kgb museum tour riga

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Kgb building in riga (in english) - children under 12 years old are not allowed in guided tours.

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KGB building in Riga

The   exhibition   at the former headquarters of the KGB in Latvia is open. 

Address: Brīvības iela 61, Rīga, Latvia Open daily: 10.30 - 17.30 English guided tours of the cell block: 11.00, 12:00, 13.00, 15.00 and 16.00 Please come 10 minutes before the start of the tour

CHILDREN UNDER 12 YEARS OLD ARE NOT ALLOWED IN GUIDED TOURS!

Cost of guided tour:

Adults: 15.00 EUR Students: 5.00 EUR

The tours take place in historically authentic building. It is not accessible for people with walking disabilities. Visitors with disability: free admission

The military forces of the Soviet Union occupied Latvia on 17 June 1940. The building at Brīvības and Stabu became the Latvian headquarters of the KGB. With time, the building gained the nickname “Corner House”. This was the place of interrogation and incarceration of Latvian citizens who the occupying regime considered to be enemies of the state. During Soviet occupation, the KGB initiated 48 000 criminal cases for “anti-Soviet offences”. When Latvia regained its independence, the KGB was declared a criminal organization and abolished in Latvia.

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KGB Building

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KGB Museum Riga [Dark Tourism in Latvia]

Like many dark tourism destinations, when you initially arrive at the location it is difficult to connect what you see in front of you, with the human suffering that took place there.

That definitely applies to the former KGB headquarters in the center of the Latvian capital of Riga.

The elegant Art Nouveau building is a beautiful structure, with ornate cornices and decoration. It stands as a fine example of the architectural genre.

The street too, being a central city location, is full of the hubbub of 21st-century life.

Yet the KGB Museum , also known as the Corner House is where political prisoners and members of the public that had aroused suspicion, would once be sent for torture and worse.

Soviet Occupation of Riga

The Soviets first seized control of Riga in 1940 . With that of course, came the arrival of the much-feared KGB secret police .

Choosing the Corner House as their headquarters because of its central location, and one would assume the warren-like series of rooms suitable for incarceration, the KGB began to operate in the manner they were infamous for.

Picking up citizens, or “Undesirable Elements“ for “crimes” as trivial as anti-Soviet conversations, Latvians that ended up in the Corner House were often lucky to escape alive.

During the occupation, countless people were captured and executed by the KGB in a killing chamber within the building.

Those that escaped death would be crammed into holding cells with other unfortunate prisoners.

There, the conditions could get so bad that the outcome was often death anyway.

The KGB captors would withhold water, driving people crazy with thirst. The heat in the rooms was often as high as 85 degrees.

And then, of course, was the torture that accompanied rudimentary interrogations.

In short, the suffering of prisoners was relentless.

And those that survived the Corner House could find themselves receiving a one-way ticket to Siberia.

By June 1941, more than 15,000 Latvians had been deported to the Gulags by the KGB .

Just a month later, in August 1941 the Nazis were close to taking Riga.

With the Russians acutely aware that their time was running out, they started executing prisoners with haste.

When the Nazis finally arrived in the City, the KGB had already fled, leaving the remaining detainees locked up in their cells.

• Related Content: The Stasi Museum – Dark Tourism in Berlin

Nazi Rule during WW2

Despite the fact the Nazis brought their very own reign of terror upon the Latvians during WW2 , the Corner House remained free of controversy during the German occupation.

In fact, to appease the people of Riga, and to highlight the brutality of the Russians, the Nazis opened the doors of the former KGB headquarters to show the public the scale of their behavior.

The respite only lasted for the remaining years of the war, however.

After the defeat of Germany, the Russians strolled straight back into Riga.

The Corner House once again became the home of the KGB and the horrors resumed once more.

The Fall of the Soviet Union

In 1990, the Iron Curtain fell.   Latvia regained its independence on May 4.

With the KGB gone, the Corner House was closed up and left untouched.

The Latvian people understandably wanted to move on; the process of rebuilding a country after a half-century of authoritarian rule had begun.

It wasn’t until 2012 that the space was revisited and the brutal history of the KGB in Latvia started to be explored in the form of the museum.

The secretive, former headquarters of the brutal KGB is an important exhibition, with large parts of the building remaining as it was during the Soviet regime.

Where is the KGB Museum in Riga?

• Address: Brīvības iela 61, Centra rajons, Rīga, LV-1010, Latvia
• Phone: +371 66 154 276
• E-mail: [email protected]

Good to Know

The Corner House is easy to get to for tourists staying in the center of Riga. You’ll find the building on the corner of Stabu and Brīvības iela. It is just a few blocks north of Riga’s Old Town.

The museum is free to visit daily between 10:30 & 17:30 . There is also a paid tour that allows you to explore the former KGB headquarters with an English speaking guide.

• English guided tour times: 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 15.00 and 16.00
• Cost of the guided tour: Adults: 10.00 EUR; Students: 4.00 EUR

The museum advises that you buy tour tickets online in advance

Recommended Riga Tour

Riga: the darkest 50 years with a local guide walking tour.

This private tour that goes in-depth on Riga’s dark Soviet history, really deserves more recognition.

You’re guaranteed to be in a small group on this, which allows for a much more personalized experience. Over the 3 hours, you can ask plenty of questions about the city under Soviet and Nazi rule.

You’ll visit sites where there’s visual evidence of the occupations. Throughout it all, you’ll enjoy knowledgable commentary from your local guide.

The tour will also take you to the Russian corner of the city, you’ll drink in a Soviet-style café and visit the KGB museum . This is quite simply a must-do tour for any dark tourists in Riga.

What to expect at the KGB Museum Riga

I definitely recommend going for the guided tour as it is by far the best way to experience the museum.

When I visited the Corner House in 2019, our guide Marta spoke excellent English and was extremely knowledgeable on all aspects of the building and its history.

She was generous in allowing time for questions too.

Entering the Corner House

The beginning of the tour takes you through the steps new arrivals would have taken after being arrested by the KGB.

There are rooms designated for the taking of fingerprints and photographs. You also see where the duty officer would have registered the detainees before interrogations began.

Through to the holding cells

The tour then takes you into the depths of the building.

The utilitarian nature of the administrative areas is replaced by the much more foreboding warren of prison corridors, dank holding cells, and interrogation rooms.

You enter through a series of heavy metal doors as you proceed into the maze of the former KGB headquarters.

The detainee cells (called boxes) are tiny and it is easy to sense the terror the new arrivals must have felt about their predicament.

The original “beds” (hard wooden boards) still exist, as do the filthy buckets for ablutions.

• Related Content: House of Terror Museum – Nazi & Communist Crimes in Budapest

Interrogation Rooms

As we make our way through these grim rooms, Marta explained the nature of the interrogation techniques, (she didn’t use the word torture but it amounts to the same thing).

Prisoners experienced severe beatings during questioning. Hair was ripped from their heads; the burning of skin was commonplace.

Sleep deprivation was also a method used to “break” a prisoner’s resolve. Lights in the cells were never switched off, and if a guard saw that a person had fallen asleep they would burst in and wake them.

Interrogations could happen day or night and would last for hours. There would be no medical assistance for the wounds inflicted.

The exercise yard

The only respite the prisoners had from the cycle of beatings and time in their cells was a trip to the exercise yard. This might happen twice a week if the individual was lucky.

