This catalogue compiles essential data on every museum of revolution known to me—the year of establishment, geographical location, and a concise description of its exhibitions. The information is deliberately brief, as my purpose is simply to establish, in formal terms, the existence of a distinct phenomenon or cluster of political history museums and, more precisely, museums of revolution.

I do not always indicate the museum’s location—city and country—in every instance, as in some cases this is self-evident. For example, Mongolia’s national museum, judging by its name, is by default situated in Ulaanbaatar. Of course, this is not always the case, and a country’s central political museum may well be located outside the capital (even if not far from it), but in all such instances—and only in these—I make exceptions.

All in all, the database is currently in quite a raw state, and I have only uploaded the section covering the former USSR and European continent museums thus far. I have collected materials on Asia, Africa, and Latin America and am currently working through them.

The published table may not appear entirely accurate at present, but this work is in its embryonic stage. I am now considering how to transform the existing tabular file into a proper database with embedded keyword search functionality and sorting capabilities. I am, admittedly, a complete novice in IT and database matters, and am currently getting to grips with TablePress!

Name (by default, institution current title is provided)	Timeline/opening date	Location (if not self-explanatory)		History and exhibitions
Society for the Custody of the Russian Museum in Geneva (Obshchestvo popecheniya Russkogo muzeya v Zheneve)	1901-1903	Geneva		No evidence of any real collection; discussions focused on library-building and the project fizzled without formal closure
Museum Project on the History of the Liberation Struggle in Russia (Gorky Project) (Proekt muzeya po istorii osvoboditel’noy bor’by v Rossii (proekt Gorkogo)	1912 – 1913	Italy (Capri, Rome)		Remained a paper proposal only: no physical exhibits were gathered, only a published manifesto calling for artifact collection
House‑Museum in Memory of the Fighters for Freedom (Dom‑Muzei Pamyati Bortsov za Svobodu)	March 1917 – Early Autumn 1919	Petrograd		Launched to preserve revolutionary relics and cultivate civic patriotism; collected substantial archival materials before operations ceased in autumn 1919.
State Museum of the Revolution (Petrograd) (Gosudarstvenny muzey revolyutsii (Petrograd))	October 1919 (foundation)	Petrograd/Leningrad		The museum was founded as the Museum of Revolution with claims to nationwide (and then all-Union) significance, but the museum, like Leningrad in general, was subjected to provincialization that began in the 1930s. In 1957, it was renamed the State Museum of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and in 1972 became a branch of the Moscow Museum of Revolution. In 1991, it essentially disappeared, and in its place was created the State Museum of Political History of Russia, which inherited the premises, collections, and staff from the Museum of Revolution
Museum of Proletarian Revolution in Kazan (Proekt Kazanskogo muzeya proletarskoi revolyutsii)	Mid‑1920s (project)	Kazan, Tatar ASSR		Conceived by Istpart in the mid‑1920s as a standalone Museum of Proletarian Revolution, the project never opened and in the early 1930s its materials were folded into the Central Museum of the Tatar ASSR. Revolutionary heritage in Kazan was later preserved through the House‑Museum of V. I. Lenin (opened 7 Nov 1937) and the Museum of Revolutionary, Combat and Labour Glory “Zarechye” at the Powder Plant (est. 1967).
State Central Museum of the Revolution (now Museum of Contemporary History of Russia)		Moscow		On March 22, 1917, a Society for the Museum of Revolution was formed to plan a dedicated revolutionary exhibition. In 1922, the first exhibition titled “Red Moscow” opened in the old English Club building on Tverskaya Street. The museum was officially established by decree of the Central Executive Committee on May 9, 1924, with its foundation date recorded as October 19, 1924, in the former Moscow English Club building (a former aristocratic club) at Tverskaya St. 21. Initially established as the Central Museum of the Revolution to chronicle the 1917 Revolution and early Soviet era, it showcased Russia’s revolutionary movement and socialist construction. The museum was renamed Central Museum of Revolution of the USSR in 1968, then Museum of Revolution in 1992, and in 1998 became the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. Today, its holdings—now approximately 1.3 million items—include archival documents, photographs, posters, paintings and everyday artifacts. Permanent galleries trace mid-19th-century reforms through the 1917 Revolution, Civil War and Great Patriotic War, supplemented by interactive media and rotating special exhibitions. After 1991, it shifted focus, and exhibits now cover 20th-century Russian history while preserving its original revolutionary collections
Presnya Museum (Museum of the 1905–07 Revolution, Presnya)	1920s (as exhibit)	Moscow		A museum on the Presnya district’s revolutionary history, located at the site of the 1905 Moscow uprising. It originated as a local exhibition on the 1905–1907 revolution and the 1917 armed fighting in Presnya. Today it functions as a branch of the Museum of Contemporary History, featuring dioramas, photographs and relics of workers’ barricades and Bolshevik underground activity in Moscow
Underground Printing House of 1905–06 Museum	1920s (secret press found 1924)	Moscow		A preserved underground Bolshevik printing press (“Nina”) used during the 1905 revolution. Hidden in a Moscow cellar, it was discovered in 1924 and later opened as a museum. Visitors can descend into the cellar to see the clandestine equipment that printed revolutionary proclamations. Now a branch of the contemporary history museum, it vividly illustrates the secret propaganda work of early Russian social democrats.
