Now, the privately run museum is one of the few places in the world where visitors can tour a former Cold War bunker built to house a government under nuclear attack.

This carving was created by Wilhem Schimmel. This item was stolen from the Reading Public Museum in Reading, Pennsylvania, in February 1979. It may have been sold at auction after April 1998.

In the 19th century, Canadian authorities discovered that museums could play a nation-building role in turning the former British colonies into an independent nation, Mr. Bergeron said.