Marta led us to this area and explained that the prisoners were told to walk in a circle with their heads down. They were allowed 10 minutes in the space and this was the only fresh air they would ever get.

A KGB officer would patrol in the area above, keeping watch.

The execution chamber

Our guide takes us to the execution chamber that leads off the main inner courtyard. She explains that a truck would be left running right outside the building to mask the sounds of the gunshots.

We take a look inside and the thought that so many innocent people were killed in this tiny space is difficult to process.

“The body would then be thrown in the back of the truck and driven to a dumpsite”, Marta explained.

I couldn’t bring myself to take a photograph of this as it seemed untoward to do so. The image of that room stayed in my head for a long time afterward.

If you’ve visited a strange or unusual destination that you think our readers will want to know about, we would love to hear from you.

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A Look Inside the Secret KGB Museum in Riga

The KGB Museum Riga is unlike any of the other museums you’ve ever been to.

This former KGB Headquarters turned museum, serves as a stark reminder for Latvians and visitors alike, of the pain and suffering humans are capable of inflicting on one another.

I wrote this post to share with you my experience of visiting the KGB Musuem in Riga and what you can expect during a visit of your own.

I strongly encourage anyone planning at least one day in Riga to make time for one of the guided tours at the KGB Museum. The stories told during the tour are impactful and will resonate with you long after you’ve returned home.

Table of Contents

Here is an extremely brief history about KGB in Latvia to give you some perspective before we get started.

In 1940, the former Soviet Union invaded Latvia and the other Baltic nations. During their 50 years of occupation, the Soviet Secret Police, otherwise known as the KGB (or Cheka), terrorized the citizens of Latvia.

The KGB Headquarters was located on a residential street in Riga not far from the city’s Old Town. That building was referred to as The Corner House or KGB Building.

While the last remaining political prisoners left the building in 1991 once the Soviet occupation ended, you will hear many Latvians tell you they will not go anywhere near that neighborhood, even to this day.

That should give you a hint about the impact the KGB and Soviet occupation had on the citizens of Latvia.

KGB Musuem Main Exhibition

Once you enter the musuem will you find yourself in the main exhibition area titled Walk Through the Corner House. This section of the musuem contains information on the history of the KGB and detailed information on the activities that took place inside the KGB Building in Riga.

This activities unfortunately included the housing of political prisoners along with their interrogation, torture, and often times, execution.

Inside the main exhibition you’ll find several large timelines that put into perspective what was happening in Latvia, Europe and the former Soviet Union between the 1930s to the 1990s.

These timelines show the leadership of the KGB (or Cheka) in Latvia and the former Soviet Union. You’ll also enounter timelines showing what was happening politically in Europe, the Baltics, and the former Soviet Union to give you some perspective on the events that led to the Soviet occupation of Latvia and subsequent actions of the KGB.

In a separate room off the main exhibition area you will find a film playing recorded interviews. These interviews were conducted with individuals who had extensive knowledge of the KGB in Latvia, were held prisoner by the KGB, or had family who had been taken there.

These stories are hard to hear but give you a real sense of what life was like during the time of the KGB in Latvia.

Prison Cells

Our tour guide spent a significant amount of time describing for us what life was like as a prisoner at the KGB House. We were told the cells were intended to hold only two to four people but were commonly packed with dozens of prisoners in each cell.

There were not enough beds for all the prisoners, so most just slept on the floor. The beds did not have mattresses, blankets, or pillows. There was a bucket placed in each cell that served as the toilet.

Interrogation Room

There were several interrogation rooms inside the KGB House and the guided tour included a visit to one of them. The room still contains the original table, chairs, and wallpaper.

We also learned that the hallway between the interrogation room and the prison cells was lined with red carpeting. This was so the guards didn’t have to clean up the floors after an interrogation and you wouldn’t be able to see any blood that may have dripped on the floor.

The guided tou also included a visit to the kitchen. You can see the old wood burning stoves in the picture that were used when the prison first opened.

Prisoners from one of the local jails would work in the KGB House kitchen preparing food for the prisoners there. We were told they would often just be fed old bread and soup made from rotten vegetables.

You can see in the photograph above that the kitchen was upgraded with new equipment in its later years, though its cleanliness remained questionable.

Detainees were reported to be constantly hungry and malnourished due to the low nutritional value of the food they were being fed.

Registration Room

Our tour guide informed us that Latvian citizens would be sought out and detained by the KGB for a variety of reasons, but often because they were believed to be speaking out against the Soviet Union.

Citizens could be approached and detained by KGB officers out in the street or at work or even at home. Newly detained prisoners would be led to the registration at the KGB House through the closed courtyard. This way, nobody from outside could see when new prisoners were brought in.

Inside the registration room the new prisoners would be assigned a number and a cell and have their personal possessions taken. They were often not informed of the reason they were being detained.

As I’m sure you’ve guessed, they were also not given the right to contact an attorney.

Execution Chamber

Visiting the execution chamber was the hardest part of the tour. It’s not easy to stand in a place where so many lost their lives.

We were told by our tour guide that the interior of the execution chamber was lined with a rubber cloth. There was also a drainage hole in the corner of the floor used to remove the blood from the room after an execution.

It is reported that several dozen Latvians were killed inside the KGB House between 1940 and 1991.

Wall of prisoners

Opposite the execution chamber is a wall of photographs depicting former prisoners of the KGB House.

Our guide informed us they did not know the identities of these particular prisoners. They placed their photos on display in hopes that someone visiting may be able to idenfity someone from the photos.

My thoughts after visiting

Visitors will see many photographs of prisoners placed strategically along the walls throughout the building. I found that seeing those photographs made the stories seem more real, and more horrific.

Having the opportunity to see the faces of those that experienced these atrocities first hand allowed me to feel a connection to those imprisoned there, even if just because of our shared humanity. I appreciated how purposefully that was done.

Come to the KGB Musuem, take the tour, and let’s learn from this history together.

This is a video showing the inside of the KGB Museum by travel vloggers Kara and Nate. It starts off with a tour of Riga, but you can forward to 4:35 into the video to see the start of the KGB Museum tour. At the end of the video you will get to see parts of the KGB building not typically shown to tourists.

I hope I’ve convinced you to pay a visit to the Corner House during your visit. This remains one of my most memorable experiences from my trip to Latvia and I hope you’ll take the time to join the tour as well. Thanks so much for reading.

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22 January 2024

KGB Museum Riga – The Corner House

The KGB Museum, also known as the Corner House, is a historical landmark in Riga that offers visitors a glimpse into the dark past of Soviet occupation. 

Brief History of the KGB Building: The Corner House

Built in 1912 as a residential and commercial building, this building was later taken over by the KGB when Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940.

However, this occupation was short-lived as the Nazis took control of Riga less than a year later.

In 1944, as the Soviets regained control of Latvia, the KGB returned to the Corner House and continued their operations until 1991, when they finally left Riga. 

After that, the Latvian State Police occupied the building from 1991 until the summer of 2008. Subsequently, the Corner House remained deserted for several years until 2015, when the Museum of Occupation of Latvia took over the property and initiated renovations completed in 2021.

The Operation Hour and Price

The exhibition of this former headquarters of the KGB in Latvia is open daily from  10.30 – 17.30 , and the visit to the ground floor of the museum is free of charge. 

