The Kohtla-Järve Museum of Oil Shale

The oil shale – our jackpot or misfortune?

The Kohtla-Järve Museum of Oil Shale in Ida-Virumaa collects and presents the history of the oil shale industry and the town of Kohtla-Järve. The Kohtla-Järve Museum is the only museum in the world on the oil shale industry still operating today.

The permanent exhibition focuses on the history and present use of oil shale as a strategic resource. In the museum, you can find answers to the questions of where and why it was mined and is being mined, and what this rock of “brown gold” is made of.