Museum of War, Riga

The Museum of War is located in the old part of Riga, in a 14th century architectural monument, known as the Powder Tower. The impressive red brick building was enlarged and modified during 1937-1940 so as to perfectly accommodate the museum.

The latter opened its doors for the first time in 1919 as the Latvian Riflemen's Museum. During World War II, its collection grew significantly due to many valuable artefacts brought in from battlefields and donated by the soldiers’ families and civilian survivors of the war.

The museum was temporarily closed down in 1940 by the Soviets, but then re-opened in 1957 under the name of Museum of Revolution, reflecting a new vision of history dictated by the Soviet ideology. Most of the then exhibits highlighted the political achievements of the Russians and glorified, not without a good reason, their soldiers. In 1990, Latvia regained independence and the museum got back to its original self as the Museum of War. Today, it hosts a variety of exhibits which interpret the history of Latvia and its people in the 20th century as the Latvians themselves want it, duly outlining the country's two successful independences, two survived world wars and tempestuous political life at the turn of the millennium. The collections are split into nine sections: Medieval and Modern history, WWI, Inter-war period, WWII, Post-war history, Weapons, Restoration, Public Relations and Photo-negative departments. The entrance is free.