Tallinn City Life Museum
“Lyndanise. Reval. Tallinn.
City Life Through the Centuries”

NOVEMBER 2025

The story of Tallinn reaches back to prehistoric times. From the stronghold of Lyndanise to Danish-era Reval, from a Hanseatic League city to a later industrial centre, Tallinn has passed through many stages of development. In the exhibition, Saint Victor and Toomas, the Kalamaja boy, help visitors make sense of this rich and varied history.

The exhibition tells the story of Tallinn as it has been shaped and passed on by previous generations and how it continues to endure to this day. It includes some of the more unique artefacts from the museum’s collection, vividly illustrating the city’s story. You can see the original Old Thomas who once watched over the city from the Town Hall Tower, the 17th-century town hall chest used to store the city council’s most important documents, the gilded key to the city made for King Charles XII, the shame post that once stood in Town Hall Square, the products that made Tallinn famous, and much more. The exhibition also presents ambitious urban projects and visions that have not yet come to fruition.

/ The exhibition project was completed in collaboration with Studio Argus architects /