House-Museum of A.I. Herzen

The post-fire Empire mansion with mezzanine, built in the 1820s, became the third possession of Ivan Alekseevich Yakovlev in the Arbat and Prechistenka area. The house was bought by him in 1839 from General Sergey Alekseevich Tuchkov especially for his son Alexander Herzen. In the old house, called "Tuchkovsky", the writer lived with his family from September 1843 until leaving abroad in January 1847. At different times, the owners of this house were the actress of the Imperial Moscow theaters Agrafena Timofeevna Saburova (in 1826 - early 1830s); General and poet Sergey Alekseevich Tuchkov (in 1835-1839); Egor Ivanovich Herzen, half-brother of the writer (in 1849-1863); the last owner of T.A. Lopukhina (in 1870-1912).

The house has been preserved intact since its reconstruction in 1892, when the visible features of the Empire were lost. In October 1968, the Executive Committee of the Moscow Council decided to organize the Museum of A.I. Herzen as a branch of the State Literary Museum in the house on Sivtsev Vrazhka, 27.

The museum consists of 2 complexes: the old memorial "Tuchkovsky" house, where the exposition "Herzen in Russia" is deployed, and a modern extension consisting of the exposition hall "Herzen in the West" and a conference hall for mass events and temporary exhibitions. From February 2008 to March 2012 there was a complete historical restoration of the House of Herzen. The mansion remained in its former, authentic form, completely intact, unlike many Moscow "new-makers": the walls were resheathed with boards, some logs bearing structures were replaced, interiors were restored, etc.

On April 6-8, 2012, as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of A.I. Herzen, the Herzen House was inaugurated after the capital restoration. It housed an exhibition of rarities from the Herzenov collection of GLM - "Things that were sacred to us." A significant part of this collection was made up of materials transferred to the museum by the writer’s descendants.

December 14, 2012, on the memorable date of the Decembrist uprising, there was a solemn opening of the permanent exhibition of the House-Museum of A.I. Herzen “I served for the benefit of Russia by word and deed...” The life and fate of Alexander Herzen.” A fundamentally new concept of the exposition was created and new halls appeared: “Student Room of the 1830s”, “Overseas City” and “Trubner’s Shop”. The exposition is equipped with a variety of modern technical means that make it possible to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the last century: the streets of European cities in the “foreign” hall; touch kiosks; sound design “Rome”, “Paris”, “Geneva” and “London”; interactive arch with views of Russia and Europe and much more.