Apartment-Museum of G.M. Krzhizhanovsky	1967	Moscow		Memorial apartment museum of Gleb Krzhizhanovsky – an Old Bolshevik and close associate of Lenin. Opened on the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution (1967), it preserves his Moscow apartment and personal belongings. Exhibits focus on Krzhizhanovsky’s role in the revolutionary movement and later in Soviet GOELRO electrification, providing a personal perspective on revolutionary leadership.
Lenin Memorial Museum and Estate, Ulyanovsk	1970	Russia (RSFSR), Ulyanovsk		Major complex opened for Lenin’s 100th birth anniversary in 1970. Includes Lenin’s birthplace house and a modernist museum building. During the Soviet era it was a pilgrimage site showcasing Vladimir Lenin’s childhood, family, and revolutionary career. It remains open as a historical memorial center about Lenin, featuring thousands of Lenin artifacts and extensive exhibits on the 1870–1924 period.
Lenin’s Siberian Exile Museum (Shushenskoye)	1930s (expanded 1970)	RSFSR, Shushenskoye, Krasnoyarsk Krai		An open-air museum preserving the village of Shushenskoye where Lenin was exiled (1897–1900). Lenin’s cabin and other period peasant houses were first marked in the 1930s; a larger museum complex was developed by 1970. It reconstructs the environment of Lenin’s exile, displaying his living conditions and exile activities. The museum presents early revolutionary life in Siberian banishment, and is still a functioning historical preserve.
Lenin’s Hut Museum (Razliv)	1928	RSFSR, St. Petersburg, Razliv		A unique memorial on the outskirts of Petrograd where Lenin hid in summer 1917. In 1928, a replica of the haystack shelter (“shalash”) was erected, and later a glass pavilion built to protect it. The site also features the “Shed” safehouse. It has served as a museum since the Soviet period, with a small exhibit hall, honoring Lenin’s clandestine period before the October Revolutionmuseumcenter.az. It continues to operate as an open-air historic site.
Smolny Museum (Lenin’s Office in Smolny Institute)	1927	St. Petersburg		Historic rooms in the Smolny Institute preserved as they were in 1917 when Lenin and the Petrograd Soviet led the Revolution from this building. Opened to the public by the 10th anniversary of October, Lenin’s office and meeting rooms contain original furniture and maps. These rooms are maintained as a museum inside Smolny (now a city administration building), commemorating the Bolshevik government’s headquarters.
Central V. I. Lenin Museum (Moscow)	1936	Moscow		The principal Lenin museum in the USSR, opened mid-1930s just off Red Square. Housed in a former Merchants’ Club, it held ~100,000 items about Lenin’s life and the Bolshevik Revolution. It served as a “shrine” of Leninism with detailed exhibits and reconstructions (e.g. a replica of Lenin’s Kremlin office). After 1991 the museum was shut (officially closed by 1993) and the building was later absorbed by the State Historical Museum.
Muzey Vologodskaya Ssylka	1937. Later converted into the House‑Museum of Revolutionary Exile and integrated into Vologda State Museum‑Reserve	Vologda, RSFSR		Opened in 1937 to commemorate the lives and activities of political exiles—most notably I. V. Stalin—banished to the Vologda region, it featured recreated prison cells, personal belongings, official documents and photographs; in later decades it evolved into the House‑Museum of Revolutionary Exile and today forms part of the Vologda State Museum‑Reserve
Kvartira‑muzey V. I. Lenina; formerly Muzey revolyutsii	1924	Pskov, RSFSR		In 1924 a room in merchant I. I. Chernov’s house (where Lenin stayed in 1900) was converted into a Revolution Museum and officially reopened on 22 January 1930 as the Lenin Room‑Museum. Destroyed by bombing in 1941, it was rebuilt in 1948 and reopened in 1954, with further restorations in 1958 and 1970. Today, as a branch of the Pskov State Museum‑Reserve, it recreates Lenin’s environment with original turn‑of‑century furniture, documents, ≈120 period photographs and household items
Museum of Revolution of Belorussian SSR (Muzey revolyutsii BSSR)	2 May 1926 – 1941	Minsk, BSSR		Opened on 2 May 1926 by Istpart staff using exhibits from the 1924 All‑Belarusian Exhibition and succeeding the 1923 RSDRP Congress House‑Museum, it contained documents, photographs, banners and printed materials on Belarusian peasant, labor and national‐liberation movements and party history (CPSU, Bund). Closed and evacuated in 1941, its surviving collections were post‑war incorporated into the National Historical Museum of Belarus.
