Estonian Academy of Sciences

The buildings on Toompea date mostly from the 18th and 19th centuries. Earlier structures were destroyed by several fires, the most devastating of which occurred at the end of the 17th century. The town residence on Kohtu Street, which belonged to the Ungern-Sternberg family, was commissioned by Count Ewald Alexander Andreas von Ungern-Sternberg and built between 1865 and 1868. The architect of the French Romantic-style building was the renowned Berlin architect Martin Gropius, the great-uncle of Walter Gropius, one of the founders of the Bauhaus. After the count’s death, the estate was acquired by the Estonian Knighthood, which transferred it to the Estonian Literary Society. The society opened the Estonian Provincial Museum in the building in 1911. Since 1946, the noble palace has been under the jurisdiction of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. The Academy has set itself the task of being a prominent association of scientists and other creative individuals with the aim of developing and representing Estonian science, assisting in the application of scientific results for Estonian interests, and valuing science, scientific thinking, and culture in Estonia.