The Largest Exhibition of Antique Telephones in Latvia

On the day the Ogre History and Art Museum opened ‘Telephones in Vidzeme,’ the largest exhibition in Latvia dedicated to antique telephones, visitors had a special opportunity to hear Valdis Hofmarks’ talk about the origins of telephone use in Latvia and Vidzeme.

Telecommunications engineer and Doctor of Engineering Sciences Valdis Hofmarks has been collecting antique telephones for 35 years. His collection is the most extensive and significant in Latvia, comprehensively detailing the history of telephony in our country. Hofmarks’ collection includes 140 telephone sets, as well as photographs, technical literature, and telephone directories. Valdis Hofmarks has been a member of the Swedish Telephone Collectors’ Association since 1999.

The exhibition ‘Telephones in Vidzeme’ at the Ogre History and Art Museum showcased nearly 80 wall and desk telephone sets, of the type used in Latvia from approximately 1895 until the end of World War II. The majority of the exhibits were from collector Valdis Hofmarks’ collection, with a small number of items sourced from the Ogre History and Art Museum’s own collection.