (paper rubles). Almost all of Kreutzwald's literary work, above all the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg and his collection of fairy tales, was created during the 44 years that Kreutzwald lived here. In 1877 he sold the house for 4,000 silver rubles and moved to Tartu .
After Estonia's independence and the Estonian War of Independence , the Society for the Preservation of the Kreutzwald Heritage was founded in Võru in 1923. She first tried to erect a Kreutzwald memorial, which she succeeded in 1926. Then she campaigned for the purchase of the house, which at the time belonged to the local craftsmen's association. However, the negotiations dragged on for years, especially since the financial resources were limited. It was not until June 1940 that a corresponding government decision was obtained, which became obsolete with the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union . Nevertheless, a notarial agreement was drawn up for the sale of the house, which remained valid.
After the liquidation of all clubs and societies, the city of Võru was commissioned by the Soviet authorities to build the museum. The house was opened to visitors on June 28, 1941.
Permanent exhibition
The current exhibition was set up in 1989 and shows the rooms of the house in the style of the time in which Kreutzwald lived. On the upper floor, for example, is also the desk where Kreutzwald wrote the epic Kalevipoeg . In addition, there is a literary exhibition on the epic and Kreutzwald's work in one of the outbuildings.
Events
In the museum there are numerous changing events on literary or general cultural topics. The Kreutzwald Memorial Medal and the Kreutzwald Scholarship are awarded here on December 14th each year .