If you want to explore the cells, kitchen, exercise area, and execution room, you may get the guided tour that takes about an hour and is available five times daily. However, children under 12 are not allowed in the tour.

Cost of the guided tour: Adults: 10.00 EUR Students: 4.00 EUR

Time for the English guided tours: 11.00, 12:00, 13.00, 15.00 and 16.00

Please purchase the ticket online and in advance to avoid disappointment. You can purchase the ticket HERE .

Our Visit Experience

We tried to visit this place on the new year’s day, but it was closed. So, this place does close on a special occasion. Hence, please check the website for availability. 

The ground floor exhibition presented plenty of information detailing the history, and some testimonies played on the television screen with English subtitles. So, please come early and explore the floor before the guided tour starts. The guide will call up and meet up at the end of the hall.

The overcrowding on this tour was my sole complaint, as the large group of approximately twenty people made it difficult to move around and spent little time in certain places to give a chance to others. 

The Administration Office

The administration office was the first room where the detainee would be led in and have their details registered with their fingerprints and photographs taken.

Their personal belongings were then confiscated and stored in a drawer before the interrogations, which often lasted for days, and these belongings were never reunited again with the detainee.

The Interrogation Room

The interrogation room itself was equipped with a two-way mirror, allowing KGB officers, known as ‘Chekas,’ to observe and manipulate their prisoners in an attempt to extract confessions.

They would be tortured physically using cigarette butts, fingers slammed to drawers or smashed with batton, beaten up and threaten the safety of the family members.

The torture methods used by the KGB were brutal, with up to 30 prisoners crammed into small cells and forced to share a bucket for a toilet that only emptied once a day. 

The cells were constantly lit at night and heated during summer, causing extreme sleep deprivation and discomfort for the prisoners. 

So, not only did they get physical torture in the interrogation room, but they also suffered from mental torture in the cell.

The Exercise Courtyard

In the exercise courtyard, prisoners were only allowed to walk in circles with their heads down for 20 minutes a day and were forbidden to communicate with one another.

They were kept separate from the person they knew as well.

The Kitchen

The prisoners were served three meals a day, but the food was often watery and meagre, with fish soup being a common dish.

The Execution Room

As told by our guide, the legal count for victims that were killed was 188.

The last place on the guided tour was the horror room. Unlike what we see today, where it’s an open space, it used to be a small soundproofed room. The prisoners were taken to this room at night with their hands tied and shot fired to the forehead by a Cheka officer. 

Before any killing, some plastic would be placed on the wall to prevent the blood from splashing, and there was a drainage on the floor to wash the blood away.

Nearby, at the loading bay, a truck with an engine running to muffle the gunshot and standby to transport and then buried the body in nearby forests.

The stickers mark the amount of bullet shots to the wall. 

The KGB Museum in Riga serves as a haunting reminder of the atrocities committed under Soviet occupation, and this museum is a must-visit for those interested in learning about this dark period in Latvia’s history.

Travel Date: 13th January 2024        

In Europe , Latvia , Travel

Guided Tour KGB Museum Latvia Riga The Cheka The Corner House

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A brief visit to the kgb museum in riga – the corner house.

• On 4January2020

When visiting Riga, Latvia, it is hard not to see the influences left by the Soviet and Nazi occupations. The reminders are in the architecture of the buildings, the museums that are dedicated to that time frame, and the memorials at the concentration camp locations. I made a brief stop in one such museum, the KGB Museum in Riga. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is in a beautiful, unassuming Art Noveau building that you wouldn’t suspect the horrors that went on inside.

History of the Corner House

The building on the corner of Brivibas and Stabu streets built-in 1912 was initially used for apartments. After  World War I ended and the German forces withdrew, revolutionary communist forces occupied Riga. ‘Red Terror’ was unleashed under these forces, and Aleksandrs Vanags was arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary activity, and executed without a court judgment on March 19, 1919. Aleksandrs is the talented architect of this beautiful building that was changed into a horrific symbol of the communist regime.

When the Soviet Union occupied Latvia on June 17, 1940, the Corner House became the Latvian headquarters for the KGB. This is where the Latvian citizens, who were considered enemies of the state, were interrogated and incarcerated. During the Soviet occupation, 48,000 criminal cases were opened under ‘anti-Soviet offenses.’

The arrests of Latvian citizens began in June of 1940. The Latvian state officials, police, and staff of the State Security Administration and members of the right-oriented national organizations were targeted first by the USSR State Security People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (a.k.a Checka). Cheka started constructing holding cells in the basement, widening doors to allow trucks to enter, and installing a separate electric generating system. Most of the windows were fitted with metal bars to prevent escape or suicide of the arrested. The Cheka internal prison officially opened on November 9, 1940.

Latvian Life During the Occupation

As you walk into the building, you walk through a wood-paneled hallway to a large exhibit room. This room has panels with stories and photos of what life was like for the Latvians during the 50 years of occupation. Access to the “Corner House’ required passes and were issued to people called in for questioning or Cheka informers. People could only leave a written request for information about arrested individuals in a mailbox at the entrance. The Soviets recruited Latvians to spy on their neighbors and family to eliminate any armed resistance. This led to a very mistrustful and fearful community where any little mistake could have earned you a spot at the Corner House.

I wasn’t able to go on the tour of the cell blocks (have to come back for that) as they were sold out for the day. Tour tickets should be purchased online for 10€ in advance as I found out they do sell out quickly. If you do happen to stop in, you can walk through the exhibition for free (10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) to see the history of what happened to the Latvians during their occupation and the reign of the KGB secret police. These museums stay open to remind us of how political prisoners were taken and tortured and executed for the slightest reasons. We can’t forget these horrible times that have happened, and maybe future generations can learn from museums like this to help make a better world going forward.

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Further Reading

If you are coming to Latvia for a visit, check out these posts for further travel inspiration:

• Exploring the Riga Central Market
• A Somber Walk Through the Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum
• Remembering the Forgotten at Salaspils Memorial Ensemble and Rumbula Forest Memorial
• Rundāle Palace : Exploring the Versailles of the Baltics
• Learning the Secret Language of Fans
• The Top Ten Things to do in Riga , Latvia

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KGB Building

Top ways to experience KGB Building and nearby attractions

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KGB Building - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Visiting the KGB Building, Riga

March 19, 2016

It’s easy enough to walk past this innocuous building on a bustling street lined with shops and restaurants.

But the benign yet beautiful exterior masks a dark past.

The KGB Building in Riga, Latvia – or the Corner House, as it is also known – was originally built as an apartment block with shops on the ground floor, before it became a government building in the 1920s. But during the Soviet and Nazi occupations of the country, it was adopted for a darker purpose, with those who opposed the regime taken there to be interrogated, tortured and even executed.

The building only reopened as a museum very recently. In fact, it’s frightening to think that it was still operational under the KGB during my lifetime – as Latvia only regained independence in 1991.

Prisoners would be quietly arrested and taken to the building, brought inside via an internal courtyard that would shield them from the eyes of passers-by. These people weren’t criminals, but ordinary people. Their pictures line the walls: publishers, farmers, academics.

Once inside, they had their possessions confiscated and were strip searched. When they were eventually given their clothes back, guards would remove all buttons, zips and hooks with a large knife, making it impossible for the prisoners to properly secure the garments.

