"I have always been of the mind that the Estonian cultural story and the large-scale permanent exhibition reflecting the lives of Estonians called 'Encounters' should be free of charge," ERM director Alar Karis explained.

"If this leads to more Estonian people and visitors to know about the cultural history of Estonians, we have fulfilled our goals. Moreso, if ERM is visited by people who have not been to museums before, then there is hope that these people go and visit other museums around Estonia," Karis added.

A visitor survey conducted during the free period (February 1-June 27) showed that many people visited the museum who had never been there before. A third of the survey's respondents said they had never visited ERM and 30 percent noted that free entry was the reason for their visit. In addition, close to 70 percent of visitors also bought a ticket to other ERM exhibitions.

Permanent exhibition "Encounters" gives visitors glimpses into the language, folklore and skills of the people who live in Estonia. ERM displays thousands of artefacts and images, and hundreds of sound recordings from both their own archives and the archives and collections of other museums in Estonia from all periods. Several of these exhibits are displayed to the public for the first time. 

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Wednesday to Sunday until the end of the year.

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