Vilnius, Vilnius City Municipality
Vilnius
site where the 1918 Act of February 16 was signed
Pilies g. 26, Vilnius
54.68226, 25.28966
45 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on the visiting rules in force at the time
on a weekday, or with advance group registration if temporary access restrictions apply
Where the Act of February 16 was signed
The House of Signatories stands on Pilies Street, one of the oldest axes in Vilnius. The building matters not because of outward monumentality, but because of one precise event: on February 16, 1918, in the rooms of the Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers, the Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania.
That makes the House of Signatories one of the most exact statehood memory places in Vilnius. Here you are not standing before an abstract symbol, but inside the building where a documented decision to restore the Lithuanian state was made. In 1918 the address was Didžioji g. 30; today it is Pilies g. 26.
The Pilies Street house before 1918
The Register of Cultural Property links the building with the development of the old town: its earliest layers reach the mid-fifteenth century, and it was rebuilt more than once. In 1893-1895 the architect Aleksei Polozov reconstructed the house, while Apolinaras Mikulskis carried out works in 1897-1898 and 1907. The building is associated with the Štralis family and the Baltasis Štralis cafe.
This everyday urban layer matters: the document restoring the state was signed in a place that had previously been an old-town house with its own city functions, not a purpose-built memorial.
The Council of Lithuania and the 20 signatories
On February 16, 1918, twenty members of the Council of Lithuania unanimously adopted the document that became the foundation for the restoration of the modern Lithuanian state. Jonas Basanavičius chaired the session and read the Act aloud. Two equally valid copies were signed, and on February 20, 1918, the Act was read in the German Reichstag.
The fate of the originals after 1940 remained unknown for a long time. On March 29, 2017, Professor Liudas Mažylis found the Act in Lithuanian and German in the archive of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin. The House of Signatories exhibition connects this event with political circumstances, individual figures, and the maturing idea of statehood.
Museum and exhibitions
The Lithuanian National Museum presents the House of Signatories as a place that tells the story of Lithuania's road to statehood from the second half of the nineteenth century to the Act of February 16. Established here in 1992, the House of Signatories became a public memory institution.
The exhibition shows specific objects: Antanas Smetona's penholder, Aleksandras Stulginskis' watch, recordings of songs collected by Basanavičius, and personal belongings of the signatories. It is a combination of documents, exhibits, and building layers in which state history gains a concrete urban address.
2026 visiting note
During research, the Lithuanian National Museum stated that from May 18, 2026, because of reconstruction, the museum no longer admits individual visitors; only pre-registered groups may visit. From the second half of July, the exhibition is to be fully closed. During the reconstruction, the lift shaft is being expanded so that all floors can be reached.
These are temporary conditions, so they must be checked on the official Lithuanian National Museum page. During reconstruction, the Gothic cellars host the escape-room game Dingusi signatarų dovana, The Lost Signatories' Gift, as well as city tours. Before travelling, it is best to check whether a visit is possible and whether registration is required.