(Muzey Oktyabr’skoi revolyutsii i grazhdanskoi voiny)	early 1920s	Kharkov, UkrSSR		Founded in the early 1920s to exhibit banners, combat flags, posters, leaflets and personal documents from the October Revolution and Civil War, this Kharkiv institution was closed or merged into the Kharkiv Historical Museum during 1930s purges. After WWII its remaining artefacts were transferred to regional archives and the successor Historical Museum.
Kiev Branch of the All-Union Lenin Museums – formerly Museum of the Revolution (Kyivskyi filial Vse‑Soiuznoho muzeiu Lenina)	1925 (as Museum of the Revolution); 1938 (as Lenin Museum branch). 1982: relocated to new building (Ukrainian House); 1993: exhibitions dismantled and building repurposed	Kiev, USSR		Originally established in 1925 in the Teacher’s House on Volodymyrska St. as the Museum of the Revolution documenting Ukraine’s Soviet‑era upheavals, it was reorganized in 1938 as the Kiev branch of the Central Lenin Museum, remaining there until 1982 when a purpose‑built “Lenin Museum” opened on European Square; following Ukraine’s independence, its exhibition was dismounted and the premises converted into the Ukrainian House
Bakinski filial Tsentral’noho Muzeya Lenina; formerly Museum of Bolshevik Organizations of Azerbaijan	4 August 1954. 1991: transferred to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and renamed Museum Centre	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR		Created on 4 August 1954 from the Stalin‑named Museum of the History of Bolshevik Organizations as the main Museum of Revolution of the Azerbaijan SSR, it opened to the public in 1955, moved into a new four‑storey building in 1961 and housed over 110,000 items—among them photostats of Lenin’s manuscripts—serving as both a research and exhibition centre until 1991, when it was repurposed as the Museum Centre of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan
Muzey revolyutsii Armyanskoi SSR	8 June 1921. 1960: new building inaugurated; post‑1991: collections merged into National Museum of History of Armenia	Yerevan, Armenian SSR		Established by decree on 8 June 1921 under the People’s Commissariat for Education to put the study of Armenia’s revolutionary movement on a scientific footing and preserve its monuments, it assembled materials over three years from the archives of Tbilisi, Baku, Moscow and Leningrad; in 1960 a purpose‑built facility opened to display its documentation, photographs and artefacts charting Armenia’s path to Soviet power; after 1991 its holdings were integrated into the National Museum of History of Armenia
Central State Museum of Kazakhstan	1830s collections → 1920 (Orenburg, as regional museum) → 1931 opens in Almaty → 1944 given present title → 1985 moves to purpose-built modernist building	Almaty		Six permanent halls; archaeology, ethnography, Soviet industrialisation; October 1917 and early Kazakh SSR materials integrated into “20th-century Kazakhstan” gallery
State Museum of History of Uzbekistan	1876 founded as National Museum of Turkestan → 1970 purpose-built Lenin Museum branch (centenary of Lenin) → 1992 gains present name, revolutionary gallery re-curated	Tashkent		>250 000 objects; Buddhist art, Timurid manuscripts; hall on the 1917 Revolution & Soviet modernisation displayed alongside independence narrative
National Museum of Tajikistan	1934 opened as State Historical Museum (with “historico-revolutionary” section) → expanded 1960s → 2013 new landmark building, name unchanged	Today’s Dushanbe		Four departments; pre-Islamic archaeology to contemporary art; “Modern & Contemporary History” floor traces 1917 Revolution, Tajik SSR formation, civil war of 1990s
National Historical Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic	1926 Central Museum → 1984 cubic marble building erected as Lenin Museum branch → 1991 reoriented; 2018–21 full renovation, reopens under current title			c. 90 000 items; nomadic culture, Silk Road, dedicated sections on 1917 Revolution, Soviet era, and Kyrgyz popular revolutions 2005/2010
National Museum of Mongolia	1924 first collections → 1931 Museum of Revolution → 1971 new “Revolution Museum” building → 2008 renamed to present title			Ten halls; prehistory to 21st c.; 1921 People’s Revolution gallery with Sükhbaatar’s arms, propaganda posters, and communist-era artifacts
Kyiv Branch of the Central Lenin Museum	1938	Kiev, UkrSSR		Opened in 1938 in Kyiv’s former Pedagogical Museum building, it was a major propaganda center on Lenin (despite Lenin never visiting Kyiv). It displayed over 6,000 exhibits (mostly reproductions of Lenin documents and personal effects). In 1982 it moved to a new monumental building – now called the Ukrainian House – on European Square. The Lenin Museum closed after independence (by 1993), and the building now serves as an exhibition hall.
Museum of the Ukrainian Revolution 1917–1921	2017	Ukraine, Kiev
Museum of Revolutionary Huliaipole (Makhno Museum)	1980s (section in local museum) – 2022 (destroyed)	Ukraine, Kiev		A local history museum famous for its section on Nestor Makhno, the anarchist leader who led an independent peasant army during the Civil War. The Huliaipole museum’s “Makhno room” displayed his personal effects and stories of the Makhnovist movement. In 2022 the museum building (which included Makhno’s family estate) was tragically destroyed amid the ongoing conflict.
