V. I. Lenin Museum - History

History

In contrast to other European capitals, Moscow had no city hall until the establishment of zemstvo in the late 19th century. In the 1880s, when Red Square and the neighbourhood were being overhauled in the Neo-Russian style, the Moscow City Duma decided to commission an impressive building for its headquarters. During the competition that followed in 1887, architect Dmitry Chichagov (1835-94) emerged as the winner.

Building work was begun three years later, with some remains of the early 18th-century Kitai-gorod Mint incorporated into the new structure. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the duma was disbanded and the large building was handed over to the Lenin Museum. As a consequence of this decision, opulent pre-revolutionary halls were either plastered or painted over, either to not to distract the visitor's attention from the personal effects of the deceased Communist leader exhibited there or as a negation of pre-revolutionary bourgeoisie culture.

Following the fall of Communism, the Moscow City Duma was reinstated but preferred to keep its headquarters in a modest building of the former Moscow Soviet on Petrovka Street. The pre-revolutionary city hall is currently employed to exhibit the vast collections of the State Historical Museum.