News
Winner of the 2020 Best of the Best Awards!
Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood Wins
2020 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice
Best of the Best Award
Based on our visitors’ reviews in 2019, the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood has been recognized as one of the Best of the Best Attractions in Estonia, ranking third out of 299 in Tallinn and placing in the top 10% in the World.
Thank you, to our visitors, for your support and reviews, we could not have done it without you!
We will continue to do our best to bring history to life for our visitors and make their stay in Estonia an unforgettable experience!
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel platform. Each month it helps 463 million travelers make the most out of their trip. Travelers across the globe use the TripAdvisor site and app to browse more than 860 million reviews and opinions of 8.7 million travel related companies. Available in 28 languages.
From Fraternities to Awards
A new exhibition is scheduled to open on 15 November 2020
The treasures on display will include the famous badge of Peter the Great (Order of the White Eagle), Princess Mary’s diamond star (Order of the British Empire), Empress Carlota’s diamond badge (Order of the Starry Cross) and many others.
We hope that the travel restrictions will be lifted and visitors will be able to enjoy our new exhibition. For the time that the travel restrictions apply the museum will be working from Friday to Sunday (10:00 to 18:00), weekdays by appointment.
Closed for Renovations
Dear Friends! In our effort to bring you more interesting exhibits, we are reconstructing our showcases to make room for amazing new historical objects, including order robes and weapons! For this the museum will be closed untill the end of September.
To our friends from phaleristic societies and followers on Facebook, if you are planning to travel to Estonia during the summer, and were looking forward to visiting our museum, please contact us so we can try and arrange a private tour for you, if possible.
We are closed till 1 June 2020
Dear Friends!
We are sorry to say that the museum will be closed for visitors until June due to the health epidemic.
We encourage you to browse the site of the museum and get acquainted with the collection and our articles and research.
Two orders of knighthood pop into mind in connection with the situation we all find ourselves. They are the Order of the Bath and the Order of Hospitallers.
Stay safe! We look forward to seeing you soon!
Order of the Sword for Ukraine
This Friday representatives from Sweden, Ukraine and Estonia gathered fro the ceremony of the presentation of the Ukrainian museum Hetman’s Capital with the exact replica of the eighteenth-century badge of the Swedish Order of the Sword.
It had been more than two years since the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood was contacted by the Ukrainian museum Hetman’s Capital in the city Baturin for assistance in finding information about an award presented to Grigory Orlik, son of a famous Ukrainian hetman in exile, close ally and supporter of Ivan Mazepa, who famously went against Peter the Great during the battle near Poltava and allied himself with Charles XII of Sweden. For a very long time no research had been done into the personal history of the people involved, but recent studies revealed a treasure trove of information.
Most interesting for the Tallinn Museum with its speciality in orders of knighthood, was that Grigory was awarded the Order of the Sword of Sweden. Since the insignia of the Swedish Royal Order of the Sword of the required period is extremely rare and there was no possibility of obtaining an original, a unique solution was proposed and executed with the full support of the Swedish Chancery of Orders by the official makers of Swedish insignia Atelier Borgila AB.
For the first time in the history of Sweden, a copy of a rare badge was officially produced for a museum. This job was done by the skillful jewelers brothers Ingemansson following the exact process of the 18th century and took more than half a year to perfect. Many visitors came to see both the rare original badge of the Order on loan from HM the King of Sweden and the exact reproduction at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood last week. Now the badge will be travelling to Ukraine where it will become part of the permanent exhibition on Grégoire Orlyk.
A Gracious Gift from Brazil
The Tallinn Museum of Orders was able to significantly expand its exhibition of Brazilian orders with the addition of several high awards graciously donated by the family of His Excellency Joao Luiz Pereira Pinto the Ambassador of Brazil in Finland.
The Order of Rio Branco and the Order of Aeronautical Merit were awarded to the Ambassador’s father Carlos Alberto Pereira Pinto, and the Order of Naval Merit – to his father-in-law Joao Clemente Baena Soares, both high-ranking Brazilian diplomats and statesmen.