Young Guard Museum, Krasnodon	1944	UkrSSR, Krasnodon	–	Established in 1944, immediately after WWII, to honor the Komsomol youth underground “Young Guard” who resisted Nazi occupation. The museum grew during Soviet years into a large memorial complex with dioramas and personal relics of the teenagers-turned-partisans. It kept alive the legend of their martyrdom. After 2014 it fell under separatist control; as of 2025 it remains in the war zone, its status and upkeep uncertain but the legacy of the Young Guard still commemorated.
Museum of Partisan Glory (Odessa Catacombs)	1969	Odessa, UkrSSR	–	An underground museum located in actual catacombs used by Soviet partisans in WWII. Opened on the 25th anniversary of Odessa’s liberation, it preserves the subterranean base where partisans lived and operated. Visitors explore tunnels outfitted with bunk beds, a guerrilla HQ, printing press and weapons cache. It serves as a vivid memorial to the partisan struggle against Nazi occupation, and is still open to tourists.
Joseph Stalin Museum, Gori	1957	Gor (Georgia/Georgian SSR)	–	A museum complex dedicated to Stalin in his hometown. Opened in 1957, it remarkably survived de-Stalinization. It features Stalin’s small wooden birth-house (preserved under a pavilion), a grand museum building (opened shortly after his death) displaying Stalin’s personal effects, gifts, and documents, and his personal railway carriage. The museum largely presents a Soviet-era heroic narrative of Stalin’s life, though in recent years small additions acknowledge his repressions. It remains open as a major tourist site.
Baku Branch of the Central V.I. Lenin Museum	1955	Baku, AzSSR	1991	Opened in 1955 as a branch of the Moscow Lenin Museum, it became Azerbaijan’s principal revolution museum. In 1960 it moved into a new four-story Modernist building built especially as the Lenin Museum. At its height it had 26 exhibition rooms with over 9,000 items on display including Lenin’s writings and local Bolshevik history. It also supervised several Baku revolutionary house-museums (e.g. the Azizbekov and Kirov museums). The museum was shut down after 1991; the building now operates as the Museum Center, hosting the Museum of Independence and other.
M.Azizbekov House-Museum	1930s (memorialized 1920s) – closed in 1990s	Baku, AzSSR		A house museum devoted to Meshadi Azizbekov – one of the 26 Baku Commissars and a Baku Soviet leader in 1918. The museum was set up in his former residence, containing personal belongings and materials on the Baku Commune. During Soviet times it kept the memory of a local revolutionary hero. After Azerbaijan’s independence, this museum was closed (given the changed view on Bolshevik commissars) and the house returned to other uses.
S.M. Kirov House-Museum (Baku)	1940s-1990s	Baku, AzSSR		Museum in the house where Sergei Kirov lived while organizing the Bolshevik underground in Baku before 1917. It portrayed Kirov’s revolutionary activities in Azerbaijan with authentic interiors and documents. Operated as a branch of the Lenin Museum networkmuseumcenter.az, it closed in the 1990s as Kirov’s Soviet legacy lost official prominence.
Museum of “Underground Press – Nina”	1950-1990s	Baku, AzSSR		A small museum at the site of an underground revolutionary printing press (“Nina”) that operated in Baku. Opened in the 1950s as a memorial, it showcased the secret cellar and printing equipment used to publish clandestine Bolshevik newspapers. It functioned as a tribute to the local underground press networkmuseumcenter.az. Presumably closed or absorbed into other institutions after the Soviet era.
Museum of Union of Oil Workers (Baku)	1970s-1990s	Baku, AzSSR		A Soviet-era museum in Baku focused on the early 20th-century labor movement in the oil fields. It was devoted to the history of the Oil Workers’ Trade Union and the underground Bolshevik newspaper “Gudok” (“Siren”), which agitated among Baku’s. Likely established in the 1970s as part of the revolutionary museums network, it was closed after 1991 as the narrative shifted to national independence.
Museum of the Red Latvian Riflemen	1971-1991	Riga, LatvianSSR		Opened in 1971 (on Lenin’s centenary) in a purpose-built museum next to the Riflemen monument, it honored Latvian Riflemen who sided with Bolsheviks in 1917–20. Exhibits celebrated their role in the Revolution and Civil War. The stark Brutalist building and monument became controversial as symbols of Soviet rule. After 1991 the museum was closed and in 1993 it was reborn as the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, completely repurposed to document Soviet and Nazi oppression.
