History of the Museum

The beginning of the Lithuanian national Museum was the Museum of Antiquities founded in Vilnius by a historian of culture, collector, count Eustachy Tyszkiewicz on May 11, 1855. It opened to the society on April 29, 1856, in the premises of Vilnius University closed after the 1863 uprising, the recklessly implemented politics of Russification put a stop to the museum’s activities. The major part of valuable exhibits was taken to N. Rumyantsev’s Museum in Moscow, and a reorganized museum was opened as part of the Vilnius Public Library in 1865.

In 1918, one of the leaders of the national liberation movement, Dr. Jonas Basanavičius, initiated the founding of the Museum of History-Ethnography based on the collections of the Museum of Antiquities and the Lithuanian Science Society. In 1920, when Poland occupied Vilnius, this work stopped. In 1920-1940, the collections were kept at the Vilnius University, and in 1941 they were transferred to the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the endeavour of the famous museum professional, historian of culture, Vincas Žilėnas, the History of Ethnography Museum was formed on the basis of these collections in 1952.

Referring to the fact that the museum holds the main collections of Lithuanian archaeology, history and ethnic culture, it was renamed as the Lithuanian National Museum in 1992.

The museum is housed in the premises of the Vilnius Castle Complex. Today the museum has over 998 thousand exhibits. It organises annual expeditions of ethnic culture researchers and historians as well as archaeological excavations. More than half of all exhibits restored in Lithuanian museums are being conserved and restored at the museum’s Restoration Centre. The museum also has a specialised library, archive and photo laboratory.

The museum’s work is carried out in specialised departments managing collections: Archaeology, Medieval and Modern Archaeology, Ethnic Culture, History, Modern History, Iconography and Numismatics. An important area of the Museum’s activities in popularising its collections and cultivating historical self-awareness among the population is the publication of material related to its collections in the series: The Lithuanian National Museum Library, Lithuanian Ethnic Culture, The History of Lithuanian Photography, From the Archive of the Lithuanian National Museum, etc. Museum professionals from all over Lithuania publish their articles in the museum’s yearbooks Ethnography, Numismatics and Restoration Methods.

Expositions and thematic exhibitions introduce the audience to Lithuanian archaeology, history and ethnic culture. Around 250 thousand visitors come to the museum every year. The museum organises overview or thematic guided tours; educational activities take place since 1996; the museum has prepared the educational programme Knowledge (Pažinimas). Intellectuals have come to like Thursday evenings dedicated to the history of culture.