It was now possible to display not only the Imperial period of Brazil but also the awards of the 20th century. The Tallinn Museum is grateful to the family of the Ambassador for their assistance in promoting the history of orders and decorations and the culture of Brazil.
Treasures from King Street
New exhibitions at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood
Guests from all over the world gathered on the 24.01.2020 at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood as the museum celebrated 3 years since its official opening. Especially for this event, the curators of the Museum prepared the exhibition Treasures from King Street. The exhibition is set to last until May 15 and showcases along with the already known masterpieces new acquisitions, accumulated during the past 3 years and displayed at the museum for the first time.
Included in the exhibition is the unique badge of the Order of the White Eagle belonging to Peter the Great, presented to Peter by King Augustus the Strong of Poland in 1710. Other interesting historical pieces are the diamond-studded badge of the Starry Cross of Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, several orders of the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, Charles I; the awards and marshal’s baton of Britain’s Field-Marshall Grenfell, the diamond badge and star of the Order of Alexander Nevsky presented by Nicholas II of Russia to Paul Deschanel, later president of France. A significant new addition was the ceremonial robes of the English Order of the Garter – the first royal order to be established and the one with the most unusual insignia – a garter – blue belt used to keep socks from falling down. Along with the traditional garter in blue velvet with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame on him who thinks this evil) written in gold, visitors can also see the rare diamond-studded insignia.
New Exhibition now open!
A new exhibition has opened at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood – “Jewels of Freemasonry“!
On display are insignia of the Freemasons from British and American lodges of the late 19th – early 20th century. The vast majority of exhibits are made of precious metals.
The exhibition is designed to familiarize visitors with the symbols of Masons. Items presented to the visitors are an integral part of the history of this fraternity, which everyone has heard about, but few people know. Masonic jewels, as visible manifestation of the secret lodges, are genuine masterpieces of jewel craft. Through them, the visitors will get a glimpse of Freemasonry and slightly lift the veil of secrecy over this mysterious organization.
Get Knighted at the Museum!
Special Programme for Children ages 6 to 12!
Children, get Knighted at the Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood!
28 December from 12:00 to 13:30.
Сhildren will learn about the different orders of knighthood and their badges, take part in a fun quiz, establish their own order and design badges for it. Those who are brave, noble and cunning will be knighted.
Regular prices for tickets apply – no extra charge! Limited spaces available – book now!
For more information call: +372 5750 1994 or send your booking request to tallinnmuseum@gmail.com
250 years of the Russian military Order of St George
The Order of St George – the first and only order of the Russian Empire awarded exclusively for military merit – was established by Catherine the Great on 26 November (9 December) 1769. The Order had four classes and was awarded to officers of the army and navy for services in the military field and valour in combat.
Until 1833, the 4th class could be awarded for long service, but later only for extraordinary courage on the battlefield. As a rule, it was necessary to have already been awarded the 4th class of the Order before receiving higher awards, but this rule was not always adhered to. The 1st class was awarded only 25 times. The prestige of the Order was extremely high – as even the Russian tsars were often awarded only the 4th class of the Order.
In 1807, Emperor Alexander I introduced the Cross of Saint George – “soldiers’ St George”, as a reward for lower military ranks for “undaunted courage”, which in 1856 was divided into four classes.
To celebrate the anniversary of the Order many museums organised special exhibitions and conferences.
The first badge of the Order of St George. Catherine the Great declared herself the Head of the new Order by assigning herself with the first class insignia. Is the rider on the horse actually a lady? Moscow Kremlin Museums
The Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthhood has on display a badge of the Russian Imperial Order of St George belonging to Austrian Field Marshal Hennequin Count of Fresner and Curel.
The exhibition will be open until 16 March 2020.
The exhibition will be open until 3 March 2020.
On 18 August 2019, the Tsaritsino Museum in Moscow opened their exhibition of one painting delivered from the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta. The fully restored portrait of Empress Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796), painted by Dimitri Grigorievic Levitzky (1735-1822) can be seen until 12 January 2020, when it will be returning to Malta.