Amangeldy Imanov Memorial Museum	1969	Kazakhstan, Amangeldi village, Kostanay Oblast	–	Opened in 1969 to honor Amangeldy Imanov – leader of the 1916 anti-Tsar uprising in Kazakhstan and a Bolshevik ally. The museum, relocated to a new building in 1979, has five halls and over 2,000 artifacts including the Kazakh folk hero’s weapons, personal effects, and documents. It highlights the national liberation revolt against the Russian Empire and Amangeldy’s role in the Civil War. A branch at his birth village Urpek opened in 1964. The museum remains active as a regional historical site.
State Historical Museum of Kyrgyzstan (former Lenin Museum)	1984	Bishkek, (Kyrgyzstan/ (KyrgSSR)		A large museum opened in 1984 in central Frunze (Bishkek) dedicated to Lenin’s legacy and Kyrgyz SSR history. It featured imposing Marxist-Leninist displays (including a giant Lenin statue under the dome). After 1991 it was converted to the National Historical Museum of Kyrgyzstan. The Lenin-centric exhibits were dismantled and new exhibitions on Kyrgyz history installed. The museum was closed for renovation in 2016 and finally reopened in 2022 with updated displays, now focusing on national history while acknowledging the Soviet period.
Musée de la Révolution Française	1984	Vizille (Isère), France	–	National museum opened 13 July 1984 in the Château de Vizille, dedicated entirely to the French Revolution of 1789–1799. Exhibits art and artifacts illustrating the Revolution’s causes, events, and legacy.
Memorial for Freedom Movements (1848/1989)	1974	Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany	–	Housed in Rastatt Palace, established 1974 on initiative of President Heinemann. Permanent exhibit covers the 1848–49 Revolutions in Germany and later East German freedom movements up to 1989schloss-rastatt.deschloss-rastatt.de.
Museum of the Slovak National Uprising	1955	Banská Bystrica, Slovakia	–	Founded 8 May 1955smart-guide.org to commemorate the 1944 anti-Nazi Slovak National Uprising. Housed since 1969 in a monumental modernist buildingavemeo.eu, it presents artifacts and archives of the partisan resistance against German occupation during WWII.
Warsaw Rising Museum (Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego)	2004	Warsaw, Poland	–	Opened 31 July 2004 on the 60th anniversary of the uprising. A modern, interactive museum in a former power station, it chronicles the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Nazi occupation, honoring the Polish Resistance .
Museu Memorial de l’Exili (MUME)	2008	La Jonquera, Catalonia, Spain	–	The Exile Memorial Museum opened 16 Feb 2008. It interprets the end of the Spanish Civil War (1939) and the Republican exile (La Retirada). Exhibits personal accounts and artifacts of refugees who fled Franco’s .
Jarama Battlefield Museum (Museo Batalla del Jarama)	2008	Morata de Tajuña, Madrid region, Spain	–	A local Civil War museum focusing on the 1937 Battle of Jarama. Opened in the 2000s (one of the few dedicated Spanish Civil War museums)vegasyalcarriamadrid.com, it displays weapons, documents, and an audio-visual narrative of this key battle in the defense of Madrid. (Local museum; Spain currently has no national Civil War museum)
Teruel Civil War Museum (planned)		Teruel, Aragon, Spain		A new Museum of the Spanish Civil War – Battle of Teruel, under construction (started 2023). Envisioned in phases: first focusing on the brutal 1937–38 Teruel battles, later expanding to cover the entire 1936–39 Civil War. Initiated in 2021 by the regional government as a “museum of reconciliation”elconfidencial.com, though political changes have cast uncertainty on its final narrative
Virtual Spanish Civil War Museum (Museo Virtual de la GCE)	2022	Online (Canada/Spain)	–	Launched 14 Sept 2022eldiario.es by an international team of historians, this bilingual virtual museum presents an online, multi-gallery history of the 1936–1939 Spanish Civil War. It was created to fill a public history gap, with support from Canadian and Spanish institutions. (Includes sections in Spanish, English, Basque, Catalan, Galicia)
Museum-Memorial of EAM–ELAS & DSE	2021	Nestorio, West Macedonia, Greece	–	Opened October 2021, this small museum honors the communist guerrilla fighters of WWII (EAM–ELAS partisans) and the Greek Civil War (Democratic Army, 1946–49) . Established by a private donor and inaugurated with support of the Greek Communist Party, it preserves the memory of local villagers’ contributions to the anti-fascist and civil war struggle.
Museo Storico della Liberazione (Via Tasso)	1955 (legal 1957)	Rome, Italy	–	Historic museum of the Resistance in Rome, located in the former SS prison on Via Tasso. Established by law in April 1957 (with exhibits formed since 1955), it memorializes the anti-Nazi Fascist resistance and the inmates tortured or executed here. Focuses on Rome’s occupation (1943–1944) and the Liberation, including the Fosse Ardeatine massacre.
Casa Cervi (Museo Cervi)	1974	Gattatico, Emilia-Romagna, Italy	–	Opened 24 April 1974 in the farmhouse of the seven Cervi brothers, peasant anti-fascist partisans executed in 1943. Italy’s first agriculturally-rooted Resistance museum, it preserves the family’s belongings and tells the story of rural resistance to Fascism. Now part of the Alcide Cervi Institute, it educates on Italian antifascism and social justice.
