Museum's History

I

The actual lifespan of the Estonian Sports Museum is not long, but thoughts about collecting and preserving materials that record the history of Estonian sports have been contemplated in these parts already since the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, already in 1913, there was a clause in the statute of ESS "Kalev" that gave the society the right to establish a museum of sports matters.

After World War I, when Estonia gained independence, the idea of creating a museum did not fade – the statute of the newly founded Estonian Central Sports Union also included the right to open a museum for objects and literature related to sports. Practical preparatory work began: for example, in the 1920s, active sports figure Tõnu Võimula organized the collection of sports-historical materials under the Estonian Central Sports Union.

II

The idea of a museum progressed quietly but steadily. During the I Estonian Games held in 1934, a physical culture exhibition was organized, and it was hoped that its materials would later serve as the foundation for a museum. In the Eesti Spordileht (no. 3, 1934, p. 65), it was written on this occasion:

“[...] The Estonian Central Sports Union is organizing in Tallinn the 1st Nationwide Physical Culture Exhibition to popularize physical culture among the people in all its forms of expression and at the same time to provide a complete overview of the development of physical culture in Estonia. [...] Based on the exhibition being organized, the Estonian Central Sports Union will in the future establish an Estonian sports museum and archive.”

The exhibition, realized under the leadership of P. Aren, was called the First Physical Culture Exhibition and featured dozens of organizations with nearly 2000 exhibits. It was held in the premises of the Tallinn City Girls' Commercial Gymnasium and was opened on June 15 by Mayor Jaan Soots.

The exhibits of the First Physical Culture Exhibition presented the history of physical culture and sport from the 19th century to the modern Olympic movement, the major Estonian sports unions and societies, sports activities in schools and defense organizations, achievements in health and sports medicine, and Estonian folk sports traditions. In addition, sports equipment businesses were represented with their products: AS Põhjala (rubber products – swimming caps, balls, shoes, etc.) and the Tartu sports equipment factory (skis, tennis rackets, athletics equipment, etc.). The Defence League also showcased its self-made baseball and skiing equipment.

The grand exhibition was open from June 15 to 24 and was visited by nearly 3,000 people. In a retrospective commentary, Eesti Spordileht (no. 7, 1934, pp. 150–151) stated:

“Although the organizers of the exhibition had rather limited means, which prevented the overview from becoming ideally complete, the overall picture was more satisfying than expected. All the more so because this exhibition was the first of its kind and thus a novel undertaking in Estonia. [...] The exhibition indirectly laid the foundation for the planned sports museum, which would become more and more aligned with real life. Most sporting nations have their own sports museums, and following such an example seems inevitable for Estonia.”

Unfortunately, the museum was not established before the war, although even in the booklet introducing the I Estonian Games, the article presenting the physical culture exhibition was titled “The Foundation for a Sports Museum,” and it expressed a deep need for researching and understanding the history of physical culture.

III

The breakthrough came after World War II. The credit for the continued development of the idea goes to Tõnu Võimula, who later donated both the idea and the materials he had collected to Johannes Laidvere, a lecturer at the Tartu State University (TRÜ) Faculty of Physical Education. Around the same time, a young weightlifting researcher, Olaf Langsepp, also came up with the idea of establishing a sports museum. He published an article titled "On the History of Physical Culture and Sport in the Estonian SSR" in the journal Kehakultuur (no. 1, 1956, pp. 24-25), where he introduced the state of sports history research in Estonia. Among other things, he stated:

"In the Estonian SSR, there are already museums dedicated to the history of literature, art, theater, and music, in memory of prominent cultural and societal figures. We study the history of literature, art, architecture, music, and theater. But where is the museum of physical culture and sport? Where is its history?"

It was through the initiative of both men that materials for the future museum began to be gathered at the TRÜ Faculty of Physical Education and the Tartu City Museum. The final realization of the museum idea was taken under the wing of the Estonian SSR Union of Sports Societies and Organizations (ENSV SOL) Scientific and Methodical Council's Sports History Committee. From 1960 onwards, the committee was chaired by Aksel Tiik, the head of the Physical Education Department at the Estonian Agricultural Academy (EPA), and its members included Karl Siilivask, associate professor at the TRÜ Department of Soviet History, Johannes Laidvere, lecturer at the TRÜ Faculty of Physical Education, Feliks Parre, Erich Kübarsepp, graduate student Olaf Langsepp, associate professor Ruudi Toomsalu from the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute (TPI) Physical Education Department, Juhan Mandre, editor-in-chief of the Kehakultuur journal, and Anatoli Org, a member of the editorial board. Following the committee's decision, the direction was set for the actual establishment of the museum.

