Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum

In 1924, the Latvian Council of Monuments signed an order to create the open-air museum in Riga. The plan was to relocate a homestead from all four regions of Latvia – Courland, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Latgale – to the museum. Each of the buildings would represent the different crafts of each area. The new museum acquired land from a state land fund in the sandy dunes near Jugla Lake, just outside the city. In 1939, there were already 40 buildings erected in the museum. Every region had its homestead and several other buildings of architectural or cultural value represented here. In the 1930s the museum became a very popular place and the community actively participated in the development of the museum. During World War II, the museum remained mostly undamaged, but most of its pre-war personnel were unavailable after having been repressed or forced into exile. Many documents were also lost during this period. After the war, the new Soviet power didn't understand the nature of the museum and even declared it ideologically incorrect. Only in the late 1960s did the museum see a renaissance, when a new generation of museum specialists started to work in the museum. When Latvia regained its independence in 1991, the museum started actively collecting and documenting Latvian heritage from the 1920s and 1930s, a period during which Latvian agrarian reforms reshaped the Latvian countryside. Today, the museum organizes many cultural events, such as folk concerts and traditional and craft festivals. The museum promotes traditional Latvian culture and lifestyle with these cultural events.

Riga Motormuseum

Riga Motor Museum is the biggest antique vehicle museum in the Baltic countries, located in Riga, Latvia. The museum was founded in 1989 on an initiative from Latvia Antique Automobile club. Since 1992, the museum is a member of International Association of Transport and Communication Museums. In 2013 the museum closed for reconstruction works. In 2 July 2016 the museum opened after reconstruction for everyone. One of the most significant exhibits in the museum is a replica of the 1938 Auto Union racing car Type C/D. The original car was saved from cutting into scrap by Viktors Kulbergs, president of Antique Automobile Club of Latvia but then exchanged for a replica from Crostwaite & Gardiner and Roach Manufacturing after negotiations with Audi AG in 1995. Original 1938 car can now be admired in Audi`s museum mobile in Ingolstadt.