Travel in Tallinn Estonia History

Tallinn - History

In the 10th century the ancient Estonians established their central trading point at the coast of the Gulf of Finland. For its protection a limestone castle was built close to the sea. Today the place is known as Toompea (Dome Hill). In Scandinavian chronicles the castle has been mentioned under name of Lindanäs, in the Russian chronicles it is called Kolõvan. Some of the pathways leading to that castle have become streets, like Pikk Jalg, Pikk, Harju, Pühavaimu and Vene street.

In 1219 Northern Estonia was conquered by the Danes led by King Waldemar II, who later established a stone castle at Toompea. A multinational town grew around it.

During the Danish period (1219-1346) a network of streets formed in the area inside the town wall and the town hall, the guild house, churches and convents, warehouses and defence buildings were erected. In 1248 at the latest, the magistrate regulated life in the town according to Lübeck town law. The Estonians preferred the name Tallinn, the Germans and the Danish Reval or Revel (after the former county). The city’s big coat of arms, showing three lions against the golden background, comes from the Danish royal coat of arms. The small coat of arms with the white Latin cross on the red background comes from the Danish national flag the Dannebrog, which according to the legend fell from the sky during the battle for the castle.

The building of the Old Town with its principal stone buildings was completed at the time when the Livonian Order acted as the sovereign (1347-1561). The Danes who ruled Northern Estonia for over a century, until 1346, founded Tallinn in 1219. There is extremely little information about the first centuries of Tallinn. The present historic town centre dates from the later German and Swedish times.

It is known from written sources that before the stone structures were built in Tallinn, the houses were wooden. The historians have long waited for the discovery of the traces of this wooden town under the present stone one. Historically, these wooden houses had to date from the time of the Danish rule.

The building of the Old Town with its principal stone buildings was completed at the time when the Livonian Order acted as the sovereign (1347-1561).

Tallinn as a Hanseatic town collected its riches from transit trade between the East and the West. The population of the town reached 7000-8000 people.

In Lübeck and Visby such wooden towns have been excavated and partly conserved. In Riga, over one hundred wooden structures have been found, but all excavations have taken place in conjunction with new building projects, which has meant destruction of the archaeological material on site. In the few places in Tallinn where wooden fragments have been found these have been built over. (For instance, water mills were excavated under the present warehouse Stockmann, but the new building covered the remains. The Danish king Erik Glipping to the bishop of Tallinn donated the mills in 1283, which in turn leased them to the town council.)

In this respect the finds from 10 Sauna Street are unique. A whole well preserved block of houses was found and excavated. For the first time in the history of Tallinn we have the opportunity to get an adequate picture of the life and appearance of the town in the Danish time. It is like peeping through the keyhole into the everyday life of the ordinary people of the thirteenth century.

It is also significant that these excavations are the biggest ones financed by the town council (with 1.4 million crowns) on a non-building site.

2. The wooden housing quarter and its inhabitants

The excavated area contained a full block of houses with gardens and surrounded by a palisade and moat dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. These houses belonged to the first colonists who built their dwellings of the most accessible material - wood. These people were not noblemen or rich merchants, they were ordinary townsfolk who did some handicraft, some agriculture, some trading. They had gardens where they grew cabbages, carrots and parsnips, some cattle and fields for grain. They made their own wooden crockery and leather footgear. They were also able to make bone objects and the number of casting moulds found suggests metalworking of jewellery was popular as well.

The finds from the excavations in 10 Sauna Street have revealed unique material about the everyday life and appearance of early stages of Tallinn which were virtually unknown before. They throw light to Tallinn during the Danish times (1219-1346), the crucial period in the development of the town from the foundation onwards.

The importance of the finds also lies in their character: a whole section of the town was found. It included entire houses with gardens and common land between them. Its own defences surrounded the section: a moat and a palisade. All this together with the finds of everyday utensils give an excellent picture of the life in Tallinn before the great changes in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The wooden buildings, which were excavated, predate the mainly stone-built late medieval Tallinn. They are extremely rare survivals as most of the earlier sites have been built over. Therefore it is very important to conserve these buildings and display them on site.

The quarter was surrounded by a palisade and moat suggesting that the inhabitants needed protection for their dwellings. The situation is explained in 1310 by a letter by a knight called Canne, the ambassador of the Danish king, who justified the need of fortifying the town with the constant threat of pagan attacks. Life was not secure, the townspeople had to protect themselves, especially before the proper town wall was built.

