The 1991 Barricades Museum preserves objects, photographs and testimony from Latvia’s independence struggle. In Old Riga, its collection traces the volunteers who defended important sites and remembers those killed or injured during the January and August events.
Guide preview
A thermos and a radio might seem modest objects beside the concrete blocks and heavy trucks associated with Riga’s 1991 barricades. They tell a necessary part of the story. People guarding buildings in January needed warmth, food and information through long shifts. The 1991 Barricades Museum preserves objects and memories of those days in a building where, according to the Latvian Museums Association, participants were served hot tea and could rest.
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Quick facts
- The museum opened in 2001, ten years after Latvia ended its transition to independence.
- In January 1991 volunteers used heavy vehicles and concrete blocks to defend strategic sites.
- The museum collection includes radios, thermoses, photographs and other evidence of the barricades.
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