The new permanent display – The Town that will Never Be Ready – was opened in March 2001. The history of this town that is being completed all the time has been shown from its very beginning up to the new national awakening – the singing revolution.

The modern display is attractive with its sounds, dummies, models. Authentic original items reflecting the mode of life in Tallinn have also been displayed. More information may be gleaned from old chronicle films and contemporary videos about the history of architecture and the emotional events of the singing revolution. Every visitor ought to find something to make visiting the museum worthwhile.

The first hall focuses on the model of the Old Town, made after the 1825 drawings of Tallinn facades.

On the First (second for Am. English) Floor the visitor enters the harbour, from where the trip takes him to Town Hall Square that is the centre and heart of the Old Town, the heritage of crafts and trades.

Here one can find flat dummies copied from old engravings, depicting various craftsmen, here are also original items that once belonged to their organisations, the guilds. A mounted nobleman is descending from Toompea hill to the market. The seamier side of history is depicted by the town executioner and a replica of his sword. The torture instruments of his trade from the Town Council’s prison can be seen nearby.

The next hall is dedicated to Toompea. We can see a model of a medieval dwelling, replicas of noble coats of arms that once were displayed in the Nobles’ Hall or the Hall of the Knighthood. There is a bridal couple in medieval costumes, some old chests. The treasury that has a stucco ceiling with rococo décor and a magnificent chandelier was once used as a ballroom. The next room is a hall for temporary exhibitions from the museum collections that are changed twice a year. Exhibitions about Christmas in different decades have become a tradition.

The Second (Am.:third) Floor has been dedicated to the Republic of Estonia, the occupations and the singing revolution.

The ingenious façade about the Soviet occupation can be moved aside to reveal the real events of the time.

The end wall of the hall gives a survey about the role of Estonians who managed to escape from communists and did their best to preserve the Estonian culture on the other side of the iron curtain. The latter, by the way, is all there. The display concludes with the row of Tallinn mayors’ portraits. You can watch videos and play a computer game about history.