News
Under the Napoleonic Eagle
New Exhibition!
It is impossible to overestimate the impact that the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte, whom it elevated on its waves, had on our world. We most often regard Napoleon as a great military leader whose military successes reshaped European warfare and influenced military thinking for years to come. His political skills allowed him to consolidate power and establish the Napoleonic Empire in Europe. His conquests spread the principles of the French Revolution, and while his rule was often oppressive, it also had a profound impact on the development of modern European nations. The 1804 Napoleonic Code influenced civil law codes worldwide, promoting equality of all men before the law and individual rights, as well as the secular character of the state. His reforms included the establishment of government-run schools and public works projects. Napoleon’s reign inspired artistic and literary movements. His patronage of the arts and encouragement of intellectual pursuits left a lasting cultural legacy.
By establishing the Order of the Legion of Honour in 1802, Napoleon also created a blueprint for most of the following state orders and decorations. Like a sponge, the Order of the Legion of Honour soaked in all the progressive principles of the French Revolution, all those principles that we hold dear today: liberty, equality, fraternity and ensured its survival as a great order, known and respected through all the world, even after its creator fell from grace.
As Napoleon grew his Empire, he put his closest relatives and friends on the thrones of conquered countries: Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Westphalia, the Two Sicilies. For a brief moment in the history of those countries, their old orders (where they existed) were abolished, and new ones were created. These new orders followed the example of the Legion of Honour and had beautiful, original and sometimes unusual designs and fascinating symbology: bees, wolves, lions, snakes and the all-powerful eagle above them all – The Great Napoleonic Eagle – a symbol of power and a connection to an ancient past. Inspired by the eagle standards of the Roman legions, the Eagle was not the only symbol, alluding to Bonaparte’s claim to ancient roots. As Napoleon crowned himself the King of Rome with the famous Iron Crown, he thought to solidify his status with the Order of the Iron Crown, which you will see today. The Capitoline Wolf of Rome, suckling Romulus and Remus, is depicted on another no longer awarded order – the French Order of the Reunion.
With our new exhibition we pay homage both to the trailblazing order of the Legion of Honour and the orders that closely followed but only shined for a very short, although significant, time in history.
New Exhibition!
Last week, the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood hosted a joint phaleristic conference together with the Slovak Pahleristics Society.
For this event, the museum prepared a special exhibition, “Orders of the First Republic of Slovakia”. The Museum boasts the fullest collection of orders’ insignia on this subject, with several unique samples to be seen only at the Tallinn Museum. This is a great opportunity for our visitors to see these rare objects and to learn more on the history of Slovakia.
Two publications were made especially for this exhibition. You can find them in our online store and in the museum’s souvenir shop.
The exhibition will be open until 28 January 2024.
Audio Guide in a New Language!
Dear friends! We are happy to announce that our audio tour is now available in the Polish language. A big thank you for making this audioguide possible goes to our dear friend Lukasz Gaszewski, specialist in phaleristics, counsellor to the Polish Army Museum and the National Museum in Warsaw, long-time member of the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA), author of publications about orders, decorations and medals.
We hope that this will make the visit of all our guests from Poland even more unforgettable and would like to invite everyone to come and get acquainted with the orders of Poland and their history.
One of the historical items that you can see at our museum is the badge of the order of the White Eagle presented by August the Strong of Poland to Peter the Great of Russia in 1712. Augustus founded the Order of the White Eagle in 1705. However, new research shows that the first orders of the White Eagle could have been bestowed as early as 1702.
New Exhibition!
The art of wearing orders and decorations
The Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood presents its new temporary exhibition on the art of wearing order insignia, specifically on the wearing and mounting of sashes and ribands. Order insignia have been part of the male costume of the nobility elite since the creation of the Order of the Garter in the fourteenth century, but this time our focus will be on the period when orders and decorations began to be worn en masse, as the orders themselves started to change from elite domestic organisations of the few to awards based primarily on merit and firmly established instruments of diplomacy and diplomatic protocol.
Rarely do we reflect on the mode in which the badges are sewn to the riband. Today’s style of wearing orders and decorations was established in the late nineteenth century and our exhibition shows the different ways that the badges have been attached to the ribbons and sashes, the ways the ribbands were pleated, folded and tied – the most customary mountings being still used today in most countries.
The exhibition is scheduled to run until the end of February!
Best of the best 2022
The Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood has been recognized by Tripadvisor as a 2022 Travelers’ Choice award winner and the number one museum in Tallinn according to visitor’s rankings!
The award celebrates museums and attractions that have received great traveller reviews from visitors around the globe on Tripadvisor over the last 12 months. As challenging as the past year was, the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood stood out by consistently delivering high-quality content, top educational and cultural experience and high quality of service.
Portugal in Focus
Orders of the bleeding heart
Military Orders of Chivalry flourished in Portugal during medieval times. Although they underwent a series of changes keeping up with the time, one thing remained constant – the beauty and elegance of their insignia! Discover the history of Portugal through the stars, badges and chains of its powerful orders and most respected awards.
Now at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood!
Celebrate St Valentines Day at the Museum!
Stories of love and passion trapped in gold
Dear friends! To mark St Valentine’s day, which has come to be associated with love and friendship, we invite you to bring the one you love to our museum today and hear the romantic stories associated with the world’s most famous orders! Knighthood and chivalry has always been associated with romantic love. But you will be surprised to know, how many actual orders of knighthood have romantic stories in their origin.
All through the day our curators will be sharing stories about their favorite orders. Join us and discover a new side to awards you never new was there!
Coming in February
Diamonds for merit
A temporary exhibition is set to open in February at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood. It will focus on orders’ insignia decorated with precious stones.
In the 18th century, it was common for kings and rulers to order diamond-studded stars and badges of orders of knighthood intended to be worn at special occasions to match their diamond buttons, tie-pins, clasps, and shoe-buckles. Such unique insignia were also on occasion presented as a sign of special friendship or favour or to mark a significant event. In the early 19th century, many monarchs introduced the practice of presenting insignia with diamonds as a special distinction to an earlier received award. In countries like Russia and Germany, with several orders of merit, these diamond studded badges became a separate grade before receiving the next higher order in rank.
Beautiful masterpieces made by the world’s best jewellers, these stars and badges shine today as brightly as the day they were awarded.
June Schedule
The Museum is opening in June
Dear friends! We are happy to announce that the Museum will be open for visitors starting Monday, 31 May, on the weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00. This schedule will be active for June 2021. We hope that we can get to our regular schedule as the situation with travel restrictions normalizes.
For those who would like to visit the Museum on the weekends, please give us a call and we will try our best to accommodate you.
Make sure to take advantage of the special ticket price that we have for June. Adult tickets are 7 euro and family tickets only 15 euro.
We are closed on June 24 and 25 for the Holidays
See you at the Museum!
Working on the Renewed Exhibition
With the travel restrictions and quarantine measures still in force, our museum continues to operate behind closed doors meticulously working on the renewed exhibition. Here are some glimpses into what is to come when the museum can safely open its doors again to the public.