Tallinn-topic (1)

Introduction
Tallinn, the capital city of the Republic of Estonia and of the Harju county, is a town in North Estonia on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. It has nearly half a million inhabitants and covers an area of almost 160 sqkm. It is also an important economic and cultural centre and one of the main ports in the Baltic States. Tallinn is one of the oldest cities on the Baltic Sea. It is unique for its well-preserved architecture from the 13-15 centuries . In contrast to the ancient town-walls and towers , Tallinn of today offers modern hotels, restaurants, sport and cultural centres. Every five years national song and folk dance festivals take place in Tallinn. The yachting regatta of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games was held at Pirita .
History
Tallinn means in English “Danish town“. The place is believed to have been settled by Finno-Ugric people about 2500 BC. It was first marked on a map of the world by the Arab geographer al- Idrisi in 1154. The Estonians were the first to build a stronghold on the spot of the Toompea Hill , but the real Tallinn was built by the Danes who conquered the north of Estonia in 1219. Legend has it that one day, when the Danes were about to lose a bloody battle, the sky suddenly opened and a red flag with a white cross on it dropped down upon them from the heaven . This is how the Danes obtained their national flag.
In 1346 the Danish king sold his Estonian lands to the Teutonic Order , who a year later resold them to the Livonian Order. The Germans renamed Tallinn and called it Reval. Toompea became the seat of the German -born gentry. A fortified wall was built between Toompea (the Upper Town) and the Lower Town, as there were conflicts between the two. The Lower Town was the home of simple people, the artisans and the merchants. The doors and gates in the wall were locked at night.
Tallinn joined the German-dominated Hanseatic League in 1285 and became a junction of trade between East and West : furs, honey , leather and seal fat moved west, while salt, cloth, herring and wine moved east. Its geographical position was very favourable, with its wide bay protected by the two outlying islands of Aegna and Naissaar for a large port.
Tallinn developed along three lines: fortress, port and market town. Tallinn grew rapidly and had developed into a well- known trading centre by the 15th century . Unfortunately , prosperity did not last long due to the weakening of the Hanseatic League, epidemics, hunger and wars . Sweden finally managed to take control of the whole of Estonia in 1629. Their rule ended after the Northern War in 1710 when Estonia was joined to the Russian Empire.
Life changed for the better thanks to the opening of a railway line from St. Petersburg to Tallinn in 1870. Tallinn grew into a major port and an industrial centre, with huge shipyards. Interest in culture grew and Estonians became conscious of their national identity, dreams of independence gained ground . On 24 February 1918 Estonia was declared an independent country and Tallinn became the capital of the Republic of Estonia.
During World War II Estonia was occupied by both German and Russian invaders and Tallinn suffered heavily. The bombing of the city by the Soviet air force on 9 March 1944 left over 20,000 people homeless. During the Russian occupation which followed attempts were made to Russify the local people.
Estonia re-established its independence on 20 August 1991.
Toompea
Toompea is the oldest and the most respectable part of the city. For centuries there was only one means of access to Toompea – Pikk Jalg Street . In the middle of the 15th century the Lower Town fenced itself off with these walls from the Upper Town because of the permanent contradictions between the noblemen of Toompea and the citizens of Down Town. At the end of the street there used to be a wooden gate , in place of this a gate-tower was built at the end of the 14th century. At present Pikk Jalg Street is only for pedestrians.
There still exists another gate to Toompea – Short Leg. It was laid in the 15th century. The massive wooden gate with ironworks dates from the 17th century. Long Leg was used by vehicles.
Until the 20th century there was no way down form the western side of Toompea except for a foot -path. The stairs were built in 1903 and are called Patkul Stairs. The name Patkul itself comes from Johann Patkul. He had worked against the Swede, so Patkul was remembered by Russians.
In the Middle Ages that part of Toompea where the castle stands was called the Small Fortress. The rest of the hill with the homes of the feudal lords and bishop of Tallinn was called the Big Fortress. The main building , the centre of the Small Fortress, was the Convention House- a building where the members of the knighthood lived.
