Starting 7 December 2022, a newly completed virtual tour can be taken to visit the legendary icebreaker Suur Tõll. The Estonian Maritime Museum offers the opportunity (which is equivalent to a regular visit) in Estonian and free of charge.
‘On this day 100 years ago, the icebreaker Suur Tõll returned from Helsinki to Tallinn to its original home port. Opened as a museum ship in recent decades, the maritime symbol of Estonia is the largest preserved steam-powered icebreaker in the world. From today, visitors can visit the legendary icebreaker both at the Seaplane Harbour and in a virtual tour,’ said Urmas Dresen, Head of the Estonian Maritime Museum.
The virtual tour allows visitors to explore the icebreaker Suur Tõll, which has been opened as a museum ship at the Seaplane Harbour, as if they were actually visiting it. All you need is a smart device or computer with an internet connection.
‘With this new opportunity, everyone can explore the unique icebreaker. Anyone interested can participate in the free virtual tour in Estonian at a place and time that suits them. We hope to see Estonians with special needs and those people who do not live in the capital, as well as teachers and students, using this opportunity. In the coming months, we plan to offer the virtual tour in English as well, thus offering the opportunity to explore the icebreaker virtually to the rest of the world,’ explained Mihkel Karu, curator of permanent exhibitions at the Estonian Maritime Museum.
The new opportunity to visit the icebreaker Suur Tõll is possible thanks to the virtual exhibition platform developed by the Tallinn Art Hall. The virtual tour can be accessed via the LINK.
Additional information:
- The icebreaker Suur Tõll was built in 1914 in Stettin (now Szczecin) shipyard to break ice in Tallinn Bay. The steamship broke through ice up to 1 metre thick and could move in it at a speed of up to five knots. In 1994, the Estonian Maritime Museum opened the icebreaker for visitors as a museum ship in the water area near the City Hall. Since 2006, the museum offers the same opportunity at the Seaplane Harbour.
- The virtual exhibition platform is a digital exhibition environment developed by the Tallinn Art Hall and selected as one of the best in the world by the New York Times. The platform allows users to conveniently and easily document short-term exhibitions for the future, and at the same time bring physical exhibitions to a wider audience. On the virtual exhibition platform, visitors can visit exhibitions of various institutions in one place without leaving their home.
