The Ethnic Culture exposition introduces ethnic and denominational culture, daily life, and businesses of the Evangelical Lutherans who considered themselves Lithuanians and lived in Klaipėda region and its peripheries from the 19th century to the sixth decade of the 20th century.

The exposition includes household items, working tools, holiday and casual attire, footwear, interior textiles, furniture, crockery, lighting devices, religious books and paintings, confirmation certificates. The tradition of praying at home is presented. The exposition consists of the following themes:

• Daily life and businesses (beekeeping, rye growing, bread baking, flax processing, spinning, weaving, ironing)
• Holiday and everyday clothing, accessories, footwear
• Interiors and worship at home

In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, in the Klaipėda region, where Lithuanians lived alongside foreigners, the residents were bilingual. They could  speak Lithuanian (as they used to say themselves – ”boorish”) and German. Their ethnic identity Lithuanians expressed by speaking Lithuanian, dressing according to the traditions passed through generations, coming together for religious gatherings in farmers’ homes – assemblies, praying and singing in their native language, participating in activities of Lithuanian societies. Those who chose to speak German were called vokietininkai (supporters of Germanisation).

In 1944, as the front approached, the local residents were forced to retreat and the remaining empty houses were destroyed by Soviet soldiers and fortune seekers from abroad. Only a small number of Šišioniškiai remained: they either did not manage to leave or were brought back. Soon, they were also deeply affected by their fate as deportees. In the 1960s and later, under an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany, local residents were given an opportunity to join their families.

After returning from Siberia, they had no right to return to their own homes, homesteads and farms. In Soviet times Evangelical Lutherans felt outcasted and often humiliated. They even tried to hide their identities by changing their real, minor Lithuanian names: Anikė “renamed” herself Onutė, Ėvė – Ieva, etc. Their dialectal lexicon and family customs were doomed to oblivion, and the traditions of women’s handicrafts representing folk art—an expression of ethnic identity—decayed.

Today, new exhibits are constantly added to the ethnographic collection. Stories of the items donated to the museum, which tell about the relics taken to Germany and Siberia, and their ability to be preserved there and returned to Lithuania, are captured on a video material. Objects and memories are values of cultural heritage that help to bring back the past of Lithuania Minor out of oblivion, testify to the traditions that have been lovingly passed down from one generation to another, the resistance to Germanisation, and the proudly and stubbornly cherished Lithuanian identity.

The vision of the Ethnic Culture Exposition is to help restore the lost daily life of the village through active museum visits: experiences, interests and knowledge. We invite everyone—adults and children alike—to listen to the dialect, songs and chants of the residents of the region, and to try on ancient clogs and headwear. After getting dressed, we encourage you to look at your image in an old mirror and take a photo at the photo areas. And for craftswomen, we encourage you to take a closer look at the embroidered replicas of the delmons and explore the ornamentation of the multi-patterned sashes.

In the video terminal, we hope that visitors will be interested in films that bring to life the stories and cultural contexts of the exhibits that have come to the museum. Ethnographic narrative itself can be an invaluable way of getting in touch with ethnic culture: daily life, customs, family traditions. Therefore, visitors are invited to enjoy a cosy stay in the exposition with a book. Folk culture is constantly changing, but it is the museum that contributes to the preservation of unique values. UNALTERED HISTORY and RESTORED MEMORY are the sources of knowledge of traditions and the foundation of cultural memory.