In 2025, it will be 500 years since the first book in Estonian was published, and the anniversary will be celebrated as the Year of the Estonian Book. The exhibition at the Niguliste Museum will showcase the rarest relics of Estonian book history and give an overview of the development of the written language and printing from the 16th to the 19th century.
The exhibition summarises the history of Estonian book culture and the written word from its beginnings to the time of national awakening, or figuratively - from the Kullamaa manuscript to the "Kalevipoj", from the songbook to the Song Festival, from the alphabet to the Academy. The story of Estonians' education and becoming a cultural nation is told through rare books and literary works: how they learned the word of God, singing and reading, started to write and write poetry, and progressed to become an educated and free nation.
On the occasion of the Great Jubilee, everyone will have an exceptional opportunity to see with their own eyes manuscripts and publications whose legacy lingers in the cultural memory of Estonians: the Kullamaa Consolidated Book (1524-1532), the Catechism of Wanradt and Koell (1535), Georg Müller's Sermons (1600-1607), Reiner Brockmann's Poem (1637) and the Wastne Testament (1686), to mention only the earliest. The earliest Estonian edition, published in 1525, has not survived and only written records exist. However, the exhibition includes exceptionally rare fragments of the Wanradt and Koell Catechism of 1535, the first partially extant native-language printing and thus the foundation of our printed word's journey and rich literary heritage.
One part of the exhibition is also an educational area in the choir room, where younger and older visitors can playfully explore the Estonians' relationship with books, get acquainted with alphabets and the Estonian language through the ages, and also write and read themselves.
Entrance with a museum ticket, also accessible for people with reduced mobility.
Read more about accessibility here: For visitors with special needs - Niguliste muuseum
Events Project Manager Annely Pantalon
info@vanalinnapaevad.ee