They would then be taken to the overcrowded cells where they were subjected to torture: bright lights would keep them awake for days at a time, unable to even close their eyes; the temperature was kept high, while the prisoners were deprived of water. Then they would eventually take their turn in the interrogation rooms.

This was one of the most surprising rooms we saw in the museum, with its floral wallpaper and chintz covered chairs it could have been an ordinary living room, were it not for the two way mirror located ominously in the corner.

As the tour moved on, we descended lower, through the cells and out into the exercise yard where prisoners could occasionally snatch some fresh air and glimpse the sky.

The tour ends at the execution chamber.

When visiting Riga, you can’t help but be struck by Latvia’s dark past. Many of the city’s museums are dedicated to war and occupation, but the KGB House is particularly chilling.

Much of the museum is untouched, allowing visitors an insight into this dark period in history.

Visit the museum: Brīvības iela 61, Rīga

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March 28, 2016 at 7:04 pm

Wow, I bet it had a dark atmosphere, especially in the lower levels. It’s disturbing that such horrors were apparent so close to present day.

March 28, 2016 at 10:08 pm

It’s a very intense place to visit. Riga has a lot of war museums, and it’s hard not to feel troubled by some of the things you see there, especially when it’s not a part of history that is widely known.

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Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

The new exhibition

KGB building

Exhibition "KGB in Latvia"

Our mission.

To remember. To commemorate. To remind.

10.00 - 18.00

January 1, June 23, 24, December 24, 25, 26, 31

Latviešu strēlnieku laukums 1, Rīga LV-1050, Latvija

Individual visit

For students

For children up to 7 years of age, schoolchildren, repressed persons, the disabled and their companions, employees of other Latvian museums, ICOM members, those serving in the Latvian military service, citizens of Ukraine

January 26, March 25, May 4, June 14, July 4, August 21, November 11, November 18, November 30

Guided Tours*

For adults (per person)

For schoolchildren (from 7 years old) and students

For children up to 7 years of age, repressed persons, Ukrainien citizens, paticipants of educational activities.

Audioguide (in Latvian, English or Russian)

* Guided tours:

at 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 14.00, 15.00, 16.00

10.30 - 17.30

January 1, June 23, 24, November 18, December 24, 25, 26, 31

Guided Tours per person

For students (schoolchildren from 12 years of age)

For politically repressed persons and persons with disabilities

*Guided tours

in Latvian: 14.00 in English: 11.00, 12.00, 13.00, 15.00 and 16.00.

Please arrive 10 minutes before the start of the tour. The guide will meet you at the far end of the large exhibition hall.

Tickets can be purchased on the bezrindas.lv platform.

The ground floor exhibition has no entrance fee. The tours are conducted in authentic facilities and are not accessible to persons with restricted mobility. The tours are not recommended for children under 12 years of age.

04.04.2024.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine recommends a visit to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

27.03.2024.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland visits the Museum

26.03.2024.

Museum hosted a delegation of U.S. Senate and House staffers

14.03.2024.

A public lecture by Stanford University professor Amir Weiner

13.03.2024.

The 2500th video testimony was recorded by the staff of the Audiovisual Archive of the Museum

For schools

Apply for our Zoom online workshops: [email protected]

Different Nations - Shared Experiences - PROJECT MATERIALS

number of students: up to 25

9.-12. Class

Language: Latvian, English;

Duration: 60 Minutes

Soviet Deportations. Through the Eyes of a Child

Latvia in Europe - HISTORICAL ATLAS

Foundations of the Latvian State: From Historic to Modern Times - EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL

Communism - EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL

Remember. Commemorate. Remind.

Donate to the Museum

Help and support.

KGB Museum Riga: The Corner House & its dark history

The KGB Museum in Riga is probably the eeriest location in the whole country. Don’t let the beautiful art nouveau facade mislead you: the so-called Corner House is a place where thousands of Latvians suffered during the Soviet occupation.

Today, the former KGB building in Riga belongs to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, which covers the period between 1940 and 1991. It is a spot of remembrance for the people that lost their lives during this horrible period. The former Soviet state police are long gone, and the museum is open to the public. Moreover, the guided tours offered in the Corner House give a rare insight into Riga’s turbulent years.

On a recent journey to Latvia, I had the opportunity to visit the former KGB building in Riga and join a guided tour. The building’s history is too dark to be forgotten, and its future as a museum remains unknown. Therefore, in this article, you will find lots of information about the KGB Museum in Riga, accompanied by several photos. Moreover, straight below, you can watch a 4K video I shot during the guided tour containing original audio.

Let’s start.

Table of Contents

*Some links are affiliate links. It means that if you buy something, I might earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

KGB Museum in Riga: A brief history of the Corner House

Originally built in 1912, the Corner House at Brivibas Iela 61 initially housed apartments, shops, and a music school. However, after the end of the Latvian War of Independence in 1920, the new government used the building to host state offices and other government organizations. It was in 1940, when the Soviet Union occupied Latvia, that the building became, for the first time, the KGB Headquarters .

However, the first period of the KGB in Riga was short-lived. It lasted more or less one year, and at the peak of the repression, they deported more than 15,000 people overnight to Siberia on June 13, 1941. A few days later, the Nazis occupied Riga (July 1, 1941), and soon the Corner House had new residents: the puppet government the Nazis appointed.

The KGB returned to Riga in 1944 when the Soviets reoccupied Latvia . And the KGB operations didn’t stop before 1991, when the Russians left Riga.

Latvia’s Independence

After the Fall of the Soviet Union, the Latvian State Police took over the building in 1991. They stayed there until the summer of 2008. At this time, it was decided that the Corner House should finally find some peace. So, while its past will haunt its walls and prison cells forever, the decision was to create a museum on its premises.

On the occasion of Riga’s nomination as the Capital of Culture in 2014, the building found a new usage. Since 2015, the former KGB building has belonged to the Museum of Occupation of Latvia and presents the dark history of the KGB in Latvia . Despite the renovation of its facade, the building’s future is uncertain. On the KGB tour I joined, the guide mentioned that the building was in really bad condition and it might collapse in the near future.

Will this be a relief for some of the locals? According to the tour guide, so many people suffered in its rooms, so they won’t probably miss it. More than thirty years after the restoration of Latvia’s independence, some people are still scared of walking close to it.

Entering the KGB Museum in Riga

Seeing Riga’s Corner House from the outside, and leaving its dark history aside, will indeed mislead you. Despite being in decay, it still looks like an architectural achievement of the art nouveau period of the city. Its location is prime, too: the Brivibas Iela is Riga’s main avenue. The 12-kilometer-long street can take you from the Old Town to the outskirts.

For such an imposing building, it’s a surprise to see its door. One might expect a fancy, old-fashioned door leading to the interior. But no, that’s not the case. It is a small, narrow door, and when you open it, you can also see a small hall. This door was a one-way ticket to a dark cell block for thousands of people during the KGB era. According to the guide, whoever entered through this door, never returned to their previous life.

There’s a small window, and behind it, a woman asks me if I’m here for the tour. I nod affirmatively. “Please wait here,” she says, “it’s too cold today to wait outside.” I was at the KGB Museum twenty minutes earlier, and it’s freezing in Riga.

Instead of waiting, I choose to walk through the ground floor. That’s the only part of the building you can see on your own -an hour later, I’ll figure out why.

On the ground floor of the Riga KGB Museum

You won’t get a proper impression of the place if you don’t take the guided tour. While the entrance is free for the ground floor, you won’t “feel” what happened there.