The EPA Rectorate agreed to allocate space for the newly founded museum in its 1959-built sports building. On April 11, 1962, the substantive issues of the museum's creation were discussed by the Presidium of the ENSV SOL. The museum's creation was recognized as necessary, and its initial location was decided to be the EPA sports building in Tartu, located at what was then Pälsoni 1. The same decision also confirmed the composition of the founding committee for the sports museum, which included:

Chairman Aksel Tiik; Vice-Chairman Arnold Vaiksaar (then Head of the Department of Sports Federations at the ENSV SOL); Vice-Chairman Eduard Hunt (EPA Administrative Vice-Rector); Secretary Olaf Langsepp; Members Johannes Laidvere, Karl Siilivask, Helmuth Särekanno (Chairman of the Tartu City Council of the SOL), Johannes Kotkas (Coach of the USSR National Team in the Estonian SSR), and Voldemar Erm (Researcher at the Tartu State Art Museum).

The committee was formed with the principle that all relevant officials and specialists, whose work would be crucial to the future of the museum, should be represented. The collection of materials began across Estonia, and the main task of the founding committee was to develop the museum's basic regulations and structure and to form a museum council.

In addition to the collection work, those interested in the museum began researching the history of Estonian sport, and even before the actual establishment of the museum, the first sports history conference was organized. The first national scientific conference on the history of physical culture was held on December 17-18, under the joint organization of the ENSV SOL Sports History Committee and the EPA in the EPA auditorium.

On the second day of the conference, December 18, a decisive step was taken in the actual creation of the museum: at an extended meeting of the founding committee of the museum and the SOL Sports History Committee, the museum's charter was accepted. On January 28, 1963, the charter (along with the draft staff list for the public Estonian SSR Physical Culture and Sports Museum) was confirmed by the ENSV SOL Council. This day is considered the birth of the public museum.

Thus, the founding committee could conclude its work – the museum was established, and after the Moscow Luzniki Physical Culture and Sports Museum, it became the second of its kind in the Soviet Union.

IV

The first staff of the public sports museum was as follows: Director Aksel Tiik; Scientific Secretary Johannes Laidvere; Chief Curator Silvi Raidvee; Head of the Manuscripts Department Eduard Kubjas; Head of the Publications Department Helmi Viljus; Head of the Artifacts Department Friedrich Anton Palm; Head of the Photographic Collection Helmut Kuigo.

The decision to establish the museum in Tartu met with some opposition in Tallinn, but it quickly gained popularity and the funds grew rapidly. On April 5, 1963, the museum's first exhibition, "Sports Museum Collections", opened in the gymnastics hall of the EPA sports building, displaying over 500 exhibits. In addition to the museum staff, artists Tui Koort and Vaike Tiik from the Tartu Art Museum also contributed to the exhibition. The exhibition attracted just over 1,000 visitors.

Soon, the demanding work of running the museum began to overwhelm the volunteer staff, and by 1964, the idea of a state-run museum was being discussed, although initially without success.

A significant event in 1964 was the Second National Scientific Conference on the History of Physical Culture, held on May 26. Like the first one, it was organized jointly by the ENSV SOL and EPA in Tartu, at the EPA auditorium.

In addition to achieving state status, the main question during this period was the location of the sports museum. Should it be in Tartu or Tallinn? The deciding factor in this case was the question of the museum's future premises. On March 31, 1965, the Chairman of the ENSV SOL Council, Heino Sisask, sent a letter to both the Tartu and Tallinn TSN Executive Committees inquiring about the future museum's space. Tartu began to address this issue, but the response from Tallinn was negative. Later that year, Tartu hosted the museum’s second exhibition – in May 1965, the exhibition on the history of sports in Tartu opened at the EPA sports building.

The process of establishing a state museum gained more concrete form in 1966. On August 1, the Chairman of the Tartu City TSN Executive Committee, Arnold Karu, announced that the former office space of the Pauluse Church would be allocated for the museum at Riiam 27a. This allocation was officially confirmed by the Tartu City TSN Executive Committee's decision on April 27, 1967, numbered 126. This accelerated the granting of state status to the museum and solved the location issue. The Estonian SSR State Sports Museum was established by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the Estonian SSR on July 1, 1967. The location became the wing of the Pauluse Church, where the museum operated until the summer of 2001.

