Great Guild Hall

Tallinn, Estonia

Since the 14th century craftmen’s guilds were significant brotherhoods who drove interests of their members. The big guild of Tallinn was an union of wealthy merchants. Their base was the Great Guild Hall in downtown, opposite the church of Holy Spirit. The building itself was built in 1407-1410 and is a well-preserved sample of Medieval construction.

Today the Great Guild Hall houses a museum presenting Estonia's history from prehistoric times right up to the end of the 20th century. Films and interactive displays show how people here lived, fought and survived over the last 11,000 years.

References: Tallinn Tourism

Comments

Your name



Address

Pikk 17-19, Tallinn, Estonia
See all sites in Tallinn

Details

Founded: 1407-1410
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Estonia
Historical period: Danish and Livonian Order (Estonia)

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Ivan Kuprijanov (2 months ago)
Really interesting museum in a superbly restored historical building. Across multiple floors, many fine and unique artifacts are on display here, including findings from the Viking and pre-Christian ages, hidden treasures, and tombs of ancient Estonian wealthy and mighty people ,-) However, it's worth noting that for just a few days, it was possible to observe ancient artifacts confiscated in 2018 at the Russian-Estonian border. After restoration, they are now expected to return to Ukraine.
Joep (2 months ago)
Honestly one of the most fun and interesting museums I have been to since a long time. Wonderful exhibition nice stories and understandable travel through the history of Estonia. Also very fun to see all the coins and their value next to different products to have an idea of how much the money is worth.
Kyle Fields (3 months ago)
Very kind and helpful staff. I learned a lot here, especially why Estonia didn't become a kingdom. The guild hall area at the bottom was very medieval looking and informative
Gary Brazel (5 months ago)
The Gothic Great Guild Hall was built for the Hanseatic merchants in 1410. It is now the Estonian History Museum. The building itself is worth seeing and the collection is, too.
Lasura (11 months ago)
A lovely museum, not very big but has some really wonderful exhibits. The staff were welcoming and helpful, spoke good English. Descriptions in Estonian and English.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.