However, the ground floor of the former KGB headquarters offers a great introduction to what comes next. There is an exhibition with informational panels and a couple of photos that give you an initial impression of the building. Parts of the background story are there, and going through the written words will offer an insight into the dark era.

For example, the entrance on the corner of Brīvības iela and Stabu iela was the one that people would enter between 1944 and 1991. However, the Soviet Secret Police officials, known as Cheka , could use three more entrances. If you had received a letter to appear for interrogation, you should come here and use the door in the corner to enter.

There was also a mailbox with a peculiar sign: “ For Complaints and Petitions .” Practically, this mailbox encouraged anonymous denunciations: you could report your neighbors or friends if they were acting against the State. What did this mean? Well, if you overheard someone telling political jokes or listened to Western broadcasts, you could denounce them.

The KGB Museum in Riga: The tour

At 3 pm sharp, the guide appears, and the tour starts. Having a guide means you can go through parts of the building that otherwise will not be accessible. That’s not because they want to make money. It’s because the whole building is like a labyrinth , and you can get lost inside its corridors in no time. In addition, the building’s condition is terrible, and if no public funding is provided, it might not exist in a few years.

The guide drives us to a hallway. It honestly seems rather bourgeois. “The tiles are original, and so is the ceiling. The mirrors around you are replicas, though,” she informs the group. Then, after seeing a lift that resembles a coffin, we move toward the rooms.

The rooms are indicative of a totalitarian regime. There’s the room where the prisoners and the inmates were photographed. They left all their belongings there and were assured they would get everything back when the interrogation was over. Apparently, no one got anything back. People weren’t released, and they spent months inside the building.

The KGB interrogation rooms

And then, you see the interrogation rooms. They were plain: a chair for the KGB officer, a chair for the inmate, and a table between them. And, of course, a truncheon: if the prisoner didn’t cooperate, they would be beaten.

The guide shares some background info about the procedure. Then, she asks for a volunteer from the group to imitate an interrogation. She starts with a simple question: “When did you start working for the Americans?” Whatever the inmate replies, she will insist until she gets an answer -even if the response was “Never.” And then, word by word, she’d alter the words until she got something that could trap the inmate. Even if they never did anything against the State, the point was to accuse them. And they always did that.

The KGB prison cells

The most shocking part of the tour (well, before the final one) is the basement. There you can see rows of small cells that used to accommodate the prisoners. It was pure torture to be there. They are the size of a small double room, but they hosted almost twenty people. The guards wouldn’t turn off the lights at night; some had windows, but they were covered. The beds had no mattresses, and the toilet was just a basket.

Among the inmates was always somebody working for the Riga KGB . They would pretend they were also prisoners and share made-up stories. These people were the State’s snitches: they tried to acquire information about other prisoners to trap them and have evidence against them.

There’s also a kitchen in the basement. However, don’t imagine anything like proper food. The food usually consisted of soups, and it was prepared unwashed.

Getting fresh air wasn’t really part of daily life in the KGB prison. The inmates could exit to a narrow, depressing yard for a few minutes every day. It looked like a cage, and I doubt there was any sunlight. The day I visited the KGB Museum in Riga, there was a light snowfall. Above the inmates’ heads, an armed guard would observe them from a small corridor. If they spoke to each other, they would be punished, i.e., tortured.

The execution chamber at the KGB building in Riga, Latvia

The last room of the tour is the most terrifying one. Don’t imagine something like a big space. It is a small room like the previous ones. All you can see is a wall. That’s where the people stood and waited to die. Fortunately, the blood is washed off, but the bullet holes remain. In the photo you can see above, the yellow marks show these bullets.

Death sentences usually took place at night, starting from 22:00. The sentenced inmate was taken from the cell to the execution chamber with hands in handcuffs or tied up. In the execution chamber, a Cheka officer would stand next to the door; then, he fired a shot to the forehead.

The walls of the execution chamber were covered with wooden panels and additional layers of rubber-coated fabric. A hole in the room’s corner collected the blood of the person executed. The doors had extra noise isolation material to muffle the sound of the shots. Moreover, a truck engine kept running straight outside the room.

Afterward, the KGB officers wrapped the dead bodies and buried them in the forest.

Why was it called the Corner House?

During the Soviet years, the names of the streets were different. In the case of the Riga KGB Building, the names were Lenin and Friedrich Engels Street instead of Brivijas and Stabu Street. Therefore, the name “The Corner House” has a connection to the two historical figures.

How to visit the KGB Museum in Riga

You can find the KGB Museum in Riga at Brīvības iela 61, Rīga, Latvia. It is approximately 1 km from the Freedom Monument. See and save its location on Google Maps .

The KGB museum is open daily between 10:30 and 17:30 .

Regarding the guided tours in English , they usually start at 11.00, 13.00, 15.00, and 16.00; however, it’s better to cross-check their schedule before booking. It is strongly recommended to be at the building at least 10 minutes before the starting time.

The guided tours cost 10 euros for adults and 4 euros for students. The guided KGB tours are always sold out; therefore, it’s better to pre-book in advance. Due to the building’s condition, not more than 20 people can attend them. You can reserve your place here .

The KGB Museum in Riga, Latvia: Final thoughts

After the restoration of Latvia’s independence in 1991, the KGB was declared a criminal organization. The KGB Museum Riga is obviously one of the top things to see in Riga due to its historical importance. Moreover, as a place of remembrance, it is undoubtedly an example of humanity’s atrocities due to political oppression. Therefore, a visit is recommended if you happen to travel to Riga.

Last but not least, I can only encourage you to take the guided tour. It deserves every penny and will give you access to rooms you can’t otherwise see. Your guide will speak English fluently and will share lots of background info about the former KGB Headquarters in Riga. Don’t miss the chance.

More about Latvia : The House of the Black Heads , Art Nouveau architecture in Riga

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Last Updated on January 28, 2023 by George Pavlopoulos

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Dark Secrets of the Corner House – Riga’s Museum of Occupation

Last Modified: January 22, 2024 //  by  Anda //   48 Comments

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana

Some wounds should remain open forever so that people can never forget. This was my first thought as I opened the small wooden door of the Corner House in Riga – the former headquarters of the KGB secret police, also known as  Cheka .

The imposing structure on the corner of Brivibas and Stabu streets seems just like any other art nouveau building in Riga . It could be an apartment house, or an office building, or anything else.

The small waiting room with a single row of empty chairs on the right has an allure of abandonment. “Can I help you?” asks a faint voice that seems to come from nowhere. As I look around I notice a middle age woman behind a window in the left corner of the room. 

“I’m a travel journalist,” I repliy pulling out my press card. “I’m here to visit the KGB Museum. Is this the one?” I ask, not sure that I am in the right place.

“Yes, the guided tour starts at 10:30, but you can visit the display boards in the entrance area until then. That exhibit is free” the woman replies and closes the window abruptly, as if she has nothing else to say.

And so I continue through a small corridor towards the display boards.

Table of Contents

People’s Lives in Latvia During the Soviet Occupation

A brief history of the corner house in riga, torture techniques at the corner house, the execution chamber, the corner house becomes part of the museum of occupation, a final word.

The exhibits in this section help you make sense of what you are about to see in the Corner House. There are several panels with stories and photographs about the Soviet occupation in Latvia and about what happened in this building during those years.

