Jonas Šliūpas Museum
The Museum of the Mayor of Palanga Jonas Šliūpas is an open meeting place where different opinions, communities and generations can listen to each other and learn about themselves and others. Today the Jonas Šliūpas House is open to current, not always comfortable stories or contemporary issues, to the diversity of artistic styles and expressions of ideas, to dialogue and respect for different opinions. It is a home where stories told by artefacts, artists and other creators find refuge in their work, which often raises social issues and conflicts that are not always comfortable for society. During the First World War, the building housed a German topographical office that mapped the changing shores of the beach after storms. When Palanga was incorporated into the territory of the independent state of Lithuania, many of the villas and guesthouses changed hands. Jonas Šliūpas (1861-1944) and his family lived in the villa from 1931 to 1944. When Palanga became a town in 1933, Jonas Šliūpas became the first mayor of the town, and he led the town on and off from 1933 to 1941. During his tenure as mayor, Šliūpas set up an office in his house, where he discussed and resolved issues concerning the town’s activities and the people of Palanga. As the second Soviet occupation approached, the Šliūpas family left their home in 1944 and moved to Bruges (Austria). Šliūpas died on 6 November 1944 in Berlin (Germany) and was buried in the Lithuanian National Cemetery in Chicago (USA).
The museum building is a one-storey wooden villa with an attic, built at the end of the 19th century for the Counts of Tiškevičius. The most ornate part of the building is the south-eastern main façade, balcony balustrades, moulded window surrounds with openwork lintels and diamond-shaped windows in the attic. The Counts Tiškevičius were particularly important for the modernisation of Palanga and the development of the resort’s infrastructure. The Tiškevičius family rented their villas to landlords, who in turn rented them to holidaymakers who came to the resort. The building has been a museum since 7 July 1989. After the renovation, the museum building was equipped with an external lift for people with disabilities, the valuable elements of the building were restored and repaired, its valuable features were preserved and revealed, and the energy efficiency of the building was improved. The renovation of the exhibition space has also been a major focus, with the creation of educational facilities and the extension of the temporary exhibition rooms. On the way to the museum from Vytautas Street, a bust of Jonas Šliūpas greets visitors along a renovated path. The monument was designed by sculptors Aloyzas Toleikis and Donatas Lukoševičius and architect Jolanta Galdikienė. Jonas Šliūpas – freethinker, propagator of the Lithuanian idea, fighter for the Lithuanian identity, Lithuania, USA, born on 6 March 1861. He was born in the village of Rakandžiai, Gruzdžiai Valsčius, Šiauliai district. An impressive personality with many books written, newspapers published, people met and a wide geography of activities. Jonas Šliūpas was a free man, full of ideas, although some of his ideas were modern and acceptable, but some of them did not meet the expectations of the conservative community. He was a great orator, and his life was full of extreme situations and various disputes, but he was always a man of good will and driven by his own ideas about life. Visit the museum today and feel the spirit of this progressive and uncompromising personality. The Jonas Šliūpas House houses exhibitions, stories and authentic artefacts of famous artists from all over the world and Lithuania.
In the entrance hall of the museum there is an exhibition “Who was afraid of Šliūpas”. With the help of comics by Miglė Anušauskaitė, the multifaceted, not always “comfortable” personality of Jonas Šliūpas is revealed in a playful and non-heroic way.
The museum is a meeting place where communities, renowned Lithuanian artists, historians, cultural historians, art historians and other creators explore, through cultural-creative practices, the historical and cultural identity issues of the local population and the region, where events and personalities are brought to life through reflection and the search for new meanings of enlightenment. Today the Jonas Šliūpas House is open to relevant, not always comfortable stories or contemporary issues, to the diversity of artistic styles and expressions of ideas, a house of dialogue and respect for different opinions, where different communities, generations, learn by discovering themselves and others. The museum organises excursions, training courses and workshops for schoolchildren and young people, works with social partners and improves access to the museum for people with special needs. Address and contacts
Vytauto g. 23A, Palanga
+370 612 86114
j.sliupo.muziejus@lnm.lt
Facebook – www.facebook.com/sliupomuziejus
Instagram – www.instagram.com/sliupomuziejus