V

The new director of the museum was Olaf Langsepp, with Aime Pärnakivi serving as the chief curator and Kalju Võngri as the researcher. One of the first important tasks was the creation of the permanent exhibition. However, due to various issues, it was delayed initially.

On March 15, 1971, the director changed: Olaf Langsepp was replaced by Enn Mainla. Later, on November 26, 1971, the museum's first permanent exhibition, "The History of Estonian Physical Culture and Sports", was finally opened, covering all significant stages of our physical culture history. The exhibition space was limited, but this was compensated for by hosting lively temporary exhibitions.

However, the lack of space quickly led to the need for expansion, which was achieved by utilizing the entire wing of the building. While the museum had previously been located only on the first floor of the Pauluse Church wing, the goal was to expand into the second and third floors. In October 1976, the exhibition was closed, and the wing underwent a major renovation. The temporary "office" of the Sports Museum became the former club of the textile factory "Areng" at Võru Street 39a. Despite the cramped conditions, the museum continued to collect funds and organize temporary exhibitions.

The long-delayed renovation of the church wing was completed only in 1987, but this allowed for a thorough update of the building, with only the walls remaining unchanged. On December 18, 1987, Johannes Kotkas, a former member of the founding committee of the museum and Olympic gold medalist, opened the second permanent exhibition, "Physical Culture and Sports in Estonia", which occupied 240 square meters.

In the renovated space, the museum continued its work as a fully functional institution. In addition to active collection work, the museum increasingly prioritized creating conditions for scientific research and museum pedagogy.

VI

The societal renewal processes that began in the late 1980s and culminated in the restoration of Estonian independence left a deep mark on the activities of the Sports Museum. New development perspectives emerged, and the right to make independent decisions grew.

The rapid growth of the museum’s collections soon led to a new issue: space became limited. In 1993, the museum received its 50,000th exhibit, but by 2000, the number of stored exhibits had already exceeded 90,000. Additionally, in 1995, the Pauluse Church wing was returned to the congregation, and a five-year lease agreement was signed with the museum.

Active searches for a new home began and yielded results within a year. In August 1996, the museum was handed over a new location in Tartu Old Town on Rüütli Street—an old post office building. As a sign of preserving the historical connection, the Estonian Postal Museum's exhibition also found its place in the building.

In January 1997, the architects Aune Arus and Raul Kõllamaa were declared the winners of the competition for the new museum building’s sketch project. Renovation work began in September 1998. The first year and a half was spent on archaeological excavations and foundation reinforcement, followed by giving the building’s old walls a new purpose. The building received reinforced concrete floors and an attic floor, and medieval wall remnants were excavated and preserved in the basement. As a result, the building's total area increased to 2,200 square meters. The construction work was completed by the summer of 2001, and by August 1, 2001, the entire museum had moved into its new location.

The year 2001 marked the end of a long chapter in the museum's history. On April 9, Enn Mainla, who had been the director for 30 years, left his position. Following a competition, long-time Tartu sports leader Mati Tolmoff was appointed as the new director.

By the fall of 2001, the work on setting up the new museum home had progressed enough that on October 1, the museum opened its doors to the public.

VII

The new building in the center of Tartu opened up incomparable opportunities for the Sports Museum, which it quickly began to utilize. With the opening of the new location, the museum got a new logo and launched its first serious website. Exhibition activities were significantly activated, and the museum began successful collaborations with the embassies of various countries. For the first time in the museum's history, a pedagogue was employed, tasked with developing and conducting children’s programs. Among the most popular of these were the sporting “Santa Claus Land” events held at the end of the year. Children’s birthday parties held at the museum also became quite popular.

Visitors quickly embraced the museum’s new location. In the first year, the number of visitors more than doubled compared to previous years, despite the fact that the new permanent exhibition had not yet been opened.

The Rüütli Street building also provided the museum with modern storage conditions for its collections. In June 2002, the 100,000th item entered the museum—a silver medal won by Martin Klein at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, the first Olympic medal ever won by Estonians. By 2004, the number of items in the collection had surpassed 110,000.

In January 2003, the museum celebrated its 40th anniversary with several events. On this occasion, a comprehensive, nearly 200-page anniversary album was published, with color illustrations in both Estonian and English. The album provides readers with a detailed overview of the museum’s history, collections, exhibitions, conferences, and more.