Reading these stories makes this grim place so much more real. I look at the faces of those who found their demise within the walls of the Corner House. They seem just ordinary people, like any of us. I imagine them doing their daily chores, minding their own business when they found themselves arrested or summoned here. It must have been horrific.

Those who were not considered loyal to the occupiers was arrested, killed or deported to Siberia. The “undesirable elements” could be picked up for crimes as small as having “anti-Soviet conversations” or “instigating panic.”

Built in 1912, Riga’s Corner House was originally an apartment building. Before World War II, the building entered in the possession of the Latvian government who used it for a variety of agencies. 

The KGB fist moved into the house in 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Latvia for the first time. Between the two Soviet occupations in 1941 and 1944, a number of youth organizations used the Corner House.

After the War however, the KGB chose the Corner House for its headquarters and used it as a prison for those who were considered to be opponents of the occupation regime.

The building’s many hallways and stairwells made it convenient for secretly transporting individual prisoners. Also, the cavernous basement was ideal for building prison cells.

Within the depths of this building right in the middle of Riga, thousands of Latvians have been imprisoned, interrogated, tortured and executed until 1991. It’s astonishing to realize that all these things were happening while we were leading a safe life in the U.S. or other free countries of the world.

Visiting the Corner House, Riga’s Former KGB Headquarters

As our tour begins, we move into the the upper part of the building. A couple of floors above, the atmosphere is very different. We pass by the administrative office where the prisoners were photographed and fingerprinted, the room for the duty officer who registered the detainees,  and the interrogation rooms.

Then things begin to get worse. Narrow, dark corridors. Musty smelling rooms. Heavy metal doors. Some detainee cells (called boxes ) measure about 1.6 square meters. 

Hard wooden boards for a beds and a filthy bucket in the corner for defecating are the only furnishings in the cells. “The temperature was always at 87ºF (30ºC), no matter the season,” the guide informs us.

“There were multiple types of torture,” the guide explains. From beating of the whole body,  beating of particularly sensitive areas of the body, burning, hair pulling, to sleep deprivation and continuous interrogation for 8-9 days in a row. “The effectiveness of terror lies not in the terror itself, but in its mix,” she says. “It creates fear.”

The detainees were tortured and deprived of medical help. They were allowed outside of their cells only once a week into a small interior courtyard where they were asked to walk in a circle with their heads down. They were devoid of all contact with the outside world (family letters, books and newspapers), forbidden to have showers.

We then move to the inner courtyard of the building. “Is this where they executed the prisoners?” asks one man in the group. “No, it’s right by the door to the yard. They parked a truck right outside the building and left the motor running to mask the noise. Then they put the body in the back of the truck and drive away,” she says .

We are all visibly moved as she opens to door to the former execution chamber. For years and years, this was the reality of life for those living in the countries occupied by the Soviet Union.

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the departure of the KGB from Latvia, the notorious Corner House in Riga remained empty and abandoned for many years.

In May 2014, the building finally re-opened its doors to the public as part of Latvia’s Museum of Occupation .

The Corner House hasn’t changed much much since August 1991, when the KGB vacated it. Yet, its present appearance hardly resembles the treacherous prison that was once the nightmare of so many Latvians.

Over the years, the building was repainted many times and the number of cells was decreased from the original 50 cells to only 19.

The Corner House became a vivid symbol of the totalitarian regime during the five decades of Soviet occupation and is one of the most visited places in Riga .

The museum documents in great detail the atrocities of the Cheka in Latvia and it’s at the same time a powerful reminder of the mass repression and genocide occurred under some Communist regimes during the twentieth century.

Courtois claims that Communist regimes have killed approximately 100 million people in contrast to the approximately 25 million victims of the Nazis.

Not something we must ever forget – a piece of history that should never be repeated.

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Anda is an award winning travel writer, avid globetrotter and passionate photographer. She is the voice behind "Travel Notes & Beyond," a collection of stories and travel impressions from her wanderings around the world. When she is not busy writing, traveling, or editing photographs, you can find her hiking in the foothills behind her house together with her husband and their dog.

Reader Interactions

aimee horgan

March 4, 2018 at 10:13 am

Oh my, what a disturbing place but I think it opens our eyes to the evils of the past. I’ve visited places like SL21 in Cambodia & Auschwitz and was so fascinated and horrified at the same time. Hard to explain the feeling yo get after visiting these places.

Sandy N Vyjay

March 1, 2018 at 8:32 pm

Having read a lot of books about the cold war, I was fascinated to read about the Corner House in Riga. As I read through could almost hear the anguish of the thousands incarcerated in the place, many of them most probably innocent. The execution chamber particularly sends a chill up the spine. Must have been an eerie sort of experience, but I do have a morbid fascination for these kinds of places.

Carol Colborn

February 26, 2018 at 4:16 am

First time I have come face-to-face with how the Soviet Union kept it’s power after WWII. I am sure glad a lot of countries gained their freedom. I wonder how it is now in Russia!

February 25, 2018 at 2:24 pm

This museum reminds me of the House of Terror Museum in Latvia. It can be very disturbing to learn about the tortures and murders that went on in the Corner House, but people need to know the unvarnished history of Communism in the Soviet Union and the East bloc. Also the Kafkaesque nature of how people ended up sent to the house — merely because they were suspected of resistance to the regime — is as horrifying to me as what went on inside.

I would absolutely want to see this if I visited Riga. Given human nature, I’m skeptical of the ability of museums like this to prevent such atrocities from happening again, but it’s important for the truth to be known.

February 25, 2018 at 1:03 pm

Whenever someone is feeling nostalgic for the communist times, they should come and read your post. It was fascinating, yet frightening to read your post. It’s no wonder that Latvians feel such hostility towards Russians even now.

Anda Galffy

February 25, 2018 at 3:11 pm

We do too, Vlad. At least my generation and my parent’s generation. We suffered too much from Communism.

Charles McCool

February 25, 2018 at 5:32 am

What a horrifyingly cool place to visit. It is absolutely shocking what atrocities were inflicted on innocent people. The visit must be eerie but oh so educational. Thank you for sharing with the world.

January 31, 2017 at 12:52 pm

An evocative and scary post – well deserving of NATJA gold. Congrats!

January 31, 2017 at 1:45 pm

Thank you, Cindy. Much appreciated.

January 16, 2017 at 11:59 am

Looks like an interesting place, well at least quite scary. It is hard to imagine today how bad the situation once was.

January 16, 2017 at 4:00 pm

What is harder to imagine is that these events took place not so long ago, at a time when you and I enjoyed our freedom.

September 10, 2016 at 2:50 pm

Very interesting place to visit. I missed this when I was in Riga.

September 11, 2016 at 4:27 pm

Thanks for clarifying this was a ‘joke’. I would have never guessed….

August 21, 2016 at 2:36 am

Wow – what a place, not for the feint hearted! And you’re right – it must never be forgotten!

August 21, 2016 at 2:26 pm

I agree, it’s not a place that will make you feel good, but it’s an eye opener.

Sand In My Suitcase

August 17, 2016 at 9:58 pm

Such dark times – it’s hard to fathom the cruelty we inflict on our own race…

August 17, 2016 at 2:29 pm

I appreciate that you visited this place and shared your experience with us. It’s very sobering, especially that the horror continued until 1991. To me, there’s such a dichotomy in the appearance of the architecturally interesting exterior and the interrogation room with its wallpaper and the patterned floor versus all the terrible deeds that went on inside.

