Collection

The collection of the Bauska Castle Museum was established in 1990 by separating the part of items related to the castle from the Bauska Local History and Art Museum. It is regularly supplemented with materials obtained through research, donations, and purposefully acquired exhibits for the creation of the castle’s exhibitions.

The aim of the collection is to preserve for future generations the artifacts discovered during the research of Bauska Castle, as well as to develop collections characterizing the culture, daily life, and military practices of the 15th–17th centuries for the museum’s research and educational work.

Thematically, the collection reflects Bauska Castle, its surroundings, and historical figures associated with it, while also providing insight into the development of architecture, art, everyday life, crafts, and military practices in the 15th–17th centuries. The museum collection is systematized into several thematic groups:

Collection of Building Elements
Includes materials obtained from archaeological excavations that characterize construction processes in the castle during the 15th–17th centuries: various types of bricks, roof tiles, floor tiles, plaster fragments, and lime mortar samples.

Collection of Stone Carvings
Consists of fragments of stone decorations from the late 16th century. This collection is a unique testimony to the Mannerist period, highlighting Bauska Castle as a significant and representative residence of the Dukes of Courland and Semigallia.

Collection of Decorative Stove Ceramics
Represents stove tiles from the Late Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Early Baroque styles (mid-15th century – early 18th century). By systematizing stove tiles and their fragments, a detailed typology has been developed, and in 2025 a catalogue of the collection was published.

Archaeological Collection
Contains items obtained from excavations from the 1960s to the present day. The collection includes everyday objects (accessories, furniture fittings, pipe fragments) and military artifacts (bullets, grapeshot, musket parts) that confirm the castle’s defensive function. The oldest object in the collection is a flint scraper from the Late Paleolithic–Early Mesolithic period (8th–9th millennium BC).

Weapons Collection
Includes 17th–18th century cast-iron cannons and mortars used in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, as well as period firearms (wheel-lock and flintlock pistols, musket, arquebus, etc.), cold weapons (swords, war hammer, “morgenstern,” etc.), and military equipment (powder flasks, bullet molds, armor, etc.).

Applied Arts Collection
Consists of original 16th–17th century interior objects: furniture, lighting fixtures, tableware, and textiles, purposefully acquired for the reconstruction of the castle’s historical environment.

Numismatic Collection
Comprises coins from the 14th–17th centuries (mainly shillings minted in Riga and Livonia), obtained through excavations or purchases.

Printed Materials Collection
Includes books and maps from the 17th–19th centuries, as well as 20th-century postcards depicting views of the castle ruins.

Fine Arts Collection
Contains paintings and graphic works depicting Bauska Castle ruins. The collection is complemented by copies of portraits of the Kettler ducal family and original works by 17th-century Western European artists.

Collections of Photographs, Photo Negatives, and Slides
Document the condition of the castle ruins, archaeological research, and restoration processes (early 20th century to the present). Of particular value are the glass plate negatives from the 1920s–1930s by photographers Ž. Ruķers and K. Grīnbergs.