The Estonian History Museum was founded in 1864 in the house of the St Canute Guild as the Provincial Museum of the Estonian Literature Society. The museum was nationalised in 1940, and the History Museum of the Estonian SSR was established. In 1952, it moved to the Great Guild Hall, and in 1975 the Maarjamäe Palace became part of the museum. In 1989, the museum was renamed the Estonian History Museum. The museum currently consists of the Great Guild Hall in the Old Town of Tallinn, and the Maarjamäe Palace and its outbuildings. The museum collects different objects and documents about Estonian history, including material about Soviet times. New material is sometimes collected in connection with exhibitions. This is how the collection of Juhan Aare was deposited in the museum.