During the Swedish period (1561-1710) Tallinn lost its success in trade due to long lasting wars. Building activities concentrated on the development of a powerful earth-ware defence system outside the town wall. The silhouette of the town changed - instead of needle sharp spires large baroque broaches appeared. High gothic style triangle shaped gables remained part of the street scene, but the interiors of the houses were modernized. New baroque interiors were designed for churches.

In the course of the Great Northern War in 1710, Tallinn capitulated to the Russian army. Peter the Great ratified all the previous privileges of the town, which had been granted by Danish and Swedish kings and the masters of the Livonian Order. These privileges provided a significantly autonomous status for Tallinn inside the Russian state, which was known as the Baltic Special Order. All the local institutions of authority, civil and criminal legislation, school system, the Lutheran church and German language in official management were preserved.

The status of a stronghold and the building restrictions imposed by this status preserved much of the original character of the Old Town and the bastions surrounding it.

An important evolution into the town’s development was brought along by the loss of the stronghold status (1857) and the creation of a railway connection to St. Petersburg. Rapid industrial development began, resulting in the swift growth of the town. Large factories were built in the town in the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century and their production was exported to Russia. Tallinn soon became one of the most important ports for Russia. The growing need for labour caused a massive migration into the town and its population increased six times within 50 years - by 1917, there were approximately 160 000 inhabitants in Tallinn. A sizable amount of labour was directed into industry in Tallinn from the provinces of Russia, and the number of Russians in the population increased suddenly. The Baltic Germans, who had formerly held the leading position in the town, now became a minority with little political influence. In 1877 Tallinn was subjected to Russian town legislation and Russian was used to replace German in official management. But the efforts of the czarist power to russify the country failed due to the resistance of the Estonians population.

The best part of the czarist Russian legacy in the town can be seen in architecture. It includes the Kadriorg palace and park ensemble (created upon the order of Peter the Great), the building of the Provincial Government of Estonia at Toompea (currently the residence of the Estonian government), as well as several churches, theatre buildings, banks and schools.

On February 24, 1918 in Tallinn, the Estonian Salvation Committee declared the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, which stayed neutral in the war between Russia and Germany. The next day, the city was occupied by the army of imperial Germany, who did not recognise the independence of Estonia. After the beginning of the November Revolution in Germany the occupying troops left and power passed to the Temporary Government of Estonia. The new government was at once required to organize a defence against the attacking Russian bolshevist troops - the Estonian War of Independence had begun. It ended on February 2, 1920 with the signing of the Tartu Treaty. Tallinn became the capital of the independent Republic of Estonia.

Independence had an important impact on the development of the city - the architectural contributions of the 1920s and 1930s, residential houses in particular, remain the most impressive of the city’s buildings. But this peaceful development could only last for 20 years.

On the basis of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed in the autumn of 1939, bases for the Red Army and the Baltic Navy were established in Tallinn. By that time the population of the city had grown to 179 000.

In June 1940, Soviet troops occupied Estonia, abolishing its independence and establishing the Soviet order.

On August 28, 1941, German occupation began.

On March 9, 1944, a Tallinn suffered a bomb attack, which killed or wounded 1100 people. 11% of the Old Town was destroyed, more than 50% of residential houses perished and approximately 20 000 people remained homeless.

In September, 1944, the German fascist occupation was replaced by Soviet occupation. 127 000 inhabitants had remained in the city.

From 1944-1991 Estonia belonged to the Soviet Union. Under the pretence of restoration of the city and development of big industry, a massive migration from Russia and other soviet republics took place. As a result the number of inhabitants increased to over 500 000 and the proportion of Estonians decreased to 48.5%. The main architectural legacy of the soviet period is represented by the new residential areas Mustamäe, Õismäe and Lasnamäe with their standardised buildings.

On August 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Estonia declared the re-establishment of independence of Estonia on the basis of legal consequence. In 1994 the last troops of the Russian army were deported from Estonia. The Second World War had come to its end for Estonia.

May 1st 2004 The EU lets in Estonia as a full commissioned member. The fact was received by the people of Estonia with joy and many manifestations were organized to commemorate the historical day. Europe expects Estonia to enrich the European culture with its rich cultural tradition. Not to mention the back thought in the minds of many European citizens: the eventual evolution of EU to the United States of Europe, where Estonia will be a worthy jewel.

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