Tuglasʼ writing desk. The Under and Tuglas Literature Centre.
PHOTO: Gabriela Liivamägi

The Literature Centreʼs museum is located in the house built in 1933 for the literary couple Artur Adson and Marie Under, in Nõmme, at 12 Väikese Illimari Street (orginally 12 Veere St). In 1944 the family fled from the war to Sweden, and after the war, having lost their own residence to the war, Friedebert and Elo Tuglas moved into the building, where they remained until their deaths.

The museum was founded in 28 September 1971, as part of the Language and Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, and it bore the name Friedebert Tuglas House Museum. After the deaths of the Tuglasʼ couple, the building was expanded, with the addition of a small conference hall and a work-space for researchers. The museum was opened to visitors in 1976 on the 90th birthday of Friedebert Tuglas.

At the moment the museum holds treasures from the Friedebert and Elo Tuglasʼ library and their collection of photographs, manuscripts and art; the legacy of Artur Adson and Marie Under, particularly from their years in the Estonian diaspora; pieces from the art collection of the Estonian Cultural Foundation in the USA; the cultural history collection of art and literary critic Paul Reets. Furthermore, the museum fulfills Friedebert Tuglasʼ wish that both the serious scholar diving into the archives and the bright-eyed and curious novice feel that they had entered a home bursting with intellectual treasures, the owner of which had just gone out for a minute to take a walk under the Nõmme pines.

Each year on 2 March the Friedebert Tuglas Short Story Award is awarded here.