French Audio Guide at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

French Audio Guide at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

As of 28 May 2026, an audio guide in French is available at the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, made possible with the support of the French Embassy and the French Institute in Latvia. The launch event was attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Latvia H.E. Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, the Director of the French Institute in Latvia Éric Sirvens, representatives of the embassy and institute teams, certified French-language guides in Riga, and representatives of the tourism sector.

Tourists from France and the wider Francophone world represent a significant segment of Latvia's tourism industry - French can frequently be heard on the streets of Riga, known as the "Paris of the North." Interest in French culture, which was widespread in the Republic of Latvia, persisted throughout the Soviet occupation and even became grounds for repression against the so-called "French group" - intellectuals who gathered informally to discuss French literature and art. To make the museum's content more accessible and engaging for French-speaking visitors, the museum launched a collaboration with the French Embassy and the French Institute in Latvia last autumn, with both institutions taking on the translation and recording of the audio guide.

At the presentation, the Ambassador emphasised that the most compelling aspect of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia's story is the resistance, the will of the people, and the moral fortitude that enabled Latvia to reclaim its place in Europe.

The French Institute in Latvia covered the costs of the recording studio, while the audio guide devices were purchased using funds from the project "Improved Accessibility of Latvian-Estonian Military Heritage Tourism Product" (MIL-HER ACCESSIBLE). The text was translated by Dita Podskočija, edited by Sandra Morel, and narrated by Rafaela Sirvena.

French became the tenth language in the museum's audio guide offering. The museum currently provides audio guides in Latvian, English, Estonian, Lithuanian, Russian, German, Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish, and now French, as well as two video guides for visitors with hearing impairments - in International Sign Language and Latvian Sign Language.

The museum extends its sincere gratitude to French Ambassador Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and French Institute Director Éric Sirvens, as well as their teams, for their responsiveness, productive collaboration, and commitment to enhancing the tourism offering at the Museum and in Riga.