The National History Museum of Latvia was founded in 1869 with a view to collecting, preserving, researching and promoting evidence of spiritual and material culture from Latvia and other parts of the world, from antiquity into the present day, in the interest of the Latvian State and its people. The collections contains over a million items: artefacts from archaeological digs, hordes of jewellery and coins, folk costumes, traditional tools, applied art, household objects, photographs, documents, maps, prints, paintings and other historical material. From 1920 to 2014, the museum was located in Rīga Castle. Once the reconstruction of the castle is completed, the museum will return to its original home.

The museum’s temporary home – exhibition halls on 32 Brīvības Boulevard – holds a permanent display about Latvia’s history and a number of temporary exhibitions. Various groups of visitors are offered different kinds of informative events: tours, discussions, lectures and thematic lessons for children.