Vytautas the Great War Museum Museum

The museum is located in the centre of Kaunas. Vytautas the Great War Museum is a Lithuanian military museum established during the War of Independence, and the opening ceremony of the museum was held on 16 February 1921. Originally, the museum was established in a wooden building constructed during the Tsarist Russian Empire, while, on 16 February 1936, the museum opened in its new premises, where it remains open to visi tors to date. During the occupations of 1940–1941 and 1944–1956, the museum was called the War History Museum, from 1956–1990 it was called the Kaunas State History Museum, and in 1990, it regained the name of Vytautas the Great War Museum. During the inter-war period, the museum, together with the K. M. Čiurlionis Gallery, performed the functions of the national museum. The exhibition of the museum told the story of the struggle for independence of the people of Lithuania, and the garden was the main venue for national holidays and important celebrations. During the Soviet occupation, the exhibition of the War Museum and its garden were destroyed and replaced with exhibits and monuments glorifying the Soviet ideology. Today, the Vytautas the Great War Museum exhibition invites you to explore Lithuanian military history: ancient and modern weap ons, armour and uniforms of the soldiers, awards, and an exhibition about pilots S. Darius and S. Girėnas, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in an aircraft. The Special Warfare Equipment exhibit dis plays Soviet military equipment and military equipment of NATO.