The Latvian National History Museum has about 1 million exhibits, which constitute the unique cultural and historical heritage of the country.
The Riga Latvian Society was founded in 1868. One of the commissions working as part of the society began collecting museum exhibits with the aim of creating a museum as a counterbalance to the already existing museums, the heads of which were Baltic Germans. In the first years of its work, the new museum accepted everything that was given to it. In 1890 the first temporary ethnographic exhibition was held in the museum.
In 1896, the Riga Latvian Society, preparing for the next All-Russian archaeological congress in Riga, decided to organise a Latvian ethnographical ethnographic exhibition. For this purpose several ethnographic expeditions were organised, which travelled to different parts of the country to collect valuables. The result of these expeditions was about 6000 exhibits. As a result, the exhibition, which ran from 1 August 1896 to 15 September, was a colossal a colossal success. For such a short period of time it was visited by about 45 thousand people.
In 1903, the Riga Latvian Society purchased a building on Pauluči Street (now Merkel Street) to house a museum. A couple of years later the museum was opened to the public. Thus, new opportunities appeared for educating people, as well as strengthening the national consciousness of the local inhabitants. In 1914 the construction of a new building for the needs of the museum began. The construction was financed by donations from the Latvians. However, the World War I disrupted the construction plans, and the project could not be completed.
In 1918, the Riga Latvian Society transferred the museum's exhibits to the state. In 1920, the museum was given the premises of the Riga Castle. In 1924 the museum acquired the status of a state museum, since then it has been called "The State Museum". Since then it has been called the State Historical Museum. The period from the 1920s to the 1940s of the 20th century can be called the time of the museum's heyday. Collections were replenished with exhibits, the number of people working in the museum increased. In 1930 and 1936 The museum organized exhibitions in Paris, and branches of the museum were opened in other cities of Latvia. By 1939, the museum's collection totalled 150,000 items. items.
During the World War II, the museum did not stop its activities, although in many ways, its work was, of course, complicated. After the war, it was necessary to put the entire museum had to be put in order, and new staff had to be found, although it was possible to create a professional staff, although it was possible to create a professional team in a fairly short period of time.
By the early 1990s, the museum's collection contained just over half a million of exhibits. The staff of the museum actively conducted their scientific and research activities Museum staff were active in their scientific and research activities, conducting excavations and participating in expeditions.
Since 1 September 2005 the museum has been called the National Museum of Latvian History. Professionals of international level work here. At the moment there are about 1 million items of storage. The main exposition of the museum acquaints visitors with the history of the country from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century. The staff of the museum carry out active work on collection, storage, research and popularisation of the museum's collections. Every year, in addition to the permanent exposition of the museum, temporary exhibitions are held in the museum. Every year, in addition to the museum's permanent exposition, it holds temporary exhibitions, and sometimes visitors are offered a series of thematic expositions. In addition, all kinds of educational programmes for schoolchildren are offered. The Latvian National History Museum has a successful publishing activity, publishing exhibition catalogues, articles, guidebooks.