Despite the active exhibition program and numerous events, the first few years at the Rüütli Street building were primarily focused on preparing the new permanent exhibition. The long-awaited moment arrived on May 12, 2004, when the Minister of Culture Urmas Paet officially opened the new permanent exhibition “Hortus Athleticus.” The third permanent exhibition of the Sports Museum covered more than 300 square meters and was divided into nine thematic sections. The exhibition designer was Oleg Mellov.

VIII

In the following years, the Sports Museum began participating more actively in various international initiatives. In November 2005, the museum attended the European Sports Museums Conference in Thessaloniki, where a joint cooperation memorandum was signed. In December of the same year, the museum's researcher Kaarel Antons made his mark in the history of the Estonian Olympics by participating in the torch relay for the Torino Winter Olympic Games in La Spezia, Italy. Antons was chosen as Estonia’s representative for the relay in a public competition held that summer, where more than 450 participants competed!

In 2006, the Estonian Sports Museum became a founding member of the international Olympic Museums Network. This network was established in Lausanne by 7 European and 4 Asian Olympic and sports museums. The first real outcome of the network’s cooperation came in October 2008 when the Estonian Sports Museum received the exhibition “Pierre de Coubertin and the Fine Arts,” which was created in collaboration with the German Olympic and Sports Museum, the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee, and the Navacelle de Coubertin family. The exhibition introduced original artworks by Coubertin and his family, many of which were publicly displayed for the first time. In 2013, a summer school for specialists from the network's member museums was held for the first time.

In August 2006, at the regular seminar of the International Society for the History of Physical Education and Sport (ISHPES) in Ljubljana, it was decided that the 2008 seminar would take place in Tartu. This was a historic decision, as it marked the first time that an ISHPES event was held in the Baltic States. The main responsibility for organizing the seminar fell to the Estonian Sports Museum.

The ISHPES seminar, which took place in Tartu from July 3 to 5, 2008, brought 100 sports scientists from 25 countries to the university town. The farthest participants came from Japan, China, South Africa, Canada, and the USA. A total of 60 presentations were made, and during the seminar, a roundtable discussion for sports museums was held, comparing the experiences of different countries in preserving sports history.

At the end of 2010, the Estonian Sports Museum joined the International Council on Archives/Sports Archives (ICA/SPO). The goal of the association is to bring together, guide, and manage archives that contain sports-related material and to organize professional activities in the field.

IX

In addition to the previously mentioned Christmas-time "Elf Land," several other wonderful traditions took root during the first decade of the 21st century. The museums in Tartu were among the first in Estonia to organize museum nights. The Sports Museum hosted its first museum night in 2005. Over the years, the popularity of the Museum Night has grown. The nationwide enthusiasm for museum nights began in 2009, when the event took place across the country as part of the National Museum Year. From the same year, the Sports Museum also began participating in the European-wide "Night of Scientists" held in September. Thus, the museum is open at least two evenings a year, and there are more visitors than the space can accommodate!

In 2006, the tradition of "Sporting Memorabilia" at the museum began. Sports-themed quizzes have since been offering great excitement for players. The positive reception of the quizzes encouraged the museum to try out different kinds of games. In 2009, evening quizzes were introduced, and they also proved to be very popular. In 2012, the first evening quiz was organized outside the museum, at the Pärnu Central Library.

Although 2009 was declared the National Museum Year, it caused mixed feelings within the museums themselves. Budget cuts due to the economic downturn, layoffs, and the cancellation of many planned activities created uncertainty. The Sports Museum was no exception. On November 20, 2009, director Mati Tolmoff left the position. After a competition, Daimar Lell, the museum's development director, was appointed as the new director on January 20, 2010.

The year 2010 at the Sports Museum was marked by preparations for its first branch—the Otepää Winter Sports Museum. The new museum was officially opened at the Tehvandi Sports Centre on February 9, 2011. It is an attractive and active exhibition zone with a total area of nearly 150 m². Given the relatively small size of the space, a comprehensive overview of winter sports is not available, but visitors can find memorabilia from significant moments—medals, sports equipment, and more.

At the beginning of 2012, the Sports Museum launched its own periodic publication, Sport&Muuseum, with plans to publish three issues over two years. In 2012, the museum, in collaboration with the Estonian Olympic Academy, also began awarding the Georg Hackenschmidt Sports Book Prize.

The year 2013 was spent celebrating the museum's 50th anniversary, with events happening throughout the year. The anniversary was concluded with a large international conference in December called Olympic Memory, attended by around a hundred guests from nine countries, and a special journal issue dedicated to the museum's history.