Casa Museo Antonio Gramsci	1975 (closed)	Ghilarza, Sardinia, Italy		The childhood home of Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci, inaugurated as a house museum on 27 April 1975. Contains personal items, letters and toys of Gramsci, and exhibits about his life, thought, and founding of the Italian Communist Party. (Managed by the Gramsci House Association since 1982; currently under restoration with reopening date TBD.)
People’s History Museum (National Museum of Labour History)	1990 (origins 1975)	Manchester, England, UK	–	Britain’s national museum of working-class and socialist movements. Evolved from a smaller London collection (est. 1975), it relocated and opened in Manchester in 1990 as the National Museum of Labour History. Renamed People’s History Museum in 2001, it showcases trade union history, the suffrage and labour movements, Chartism, and the development of British democracy.
Museu do Aljube – Resistência e Liberdade	2015	Lisbon, Portugal	–	Opened on 25 April 2015 (anniversary of the Carnation Revolution). Housed in a former political prison (the Aljube), it is dedicated to those who resisted the Salazar dictatorship. Exhibits prison cells, personal stories of political prisoners, and documents the struggle for freedom and democracy in Portugal from the 1926–1974
Karl Marx House (Karl-Marx-Haus)	1947	Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany	–	The birthplace of Karl Marx, opened as a museum on 5 May 1947 after WWII (its acquisition was delayed by the Nazi era). Now managed by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, it provides a biographical exhibition on Marx’s life and work, as well as the worldwide impact of Marxist ideas (expanded for Marx’s bicentenary in 2018).
Lenin Museum (Nootti Museum, formerly Lenin-museo)	1946 (rebranded in 2023)	1946	2023 (rebrand)	Opened in January 1946, it was the first museum dedicated to Vladimir Lenin outside the USSR, symbolizing postwar Finnish-Soviet friendship. Housed in the hall where Lenin met Stalin in 1905, it shifted in 2016 to cover broader Soviet-Finnish history. Closed in Nov 2024 due to geopolitical shifts, it reopened in 2025 under the name “Nootti” Museum, reframing exhibits to address the collapse of empire, Finnish independence, and Stalinist terror amid new Finland–Russia relations.
Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (formerly Museum of Revolution)	1945 (renamed in 1993)	Bosnia & Herzegovina (Southeast Europe)	–	Founded 13 Nov 1945 as the Museum of National Revolutionmuseu.ms, later the Museum of the Revolution of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It documented the partisan victory in WWII and socialist nation-building. In 1993, amid Yugoslavia’s dissolution, it was renamed the Historical Museum. Despite scarce funding, it remains open, now covering Bosnia’s 20th-century history including WWII resistance and the 1992–95 war, while still holding the legacy collections of the former “Museum of Revolution”
Museum of Yugoslavia (formerly “Museum of Yugoslav History”)	1996 (renamed in 2016)	Belgrade, Serbia		Established in 1996 by merging the Tito Memorial Centre (which included Marshal Tito’s mausoleum “House of Flowers” and the old 25 May Museum) with the Museum of the Revolution of Yugoslav Nations. It presents the history of Yugoslavia (1918–2003) through artifacts of its leaders (including Tito’s personal effects) and everyday life. Renamed the Museum of Yugoslavia in 2016, it continues to be a major repository of Yugoslav cultural and political history.
Tito’s Birthplace – Memorial Museum	1953	Kumrovec, Croatia	–	Josip Broz Tito’s birth house, preserved within the “Staro Selo” open-air ethnographic museum. A Memorial Museum of Marshal Tito was founded here in 1953 after Yugoslav pilgrims began visiting in 1947. The 19th-century house is furnished as in Tito’s youth and accompanied by a village-museum of traditional Zagorje. It was a popular site of homage during Yugoslav times and remains open as a cultural-historical site.
Buzludzha Monument (House-Monument of the BCP)	1981-1989	Buzludzha Peak, Bulgaria		A monumental modernist memorial built by Bulgaria’s communist government and inaugurated 23 August 1981. Designed as a tribute to the 1891 founding of the Bulgarian Social-Democratic party, it featured vast interior mosaics celebrating socialism. After 1989 it was abandoned; the building (a UFO-like concrete structure) is now. Efforts are underway to conserve it as a historical artifact, but it remains an unbuilt (unrestored) museum project symbolizing the rise and fall of Balkan communism.