August 17, 2016 at 10:00 am

It’s important to visit places like this to have a clear-eyed view of history. but i never sleep well after I do.

August 16, 2016 at 9:51 pm

These kinds of places represent a part of history that definitely should not be forgotten. We all should feel so horrified that things like these have happened in the past so that we can stop it from happening again.

August 16, 2016 at 10:27 pm

I’m glad the Latvian government decided to open this ‘horror house’ for visitors. It’s a lesson that everybody should learn and there is no other way of learning it but seeing with your own eyes what happened.

Lyn - A Hole in my Shoe

August 16, 2016 at 4:06 am

Wow, if only those walls could talk.

Sally@Toddlers on Tour

August 15, 2016 at 7:01 am

Wow what an interesting place to visit. The KGB just holds this mystery about it and getting a glimpse into what it was like to be held in that area is so fascinating.

Rhonda Albom

August 14, 2016 at 9:18 pm

What went on in this and other KGB headquarters is very disturbing. History does repeat and the violence that accompanies the struggle for power seems to never end.

August 14, 2016 at 10:17 pm

Yea, unfortunately!

August 14, 2016 at 2:00 am

Oh my, this looks really intense. I’d love to visit when I get to Riga. I thought Terrot Haza in Budapest was also pretty impressive.

I haven’t seen Terrot Haza, but thanks for letting me know about it Esther.

Suze - Luxury Columnist

August 13, 2016 at 4:06 pm

It reminds me of the film “The lives of others” although that wasn’t set in Latvia. It looks so oppressive, thankfully those days are over

August 13, 2016 at 9:27 pm

What’s really strange is in 25 years since the Soviets left Latvia, nobody was held responsible or prosecuted for those atrocities.

Brooke of Passport Couture

August 13, 2016 at 3:10 pm

Interesting post that opens your eyes behind this kind of treatment and interrogation. I admire your post at the beginning for stating that we should learn from history and our mistakes. This visit exemplifies your quote and is a great reminder that we should learn from our past and be aware of it, otherwise we’ll repeat ourselves.

August 13, 2016 at 9:33 pm

Thank you, Brooke. I was really impressed by this museum. I think everybody should see the horrors of Communism!

Donna Janke

August 13, 2016 at 12:39 pm

Both a fascinating and troubling museum. I continue to be amazed at how cruel humans can be to one another. I would find it difficult to go through this museum, but I do think it is important we are made aware of and remember these atrocities. Hopefully we make steps to stop repeating history.

August 13, 2016 at 9:35 pm

It’s a very troubling museum but one that everybody should see.

Rob+Ann @TravelLatte(.net)

August 13, 2016 at 7:47 am

We have such mixed emotions about places like this. On one hand, we long to forget. On the other, we must remember. What’s so sad is that it’s such a beautiful building on the outside, and yet the inside was so very dark. Interesting story – and I’m sure there’s more to it than we will ever know.

August 13, 2016 at 11:22 am

I have no doubt that there is more to it than we will ever know. Even that the Soviets moved out of Latvia, I’m sure they are still feared and many things about what they did there will never be disclosed.

Lyn@thetravellinglindfields

August 13, 2016 at 3:53 am

A very sobering post.

August 12, 2016 at 10:01 pm

I shivered as I read your words and looked at your photos of the place where such atrocities happened. Even though I think I would be depressed for a week after going to the “Corner House” or a place like it I’m glad they still exist as people need to be reminded. Many people also don’t believe what they can’t see unfortunately.

August 13, 2016 at 11:35 am

I spend 30 years of my life in a Communist country, Maria, so for me it was even more depressing. The things that happened in the Corner House were happening in Romania as well in different prisons.

Mary {The World Is A Book}

August 12, 2016 at 8:32 pm

This was such an eye-opening tour. It’s astonishing what these prisoners went through. It’s hard to even imagine the atrocities imposed on them. I’m glad you were able to tour the museum and share this experience with us.

August 13, 2016 at 11:39 am

Thanks, Mary. A very sobering experience indeed.

August 12, 2016 at 7:30 pm

I didn’t realize that went on all the way until 1991! Very sad.

Michelle | michwanderlust

August 12, 2016 at 5:22 pm

The corollary to “Those who fail to learn from history…” is “And those who do are doomed to watch others repeat it.” People have such short memories (and the world’s collective attention span is undoubtedly getting shorter) – it’s so important to preserve grim reminders of history like this. It sounds like the museum is doing a great job of preserving and educating people. I didn’t know that Communist regimes had killed four times as many people as the Nazis. That’s unbelievable! Thanks for writing about this, Anda! Your posts are always very informative and interesting but it’s not often that travel bloggers go into heavy-hitting stuff like this.

August 13, 2016 at 11:51 am

Thanks for your comment, Michelle. The Corner House stands as a chilling reminders that Communism was a plague.

Jessica @ Independent Travel Cats

August 12, 2016 at 5:07 pm

Sounds like a very evocative and haunting tour! I did not realize that so many people were executed/worked to death by the Soviets – I guess the total numbers are still unconfirmed. Although sobering, I would definitely like to visit whenever I get to Riga.

August 12, 2016 at 3:51 pm

Wow! I found this to be an incredibly interesting read! I find Russian history so interesting and have started to learn more as I hope to visit Russia one day! So interesting to see how Latvia is connected with Riga in such a dark history. #TheWeeklyPostcard

btw – what happened to Eff It I’m On Holiday and As We Saw It? Are they no longer part of the link up?

August 13, 2016 at 12:05 pm

You might not hear many of these stories in Russia, Lolo. They still live under a totalitarian regime there. As for the changes in our group, yes you are right. Three of our co-hosts decided they can’t participate in the link-up any longer, so they have been replaced.

August 12, 2016 at 2:48 pm

This was the most impressive place I have visited in Riga. I was stunned to find out that no one was ever indicted or prosecuted for the crimes committed. This is a great, eye opening place for those that are trying to keep a monopoly on having been victims of the holocaust or slavery!

August 13, 2016 at 12:06 pm

The fact that nobody was held responsible for the crimes committed is quite outrageous, indeed.

Lydia C. Lee

August 12, 2016 at 2:34 pm

That’s a really fascinating (and quite disturbing) post. Thank you for sharing. (also still not able to add the badge. Sorry. It’s there but the bug makes it appearance ‘disappear’)

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The KGB Museum in Riga, Latvia

You could easily miss the KGB Museum in Riga if you didn’t know where to look. Commonly referred to as “the Corner House,” it looks on the outside like a quite stylish residential building. I walked right by it and had to retrace my steps a block or two away.

Basically what the KGB did in this building was imprison people for months, interrogating and torturing them, then either executing them on the spot or sending them to labor camps in Siberia.

The entrance to the KGB Museum in Riga

This building became known as “the Corner House” because of the entrance on the corner, which was the only entrance the general public was supposed to use. Walking in, I felt jarred by the contrast with the pleasant exterior: the door is, essentially, a cage, presumably to be able to bar people from outside coming in, but perhaps also to stop people leaving once they’d entered.

Otherwise, though, the first room looks much like any down-at-the-heels government office. A few dilapidated chairs on the right, a counter for the reception on the left.

