Funding cuts strip a third from Patarei museum exhibition

Budget cuts have removed about 35 percent of the planned exhibition at a museum of communist crimes being prepared in Tallinn’s former Patarei prison, ERR reports. The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory says it does not know whether it will receive enough funding to open and run the museum.

The cuts have eliminated an audio guide, an entire section on the Holocaust, other thematic sections and technical features. Historian Martin Andreller, a board member of the institute, said the exhibition would be completed in a reduced form for its planned opening on June 14.

The institute needs another 500,000 euros to complete the exhibition, with staffing costs on top of that. It has requested 2.4 million euros to finish the exhibition in full, but has no confirmation of next year’s budget or when the amount will be decided.

Without clarity on funding, the institute says it cannot plan marketing, communications, education programmes, recruitment or the museum’s day-to-day operations. It has started collecting donations on its website.

The Justice and Digital Ministry said it has no funding for the museum’s operating support and intends to provide money through project-based grants. The amount will be known after parliament adopts the state budget. Under a law amendment that took effect on December 29, 2025, the institute must apply for project funding instead of receiving an operating grant.

The government decided in 2018 to establish an international museum and research centre on communist crimes at the former prison. The original plan envisaged a 5,000-square-metre exhibition on the crimes and methods of communist regimes.