Museums seek €2.5 million to advance North Estonia heritage depot
Sunday 15th November 2026 on 18:01 in
Estonia
The Estonian Museum Association is seeking €2.5 million from next year’s state budget to continue designing a shared heritage storage facility in North Estonia, ERR reports. The Riigikogu Finance Committee does not consider the request justified.
About 96 percent of museum objects are kept in storage, and many facilities fail to meet preservation standards. The association says three-quarters of museum collections are held in conditions that may not ensure their long-term survival. Some museums have so little space that gaps have appeared in their collecting.
Kai Lobjakas, director of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, said her museum is among those that never received a purpose-built storage facility. While preparing an exhibition on the Standard furniture company, she said, the museum may have to ask acquaintances for space in their attics to store objects important to Estonia’s furniture history.
“Putting together, one by one, all the conditions a modern storage facility needs is a great luxury,” Lobjakas said, adding that she considers a shared heritage depot necessary.
The government decided in 2018 to create two large heritage storage facilities for museums, with appropriate conditions for collections, but plans have repeatedly been put on hold. Anu Viltrop, head of the Estonian Museum Association, said the North Estonia project had become less expensive over time as it was repeatedly optimised.
Viltrop said a shared facility could save the state money by bringing conservators together, rather than requiring each museum to employ them separately. It would also free up space in museums to display more of their collections.
Finance Committee chair Annely Akkermann said the requested €2.5 million was not a large sum, but the chances of receiving additional funding were close to zero because the state had little money. She said the request covered only one stage, project preparation, and argued that planning should begin when there was clarity on when construction would start, how much it would cost and where the funding would come from.
Museums on the mainland have yet to find a solution to their storage needs, while a museum on Hiiumaa is getting a new facility with support from a Norwegian aid programme.