Description of the attraction
The Toy Museum in Tartu is one of the most interesting and favorite places for children and adults to visit. The pleasant environment of the museum and the rich exhibition of toys return adults to the carefree days of childhood, and children are offered a large number of exhibitions and interesting events.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the building of the museum housed the Tartu County School, where mostly children of artisans studied. In 1829, the premises passed into private hands, and, therefore, a large-scale work on the reconstruction of the building was organized here. The facade of the house was made in a classic style. Inside, there were also changes: the windows were significantly expanded, and the rooms were separated by partitions. Furnaces were installed in the rooms, finished with blue and white tiles. The walls in the hallway were covered with artificial marble.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, the building was divided into several small rooms, and on the contrary, additional buildings were erected in the courtyard, which were later destroyed. Throughout the 20th century, the building was a residential building with no permanent owners. The latter moved out in the early 1990s. In 1994, the city of Tartu decided to place a Toy Museum here. In 2002-2003, the building was completely renovated and, what is important, its original appearance, characteristic of the 19th century, was recreated.
The Tartu Toy Museum was opened in May 1994. In 2004, the museum began to be located in the old part of the city of Tartu at 8 Lutsu Street. The museum complex consists of four buildings from the 18th-19th centuries, of which Lutsu-2 and Lutsu-8 (erected in the early 1770s) are among the oldest surviving wooden buildings in Tartu. The architecture of the house in which the museum is located includes elements of two styles: baroque and classic.
The collection of the Toy Museum is quite extensive. It consists of over 6,000 toys and dolls. The toys are presented in traditional Estonian folk style. In the museum you can see many homemade rag dolls, spinning tops, wooden horses, cane ducks and other very old toys that Estonian children played many decades ago. The museum presents an exhibition of art dolls, souvenirs from different countries, as well as a collection of traditional Finno-Ugric toys. Despite the fact that the Toy Museum is interesting primarily for children, you should definitely visit it with the whole family. Here you can not only admire dolls and toys, but also get information about Estonian history and culture.
In the Toy Museum, a playroom and craftsmanship is open for children, there is an opportunity for various kinds of activities. Various children's activities are organized here, and it is also invited to participate in various museum programs.
In the courtyard of the museum, there is an exposition of cinema dolls, which is an exhibition of dolls and props from Estonian puppet films filmed over the past 50 years. Estonian animation films are shown in a small workshop. Here you can also play and make art. Temporary exhibitions are held on the second floor of the courtyard building. And in summer, the museum opens a summer courtyard with a sandpit, a water barrel and a playground with toys.
In 2010, the Museum of Toys includes the Theater House, which is probably the only and unique cultural center in the world, where the theater, created for children and families, draws inspiration from the museum.
