In the Estonian capital of Tallinn, the Viru Hotel is throwing open the doors on a previously-secret Soviet spy lair, in a new exhibit that explores the Cold War espionage that used to take place in the building.
The exhibit, Viru Hotel and the KGB, allows visitors to enter this once-secret listening post. About ten Soviet spies worked from the radio room on the 23rd floor of the Viru Hotel. From there, they could relay signals across the Baltic Sea to Helsinki, and also make use of a direct link to Moscow.
"All we have here now is the room as they left it one night in 1991 when Estonia was getting close to restoring its independence," explained spokesperson Peep Ehasalu.
The KGB, the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991, had set up a post in the Estonian hotel to eavesdrop on foreign tourists, who were directed to the hotel by the Soviet tourism agency Intourist.
"Everyone knew the Viru was bugged and that the KGB people sat on the second and third floors near the hard currency bar, so people would just be careful in what they said on the telephone or while in the hotel," explained Tila Raudma, a former guest at the Viru, who said she was never allowed to stay anywhere else when visiting the city during the Soviet years.