GPO Witness History (1916 Rising Museum)	Dublin, Ireland	2016 – present	Opened on 29 March 2016 as a state-of-the-art visitor center inside Dublin’s General Post Officemuseum. Launched during the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, it interprets the events that took place at the GPO, which served as rebel headquarters during the insurrection.	The 1916 Easter Rising and its legacy: immersive exhibits on the rebellion against British rule, the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and the ensuing Irish War of Independence. Features interactive displays showing cross-section of life in the GPO during the battle, personal stories of rebels and civilians, and how the Rising shaped modern Ireland
Warsaw Rising Museum (Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego)	Warsaw, Poland	2004 – present	The idea was proposed in the 1980s, but the museum finally opened on 31 July 2004 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. It is housed in a former tram power station adapted into a modern exhibition space. The museum quickly became one of Warsaw’s most visited sites.	The Warsaw Uprising of 1944: the heroic but tragic 63-day struggle by the Polish Home Army and civilians against Nazi occupation. The narrative exhibition uses multimedia to immerse visitors in the atmosphere of occupied Warsaw – with artifacts, insurgent diaries, weapons, a replica sewer, and a memorial wall of nameshistoryhit.com. Also covers postwar fates of survivors.
Museum of Independence (Muzeum Niepodległości)	Warsaw, Poland	1990 – present	Created on 30 January 1990, shortly after the fall of communism, to document Poland’s long fight for sovereignty. It consolidated collections from earlier museums and opened in the 19th-century Radziwiłł Palace. The museum covers the period from the late 18th-century partitions through to modern independence in 1989.	Poland’s struggles for freedom and independence from foreign domination: exhibits span the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), the 19th-century insurrections (1830, 1863), World War I and the 1918 restoration of statehood, World War II resistance, and the Solidarity movement of the 1980spolen.travel.
European Solidarity Centre (ECS)	Gdańsk, Poland	2014 – present	Opened in a new purpose-built facility in August 2014 on the site of the Gdańsk Shipyard, where the Solidarity trade union was born. The ECS serves as both a museum and an active educational and research center. It quickly earned the 2016 Council of Europe Museum Prize.	The history of Solidarność (Solidarity) and Poland’s democratic revolution (1980s) in a broader context of human rights and freedom. The permanent exhibition uses documents, artifacts (like the shipyard gate and a printing press), and multimedia to trace the rise of Solidarity, martial law in 1981, the fall of communism in 1989, and the legacy of citizen activism.
People’s History Museum (National Museum of Labour History)	Manchester, UK	1990 – present	Originated as a collection in London, it relocated and re-opened in Manchester in 1990 in the historic Mechanics’ Institute (the site of the first Trades Union Congress in 1868). In 1994 it moved to its current premises (a former pumping station) and was renamed People’s History Museum. After a major redevelopment, it reopened in 2010.	The history of working people and the development of democracy in Britain: trade unions, the labour movement, socialist and co-operative movements, and the extension of voting rights. Exhibits range from 19th-century Chartists and suffragettes to the founding of the Labour Party, and contemporary social campaigns. Recognized as the UK’s national museum of democracy. Highlights include historic banners, political posters, and personal effects of workers’ leaders. The museum actively collects modern protest memorabilia to keep the story up to date.
Workers’ Museum (Arbejdermuseet)	Copenhagen, Denmark	1983 – present	Opened in 1983 in Copenhagen’s Workers’ Assembly Hall, a meeting hall built in 1879 (one of Europe’s oldest labor halls). Established by trade unions and volunteers to preserve Danish working-class heritage. The museum has expanded to include a Beer Hall and exhibits for children.	Everyday life of Danish working-class families and the history of the labour movement in Denmarkpresentations.thebestinheritage.com. Features reconstructed apartments from different eras, union banners, socialist posters, and interactive displays about work conditions and social reforms over the past 150+ years. Also covers the fight for voting rights and the welfare state. The Workers’ Assembly Hall building itself is an exhibit, having hosted major worker meetings (and a visit by Lenin in 1910). The museum emphasizes hands-on experiences – e.g. a 1950s children’s playground. It won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2022.
Central Lenin Museum (V.I. Lenin Museum)	Moscow, USSR (Russia)	1936 – 1993	Established by Soviet authorities shortly after Lenin’s death, it opened to the public on 15 May 1936 in Moscowlenin.shm.rusputnikmediabank.com. Housed in the former Moscow City Duma building on Red Square, it served as the flagship Lenin museum. Dozens of branch Lenin museums across the USSR were curated from this center. It was closed in November 1993 after the fall of the USSR.	Vladimir Lenin’s life (1870–1924), the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, and the early Soviet state. It displayed Lenin’s personal effects, manuscripts, and gifts, presented in a reverential manner to inspire communist ideology. Also included dioramas of revolutionary events and party congress exhibits.
Lenin Museum (Riga apartment)	Riga, Latvia	1961 – 1991; 2006 – 2022	Opened in 1961 in Soviet Latvia, in the apartment where Lenin stayed in April 1900 while organizing Iskra (a revolutionary newspaper). It was a typical Soviet-era memorial flat. The museum closed in 1991 after Latvia’s independence. Unusually, it was reopened in 2006 by enthusiasts as a private “Lenin apartment” museum in the same location. It operated until 2022–2023, when it closed amid new bans on Soviet symbols.	A memorial to Lenin’s brief stay in Riga. The tiny attic museum displayed period furniture and replicas of materials from Lenin’s 1900 meeting with local Marxists. It recounted Lenin’s efforts to coordinate the socialist underground in the Baltic region.
