Kuressaare Castle

Saaremaa Museum is one of the oldest (founded in 1865) and largest museums in Estonia, annually visited by 70,000–80,000 people. As a county museum, it plays a key role in preserving and strengthening the identity of Saaremaa—a region with unique nature, history, and culture. A central part of this identity is the Kuressaare Castle, a globally unique architectural monument and one of Estonia’s most important tourist attractions, which the museum presents meaningfully, telling its story to the world.

The museum’s core is the bishop’s castle, built in the 14th–15th centuries. It houses extensive permanent exhibitions on Saaremaa’s nature (3 halls), early history (3 halls), and recent history (7 halls). In addition, the museum organizes temporary exhibitions, concerts, theatre performances, stylized “bishop’s feasts,” and other events.
For Visitors

The castle is surrounded by a fortress developed between the 14th and 19th centuries, forming an open-air museum of military architecture, where visitors can explore the evolution of fortifications over time.

In the Gunpowder Cellar of the south bastion, a permanent exhibition on communist terror in 1941 is open during the summer season. The Artillery Cellar in the north bastion features a display of historical weapons and an exhibition on the history of Kuressaare. Four cellars in the west bastion host craft workshops with historical atmosphere, and a reconstructed historical cannon position is located on the lower flank of the north bastion.
Key Historical Milestones

Feb 17, 1865 – The Society for the Study of Saaremaa (Verein zur Kunde Oesels), the museum’s predecessor, was founded in Kuressaare.

Sep 12, 1865 – The society received official permission to operate.

Jan 4, 1866 – The first exhibition of the society’s collection was held.

Jul 13–18, 1876 – An agricultural and industrial exhibition was held in the castle courtyard, likely the first of its kind on Saaremaa.

1887 – The first permanent exhibition was opened in the director’s house of Kuressaare Gymnasium.

1890 – Jean Baptiste Holzmayer (b. 1839), the society’s vice-president and museum director since 1867, passed away.

1891 – The first volume of Publikationen des Vereins zur Kunde Ösels was published (2nd in 1898, 3rd in 1905).

1892–1913 – The museum changed locations several times, eventually opening a permanent exhibition in the castle’s upper floor on Sept 16, 1913 (Old Style).

1914 – The major exhibition Jahrhundertschau took place in Kuressaare.