History

Like many Estonian museums, the story of Narva Museum starts with organisations established by local heritage enthusiasts.

In October 1861, the members of the Great Guild decided to create a museum room in the guild chambers of the stock exchange building. On 17 June 1862, the room was opened. It showcased heritage values related to the history of the city of Narva. A month later, on 17 July, the members of the Great Guild decided to establish a scientific association. On 25 March 1864, mainly on the initiative of the wealthier and more educated citizens belonging to the Great Guild, the Narva Heritage Society officially started operating with the goal of “collecting and studying data connected with the history of Narva and collecting and conserving such items that could be of importance to future generations, regardless of the era from which these items originate.”' The society held meetings in the rooms of the Great Guild, located in the stock exchange building next to Town Hall Square. The society's collection of heritage items (old coins and medals, historic weapons, items connected with everyday life and handicrafts, art pieces and old manuscripts) and library were also located in the building.

In December 1865, Tsar Alexander II granted permission “to place the house located in the Narva fortifications – i.e. the house of Peter the Great – whose importance has waned, together with the belongings located in the house, at the disposal and in the ownership of the Narva Great Guild Society.” The house was named in such a way because after wresting control of Narva from the Swedes in the Great Northern War in 1704, Tsar Peter the Great had stayed in this house during his multiple visits to the city. The building, along with the items belonging to Peter the Great that were still located there, remained the property of the Russian Imperial Family until it was handed over to the Great Guild. A museum was soon opened in the building, with its exposition consisting of the Narva Heritage Society's collection and historical items from the house of Peter the Great. The museum’s first guidebook was published in 1867. Although the activities of Narva Heritage Society wound down after one of its pioneers, Heinrich Johann Hansen, moved to St Petersburg in 1868, the museum remained opened in the house of Peter the Great.

On 9 August 1913 another museum was ceremonially opened in Narva: Narva City Museum, which at the time was named after the Lavretsovs. Its collection consisted of the art amassed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by local merchant Sergei Lavretsov and his wife Glafiira, which together with the house itself became the property of the city of Narva following the death of the Lavretsovs, as stated in their will. The collection, mainly representing the academic realistic paintings of the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, was supplemented in the 1920s and 1930s with art purchases and donations from Estonian artists. Narva City Government also donated a series of portraits of Narva mayors and other honourable citizens painted in the 18th and 19th centuries, which until then had been located in Narva Town Hall.

In 1933, the adjacent Narva City Museum and Peter the Great Museum were merged. The aim of this merger, among other things, was to unite and organise their collections according to theme, with art and ethnography destined for the Lavretsovs' house and the collection of historical objects for Peter the Great's house. Prior to the battles of the Second World War reaching Narva, some of the most valuable exhibits were evacuated to the Soviet Union, which in the meantime had occupied Estonia. The remainder of the collection was exhibited until 1944, when on 6 March devastating bombing by the Soviet Air Force destroyed two buildings of Narva Museum along with the baroque city centre of Narva itself. Fortunately, before the destruction of the city, the objects remaining in the museum were placed on a train heading to Tallinn. However, the train too was bombed, close to Rakvere. The exhibits which survived the bombing were donated to Rakvere, Paide and Tallinn City Museums. By the end of the war there were no museums or collections left in Narva.

On 22 July 1950, a small exhibition on the history of Narva opened in the courtyard of Narva Castle, in one of the small rooms of the former garrison sauna. Among other items, it contained objects from the old collection, since from 1949, when serious consideration began to be given to the re-establishment of a museum in Narva, other Estonian museums started returning their exhibits to Narva. In 1956, the collection evacuated to Russian was also party returned. Relief from the reduced circumstances in which the museum was operating was expected within three or four years, when the museum was to have moved to the restored house of Peter the Great, but contrary to expectations, the ruins of the house were demolished in 1959. Hopes of the restoration of the castle also seemed to be dashed, since in 1960 the financing of the restoration works that had been ongoing since the mid-1950s was halted. Despite these setbacks, the museum expanded its activities in a temporary location, with exhibitions were already being held in nine halls by 1957. Restoration of the castle recommenced in 1968.

The Kreenholm Factory Museum was established in 1977 as a branch of Narva Museum, but its exposition in the workers' barracks did not open until 1983. This branch was closed in 1992 and its collection was transferred to Narva Museum. In December 1986, Tall Hermann Tower and the western and southern wings of the castle were opened along with a new permanent exhibition on the history of Narva. In 1987, the restored artillery tower and the Stone Hall in the north-west corner of the Great Western Courtyard were handed over to the museum. In 1996, the Northern Wing of the castle’s convent building was completed, where an exhibition showcasing 19th-century Narva was opened. The Narva Museum art gallery was opened in April 1991, in which the art collection in the museum's fund was placed, including a significant proportion of the pre-war art collection that belonged to the museum. The art gallery is located in Gloria Bastion in an old military outbuilding constructed in 1777.

In 2005 and 2006 the Northern Courtyard was renovated. The North Yard – a centre for experimental history – was opened in the North Courtyard of the restored castle in 2007. It represents Narva Museum's interpretation of an early-modern craftsmen's district from the 17th century. During summer, visitors find themselves right in the midst of history and have the opportunity to try out many historical handicrafts.

The Carl Linné Garden was completed in 2009. The museum based the herb garden on a tradition initiated by Carl von Linné at the end of the 17th century: one of establishing herb gardens near manors and palaces and fortresses or their ruins that had by that time lost their original (military) function. Plants used in kitchens and medicine grow in this classicalist-style herb garden.

Landscaping and renovation work took place in the castle park in 2013 and 2014, improving the views of the castle and bringing light to the park. The location of the embankment of the destroyed bastion running through the central part of the park was marked with a hedge. In addition, the fountain and obelisk built in the early 1950s were restored.

In 2016, a Narva Museum project entitled 'Opening of the Border Castle Discovery Centre' received 3.54 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund for the complete restoration of the castle and the creation of a new permanent exhibition. Reconstruction work began in 2018, with the aim of opening a new permanent exhibition along with the refurbished Narva Castle convent building.

The fully restored convent building with its new exhibition was opened to visitors in June 2020. Those interested can now access the river side of the east wing and the gallery on top of the convent building, which were previously closed to visitors. They offer magnificent views of the castle courtyard, the river and Ivangorod Fortress on the east bank. The main theme of the interactive exhibition, which provides the whole family with the joy of discovery, is the 700-year-old Narva Castle that sits on the border between east and west and its long history. Narva Castle is also one of the most modern medieval buildings in the Baltic Sea region – there are two glass-walled elevators in each of the two stairwells in the castle, which facilitate movement on the four floors of the building for the elderly and for people with special needs.