Šakiai District Municipality
Suvalkija
National Museum of Lithuania branch about Vincas Kudirka and the national revival
V. Kudirkos g. 29, Kudirkos Naumiestis
54.77360, 22.86390
1-1.5 hours; longer with a town tour
during opening hours, when the museum can be combined with the Kudirka monument and town park
Vinco Kudirkos muziejus, Vincas Kudirka Museum
Vincas Kudirka Museum by the town square
The Vincas Kudirka Museum operates in Kudirkos Naumiestis, at V. Kudirkos g. 29, beside the town square and Kudirka monument. This setting matters: the museum story immediately continues outdoors, in the town's space of memory. The present museum building was built in 1998; its architect was A. Ambrasas.
The National Museum of Lithuania presents this branch as a place dedicated to Vincas Kudirka, "Tautiška giesmė", the nineteenth-century Lithuanian national revival, and written culture. It is one of the clearest cultural-history sites in Suvalkija, because Kudirka spent his final years in Naumiestis, then called Vladislavovas, and died here in 1899.
Vincas Kudirka, Varpas, and Tautiška giesmė
The museum's central figure is Vincas Kudirka (1858-1899), a physician, publicist, critic, musician, and one of the most important Lithuanian national-revival figures of the late nineteenth century. In January 1889 he published the first issue of the journal Varpas and, with interruptions, edited it until 1899; in 1890 he organized publication of the newspaper Ūkininkas.
Kudirka wrote the words and music of "Tautiška giesmė" shortly before his death; it was printed in Varpas on September 15, 1898. In the early twentieth century the song became a national hymn, later the state anthem of Lithuania, and was enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. In the museum, "Tautiška giesmė" is not only an anthem but the choice of a particular person and moment.
Varpininkai and the written culture of national revival
The museum also focuses on the environment of the nineteenth-century national revival: the press ban, the secret transport and distribution of Lithuanian publications from 1864 to 1904, publishing, education, and public activity. Banned print was transported through Naumiestis as well. Through Varpas, Kudirka gathered the varpininkai current, from which the Lithuanian Democratic Party later developed.
Visitors should also allow time for Kudirka's creative work. He wrote poems, collected in Laisvos valandos in 1899, satirical works, translated G. Byron, F. Schiller, and A. Mickiewicz, collected and harmonized folk songs in the collection Kanklės, and directed a string quartet in Šakiai.
Kudirkos Naumiestis monuments and memory space
In the town square stands a Vincas Kudirka monument created in 1934 by sculptor Vincas Grybas, one of Lithuania's most important monuments to the writer. In the same year, 1934, Naumiestis itself was renamed Kudirkos Naumiestis.
The town also has V. Kudirka's grave, a bridge over the Šešupė named after him, built in reinforced concrete in 1939, and a forest bearing his name. A museum visit can therefore easily be expanded into a walk through Kudirka memory sites.
Opening hours, tickets, and accessibility
At the time of research, the National Museum of Lithuania listed the Vincas Kudirka Museum as open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-17:00 and Sunday 10:00-15:00; from October to April it was closed on Sundays except the last Sunday of the month. Last tickets were sold 30 minutes before closing. Adult tickets were 4 EUR, concession tickets 2 EUR, and family tickets 6 or 10 EUR. Check the official page before travelling.
The official page also stated at the time that the lift was not working, so the second-floor exhibition was accessible only by stairs. This is important for visitors with limited mobility.
