The Rudolf Tobias House Museum

An extraordinary story in an extraordinary house

In the Rudolf Tobias House Museum in Hiiumaa, you can learn about the life and work of Rudolf Tobias, one of the founders of Estonian classical music. The building, which is composer’s birthplace, is a rare one in the whole of Estonia.

This is one of the few surviving buildings of its kind in Estonia – built in the first half of the 19th century, it is a townhouse that includes elements of a farmhouse.

Rudolf Tobias was born in this house on May 29, 1873, and spent most of his childhood years there.

Rudolf Tobias’s father Johannes was the curate and organist of the Käina Church. The exhibition gives a comprehensive overview of Rudolf Tobias’s life in Estonia, St. Petersburg, and Berlin, as well as his work.

The house also has furniture from the 19th and 20th centuries and you can also see musical instruments of that time.

In the courtyard of the Rudolf Tobias House Museum, there is a barn, a shed-cellar, a windmill typical to Hiiumaa, and a well common to a farmyard. The courtyard of the house museum offers a magnificent view towards the Käina Bay, which is typically full of seabirds.