Rakvere Castle (Rakvere ordulinnus) has had a checkered history since the first known fortifications were established in the Lääne-Viru County town in the fifth and sixth centuries.

The town was along with much of the rest of northern Estonia passed from pillar to post between Denmark (from the 13th century), to the Livonian Order of Teutonic Knights (14th century), to Muscovy, Sweden and then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (all 16th century), then back under Swedish rule until the Great Northern War of the early 18th century.

Exhibition curator Tõnno Jonuks said the exhibition has brought out more finds related to the crusader-era castle than ever before.

"I think that every person will find here the most interesting things for themselves. For example, there has never been here such a splendid selection of weapons. We have placed on the map of Europe just the most spectacular and important items, which have reached Rakvere Castle, from all across Europe. The items from farthest away come from the Iberian Peninsula: From Seville and Valencia. Most of the items are of course from Central Europe, but this map shows exactly that, even if Rakvere in the Middle Ages was such a small provincial town, then such pan-European trade routes brought imports to Rakvere from very distant regions," Jonuks told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

A selection of thirteenth-century bronze bowls found nearby in the village of Rahkla and being put on display for the wider public for the first time are expected to be of particular interest.

The back wall of the history room will host the 23 bronze bowls, found in Rahkla after 800 years buried underground.

"This is a very rare find, because everywhere else in Europe these vessels are found one by one or only broken," exhibition curator and archaeologist Ain Mäesalu said.

"There is not a single museum in the world where so many such bowls are displayed in an exhibition and where eight engraved bowls are so nicely exhibited: These bowls have been laid out so that all the details can be clearly seen. And 23 bowls – this is absolutely astonishing. Across the whole of Finland, so far 14 bowls have been found, from Latvia, eight, from Russia, five, yet with us in Rahkla alone there were 23," Mäesalu went on.

The eight Hanseatic bowls with engravings take pride of place. "The so-called virtues and sins of the time are depicted on these. Five bowls are of one type, while analogous bowls have also emerged in Estonia before. Three bowls, however, are totally special in terms of engravings, as nowhere have bowls with analogous engravings emerged, neither from Estonia nor from anywhere else in Europe. There are two rows of warriors on them, ... buildings ... and there is a scene on them where warriors are fighting with sirens. I think that in fact back then they wanted to create some kind of story there, which can be told and explained. At present we do not know for sure, but my thoughts are that possibly they wanted to reflect the epics of Homer," the archaeologist went on.

The bowls may have ended up in Estonia around the year 1220, Mäesalu noted, saying that they were likely brought by Danish priests as a gift from the Danish king for Estonian elders, possibly also used for baptisms.

The oldest of Rakvere Castle's finds is also on display: A potsherd – a broken fragment of ceramic material – dating to the fifth or sixth century. Jonuks said that he especially likes those items which lack precise information, highlighting as his favorite a bronze knife sheath.

The knife sheath, resembling 12th-13th century styles but actually from the 16th century, was found in the same room as the exhibition, though its purpose remains unknown, Jonuks said.

Igor Letitski of the Vironia search club, who discovered the 23 Hanseatic bowls in Rahkla in spring 2023, took pictures at the opening of Rakvere Castle's history room.

Dmitri Šutov of the Kamerad metal detectorists' club, which has been scouring the Rakvere battlefield, emphasized that the key principle is providing science with more information and finds, and he praised the exhibition's beautiful presentation.

Inge Laurik-Teder, research director of Virumaa museums, explained that the history room at Rakvere Castle is part of a larger research project, marking the start of a broader transformation to turn the castle into a museum, despite its ongoing renovation.

Laurik-Teder highlighted that storage conditions for museum pieces, especially sensitive items like metal, were carefully monitored in the history room, and mentioned a privy lamp box found last autumn, awaiting research results for exhibition.

Renovating Rakvere Castle's history room cost €60,000 and was supported by the National Heritage Board (Muinsuskaitseamet) and the state Cultural Endowment (kultuurkapital).

The Battle of Wesenberg (1268) was fought between the combined forces of Danish Estonia, the Bishopric of Dorpat, the Livonian Order, and local Estonian militias on one side, and the forces of Novgorod and Pskov, led by Dmitry of Pereslavl, with both sides claiming victory.

The later Battle of Rakvere (1603) took place during the Polish-Swedish War of the early 17th century. In 1605, Rakvere Castle was partly blown up by Polish troops and later by Swedish soldiers. The castle has lain in ruins ever since.

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