This room also holds a mailbox, which people would drop notes into during the Soviet period to ask about their imprisoned or missing relatives, to make requests and – much more sinister – to report people who were “disloyal” to the Soviets.

This article, A Riga City Tour: 10+ things to see in Riga , might be useful if you’re planning a trip there. And also this one: Two Latvian food tours .

The KGB Museum exhibition

The exhibition “History of the KGB Operations in Latvia” on the ground floor tells about the building’s history and the Cheka/KGB’s activities in this building between 1940 and 1991, with an emphasis on the work of the resistance movement. Most of it is in the form of large panels with text and photographs.

While I learned a lot of background from this, it was fairly dry, and didn’t give me a clear idea of just how much cruelty was a part of this building. I got an inkling from the films that ran continuously in a neighboring room. In these, ex-prisoners told about their own experiences here.

It was the tour that helped me better visualize what happened here. I’ll describe that below, but first, here’s the general history of the building, and of Latvia along with it:

History of the “Corner House”

Built in 1912, the “Corner House” held shops on the ground floor and apartments above, like most buildings in the neighborhood.

The Corner House 1919-1944

That didn’t last, though, because of the Latvian War of Independence in 1918-1920, which was, to oversimplify a bit, a struggle between the newly-declared independent Republic of Latvia and the newly-formed Soviet Union, with involvement by the other Baltic states as well as Germany. The Latvian Revolutionary War Committee used the building briefly in 1919.

The building changed hands a number of times after that, reflecting the turbulent 20 th century history of Latvia:

1920: The new government of independent Latvia took over the building for government use, including the Ministry of the Interior and other offices.

1940-41: In 1940, the Soviet Union forcibly annexed Latvia. The Cheka (secret police, forerunner of the KGB) took over the building. This only lasted a year because, in 1941, the Nazi army invaded and took over Latvia, treating it as a conquered part of the Soviet Union.

1941-44: For most of World War II a youth group called “National Watch” occupied the building as well as Latvia’s puppet government, appointed by the Nazis. The Nazis deported and/or executed thousands of people: Jews, Roma and resistance fighters. This lasted until 1944, when the Soviet Red Army took over once again.

The KGB Headquarters

1944-91: This is the period that the KGB Museum mostly addresses.

The Cheka got the building back in 1944, using it as their headquarters. The Soviets busied themselves with mass deportations of Latvians to Siberia, particularly members of the pre-war independent Latvian government and anyone arguing for a return to independence. Many were first imprisoned here.

The name of the secret police changed several times, becoming the KGB later in this period.

The Corner House after independence

1991: Latvia regained its independence from the Soviet Union.

1992-2007: The Latvian State Police used the building in this period, presumably including the prison cells and interrogation rooms, but without the torture or executions.

The building has been empty since then. The exhibition on the ground floor was installed in 2014, but the rest of the building is unoccupied.

Today, the ground floor and basement make up the KGB Museum, part of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991 . The rest of the museum is at a different location.

Here are some other articles about sights from the Cold War era:

• The Communist Consumer’s Museum in Timişoara, Romania
• Berlin’s Palace of Tears
• A peek into East Germany at the DDR Museum
• The Berlin Wall Memorial illuminates Berlin’s divided past

The KGB Museum tour

While I already “knew” the truly evil things that happened in this building, I didn’t really understand them until I took the tour. And again, just like when I first entered the building, the contrasts struck me most, at first: a lovely entrance hall was our first stop, reminding us that this was an elegant building once upon a time..

But then, down the hall, we saw the elevator. It is divided in half so that a prison guard could lock a prisoner into the back of the lift while he stood on the side next to the elevator door. And the hallway beyond the elevator was … well, the best word for it is “grim.”

Maybe it was my imagination, but even at the beginning of the tour I felt like the place was full of ghosts.

Prison life

This hallway on the ground floor is where some prisoners were held in their cells, along with more cells in the basement. Our tour guide pointed out the horizontal bars along the walls of the corridor, installed so that any prison guard who felt threatened could just push on the bar to set off an alarm. Each door has a small hinged cut-out, so prison guards could look in without opening the heavy door.

The cells themselves were always overcrowded and kept boiling hot all year. The lights stayed on night and day and the small windows, if there were any at all, were covered so prisoners could not see out. The beds were metal without mattresses and the toilet was nothing but a bucket in the corner.

We were allowed to look into and enter several cells in the basement, and just a moment in a cell was enough for me. The grimness of the place . . . and then, as the guide spoke about life in the cells, I could imagine the smell of sweat and fear and damp and that bucket in the corner, and I could picture how easy it would be to lose the will to live, spending months in such conditions.

After viewing the cells, we arrived at a kitchen in the basement. Apparently the kitchen staff were prisoners brought in from another jail. They got the ingredients through the window wells: like dropping it down a hole. The food was then cooked without washing, and generally consisted of bread and thin soup, often made from rotten ingredients.

For “exercise,” the inmates could go outside in a very small yard for about a half-hour a day with the other prisoners from their own cell. The yard is a narrow space between buildings, roofed over with bars and fencing, making it, in essence, a cage with a bit of natural sunlight reaching through the bars, if they were lucky. A walkway above allowed an armed guard to keep an eye on the prisoners to make sure they didn’t speak.

Interrogation

We also saw an interrogation room, although most of the interrogation rooms are on upper floors, where this tour doesn’t go. It looked, I suppose, like any interrogation room would look: stark and bare, with a table in the center and a chair on either side of it. There is no chair for a lawyer, though; these prisoners had no rights. Beatings and torture over weeks and months were a standard part of their interrogation.

Passing through the courtyard of the building, we entered the garage, where the executions happened. Hundreds of people, over the course of the KGB headquarters’ existence, stood in front of this wall and waited for the bullets. The blood is gone, and the wall was covered over after independence, then stripped back for the museum, but yellow spots mark the remaining bullet holes.

The tour group I joined to see the museum got quieter and quieter as we moved from room to room on this tour, and the idea that we were standing where so many had been killed in cold blood silenced us entirely.

Going to the KGB Museum in Riga, I expected something like the Stasi Museum in Berlin : a place where evil is couched in bureaucracy and technology and ordinariness. This was far more visceral: visiting a place where such violence and stifling of the spirit occurred.

Visiting the KGB Museum, Riga

The KGB Museum tells a fascinating yet terrible story that’s worth remembering. If you visit, don’t settle for just the exhibition; the tour is where you’ll get a real sense of the place.

If you’d rather not arrange things yourself, this walking tour, Behind the Iron Curtain , covers several sights from the Soviet period .

The KGB Museum: Brīvības iela 61, Riga. Open daily 10:30-17:30. Admission to the exhibition is based on a voluntary donation. Guided tours in English: daily at 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 16:00. The tour costs €10.

The exhibition is relatively accessible, though wheelchairs would have to be rather narrow. The tour, however, is mostly in the basement, down a set of stairs.

If you’re interested in the rest of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia , its address is Raiņa bulvāris 7, Riga. The permanent exhibition is open daily 11:00-18:00. Admission: a voluntary donation. Guided tours in English: daily at 14:00 and 16:00. Tours cost €3/$3.30.

Have you ever done this kind of dark tourism? Where? Leave a comment below, and make sure to share this post!

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Hi, I’m Rachel!

This is such a moving post – there is such a contrast between the gorgeous ceiling and how grim the floors and walls of the cells are.

Thanks, Vanessa!

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