Lenin Museums in Poland – Muzeum Lenina (Kraków), Poronin, Warsaw	Poland (Kraków, Poronin, Warsaw)	1940s – 1990 (all closed)	During the communist era, Poland had several Lenin museums, all of which were shut in 1989–1990 as the regime fell. In Kraków, a Lenin Museum opened after WWII (Lenin had visited Kraków and Poronin before WWI); its branch in the village of Poronin (Lenin’s lodging in 1914) was a pilgrimage site for Party faithful. Warsaw’s Lenin Museum operated in the capital. By 1990, these museums were closed and their Lenin statues removeden.wikipedia.org.	Life and works of Lenin, presented to align with the official communist narrative. The Kraków and Poronin museums highlighted Lenin’s stays in the region (e.g. the Poronin museum displayed a hut where Lenin wrote in 1913–14). Exhibits included Lenin’s writings, photos, and scale models glorifying the revolution.
Musée Lénine (Lenin Museum in Paris)	Paris, France	1950 – 2007	A small private museum located at 4 rue Marie-Rose in Montparnasse, in the apartment where Lenin lived in exile in 1909–1912. It was run by French communists and later by the Soviet Cultural Centre. The museum survived the Cold War but eventually closed in 2007 due to declining interest and the building’s sale.	Vladimir Lenin’s time in Paris and European exile. It displayed Lenin’s desk, books, and personal items from his Paris stay, as well as photographs and explanations of his activities among the French socialist movement. It was one of the last Lenin museums in Western Europe. After closure, the apartment was reportedly converted back to private use. A plaque commemorating Lenin’s residence remains on the building.
Karl Marx House (Karl-Marx-Haus)	Trier, Germany	1947 – present	The 18th-century house where Karl Marx was born (1818) became a museum in 1947, after being purchased by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In the Nazi era the house had been confiscated; the SPD regained it and opened the museum shortly after WWIIfes.de. Since 1968 the museum has been operated by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (linked to the SPD). It was renovated and its exhibition updated notably for Marx’s bicentenary in 2018.	Karl Marx’s life and the impact of his ideas. The museum chronicles Marx’s youth in Trier, his partnership with Friedrich Engels, the writing of The Communist Manifesto, and the global influence of Marxismfes.de. Includes first editions of Marx’s works, personal letters, and interactive exhibits on 19th-century industrial society and class struggle.
Engels-Haus	Wuppertal (Barmen), Germany	1970 – present (reopened 2021)	The childhood home of Friedrich Engels (co-author of The Communist Manifesto) opened as a museum on 28 November 1970, marking the 150th anniversary of Engels’ birth. It became a major site for visitors from socialist countries during the Cold War. The museum closed in 2016 for extensive refurbishment and a new permanent exhibit. It reopened on 11 September 2021 with updated displays.	The life and work of Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) and the early Industrial Revolution in the Rhineland. Exhibits cover Engels’ family background as textile manufacturers, his collaboration with Karl Marx, and his writings on the working class. The new exhibition (2021) uses multimedia to place Engels in context of 19th-century industrialism and social thought.
Julius Fučík Museum	Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czechia)	1948 – 1990 (merged)	A museum dedicated to Julius Fučík – a Czech communist journalist and resistance hero executed by Nazis in 1943 – was established in postwar Prague (likely in the late 1940s). It presented Fučík’s life and anti-fascist activities. In 1990, after the end of communist rule, the Fučík Museum was closed and its collections were absorbed into the new Museum of the Workers’ Movement.	Fučík’s personal story (author of Report from the Gallows), the Czech communist resistance during WWII, and Fučík’s legacy as a martyr figure in socialist propaganda. Included manuscripts, his writings, and items from his prison cell. The museum was one of several personality cult sites in Prague. Along with the Lenin Museum and Klement Gottwald Museum, it was dissolved in 1990. Some exhibits went to archives; Fučík’s status was re-evaluated in the new era.
Klement Gottwald Museum	Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czechia)	1950s – 1990 (merged)	A museum in Prague devoted to Klement Gottwald, the first Communist president of Czechoslovakia (in office 1948–1953), was established after his death. It showcased Gottwald’s role in the workers’ movement and the 1948 socialist takeover. In 1990 it was closed and merged into the Museum of the Workers’ Movementnm.cz as the country shed its communist legacy.	The life of Klement Gottwald (1896–1953) and the history of the Czechoslovak communist movement. Included Gottwald’s personal effects, gifts he received, and exhibits extolling the Communist Party’s triumph in February 1948. The museum’s closure reflected the removal of communist symbolism after 1989. Its building and collections were transferred to the newly formed Workers’ Movement Museum, which itself ceased public operations in the 2000s. Gottwald’s embalmed body, once on display in a mausoleum, had already been buried in 1962.