During these years, the museum's activities expanded significantly beyond its building in Tartu. An annual tradition of summer exhibitions in Pärnu was established, and several exhibitions were organized in Narva, Tallinn (at the TV tower, National Library, Kiek in de Kök), Kuressaare, as well as in Warsaw (“Estonian Sport in Old Photographs,” 2011-2012), and on Tallink ships (“Olympic Games of 100 Years Ago: Stockholm 1912,” on the Tallinn-Stockholm and Riga-Stockholm routes in 2012).

The museum also developed good and productive contacts with sports federations and local governments, collaborating on many events and exhibitions across Estonia. Notable examples include the museum’s participation in the Junior Athletics European Championship (2011) and U-23 European Championship (2015, in partnership with the Estonian Athletics Association), the creation of an exhibition on Martin Klein at the Tarvastu Museum (2012, Tarvastu Municipality), the “Estonian Tennis 100” project (2013-2014, Estonian Tennis Association), extensive traveling exhibitions such as “Images of Estonian Sport” (2013, Estonian Olympic Committee) and “Estonian Police Sports Through History” (2014, Police and Border Guard Board), the opening of the Jaan Jaago House Museum in Luunja (2014, Luunja Municipality), the completion of a wall dedicated to Georg Lurich in Väike-Maarja (2014, Väike-Maarja Municipality), the large Olympic Medal exhibition at Kalevi Sports Hall in Tallinn (2014, Estonian Wrestling Federation), the fencing exhibition “Musketeers of the Land of Mary” (2015, Estonian Fencing Federation), and exhibitions and events celebrating the 100th anniversaries of Paul Keres and Erna and Herbert Abel (2016, Tartu city), among others. The museum also maintained close cooperation with embassies (China, USA, Japan, Latvia, France), leading to exhibitions and events showcasing various sports and countries, as well as film evenings.

In summary, the Sports Museum successfully established its position as the information center for Estonian sports history, and the (sports) community eagerly took advantage of this opportunity. The museum also made a significant contribution to the study of sports history through the research published in its journal and books (“The Fifth Olympics in Stockholm 1912,” 2012; “The Duel of Giants,” 2013; “50 Gustav Sule Memorial Competitions,” 2015).

The children’s Christmas programs and birthday celebrations, which gained momentum in the previous decade, were expanded with several other activities aimed at families and social groups, including Father’s Day and Mother’s Day events, an open doors day held in early January (starting in 2012), Valentine’s Day and Halloween orienteering games, board game nights, workshops related to exhibitions, and quiz events (in 2014 and 2016 before the Olympic Games). In 2014, the Sports Museum played a key role in organizing the national E-quiz as part of the nationwide Year of Movement. At the end of 2014, Mika Keränen’s children’s adventure book Golden Lurich was published, with the story taking place in the Sports Museum. In spring 2015, the museum launched an adventure museum program with the same name, which quickly became popular.

X

In 2013, a new museum law was adopted in Estonia. During the debate on the draft law, it became clear that the future of Estonian museums would primarily lie with foundations. In November of the same year, the Government of the Republic approved, and in February 2014, the Riigikogu confirmed, the document on the main principles of cultural policy, which provided guidelines for the development of Estonia's cultural sector from 2014 to 2020.

Several proposals were made regarding the foundation of the Sports Museum. The museum's position was that the founders of the foundation should be the Ministry of Culture and the Olympic Committee. This idea was generally approved by the Sports Museum’s council in April 2014. This development option was supported by the fact that Olympic themes had always been a priority for the museum. Among the museum's partners, the Estonian Olympic Committee and the Estonian Olympic Academy stood out. In the case of the latter, it is important to note the school Olympic Games, which have been highly popular in Estonian schools and received recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to which the Sports Museum has contributed significantly. The Estonian Sports Museum is also a founding member of the International Olympic Museums Network (OMN), established in 2006. This network includes several museums associated with both national governments and Olympic committees. This model has been considered successful in several countries around the world.

However, negotiations to establish the foundation did not proceed easily, and the process took much longer than expected. On April 14, 2016, the Minister of Culture, Indrek Saar, and the President of the Estonian Olympic Committee, Neinar Seli, signed the founding agreement of the Foundation of the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum.

The chairman of the foundation’s council was Siim Sukles, the Secretary General of the Olympic Committee. The museum's former leader, Daimar Lell, did not stand for election as a board member of the foundation. Following a competition, the museum’s development manager, Siim Randoja, was selected for this position and took office on August 1, 2016. From that day onward, the state institution Estonian Sports Museum officially ceased its operations.