In the 1920s the reconstruction of the building was carried out. The northern part of it became the seat of the State Assembly of the Estonian Republic.
In the 19th century a public garden was laid out – the Governor’s Garden.
Town Wall and its Towers
The first town wall of Tallinn, which was rather low and modest , was built in the second half of the 13th century. It was called Margaret ’s Wall by the Danish queen Margaret in 1265. In 1310 Johan Canne was appointed Viceregent of Tallinn and he started the re- construction of the wall, known as Canne Wall. The wall was completed by 1355. The wall was 6.5 metres high and 2.3 metres thick and had 14 towers. The defence gallery ran along the inside of the wall.
In the first half of the 15th century the wall was reconstructed again. The wall was made higher and thicker. It was 11-16 metres high. The tower of Tall Hermann was built. In the second half of the 15th century the development of firearms brought about the need for stronger towers. The most powerful cannon tower Kiek in de Kök was built in 1475 and Fat Margaret at the beginning of the next century. At the beginning of the 16th century the wall was 2.35 km long and had 27 towers.
The main part of the wall has survived till today. At present 1.8 km of the town wall and 26 towers have been preserved. The names of some of the towers are rather well-known - Tall Hermann, Kiek-in-de-Kök, Virgin Tower, Stable Tower, Sauna Tower. The towers are also connected with lots of ghost stories. Stable Tower was considered to be the most haunted one.
Lower Town
In the 13th century a large number of Germans settled at the foot of the Upper town, where they gradually built a free town of merchants and craftsmen – the so-called Lower Town. It was laid out with three things in mind: the place had to serve as a fortress, and it had to have both a port and a marketplace.
As a rule, people lived on the ground and first floors of a house. Goods were kept on the second or even the third floor. They were hoisted up with the help of pulleys. Only one room was heated; in other rooms , warm stones were used. Water was drawn either from public town wells or a private well in the cellar of the house.
Streets
Medieval Tallinn had narrow streets. The streets were named after various occupations or other characteristics, such as Rüütli ( Knight ’s) Street, Munga (Monk’s) Street, Kuninga (King’s) Street, Pagari (Baker’s) Street, Pikk (Long) Street, Lai ( Broad ) Street, Karja (Cattle) Street. There were some ancient streets in Tallinn which had obviously been named before the qonquest, marking the destination they finally led, like Harju and Viru Street. Foreigners usually had different names for such streets.
The streets were paved since the beginning of the 14th century. Pikk Jalg was among the first to be paved. Town Hall Square got its cover in 1310. There were no streetlights. The houses had no numbers and were known by the owner ’s name.
Churches
The Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin (the Dome Church ) was consecrated in 1240. The church suffered in the fire of 1684 and was largely reconstructed. A Baroque tower was added in the 18th century and the dated weather - vane (1779) crowning the spire is the only original one on Toompea today.
Among other functions , the church served as a burial ground for the rich and the noble . The church also features grave slabs , an oaken Baroque altar by Christian Ackermann and a number of monu­ments to famous people (e.g. Pontus de la Gardie. Karl Horn and Admiral Adam Johann Krusenstern). The church has also a valuable collection of Baltic-German noblemen's coats of arms, many of them were carved from wood by the famous Tallinn wood carver Christian Ackermann in the 17th century. Nowadays , the church has an Estonian Lutheran congregation and also serves as a concert hall.
St. Nicholas’ Church. In about 1230, quite a number of German merchants came over to Tallinn from Gotland at the invitation of the Order. They settled down outside the fortress, at the foot of the hill. They erected a chapel among their wooden houses. The church was built against the northern wall of the chapel. It was named after St. Nicholas, the patron saint of merchants and seafarers. After the big fire of 1433 the church was rebuilt with proper splendour. The spire dates from the 16th century. During the Reformation in 1524 many valuable works of art were distroyed in Tallinn. The locks on the doors of Niguliste Church had been poured full of melted lead , and so it was the only church where the masterpieces of the 14th and 15th century stonecarving, woodcarving and painting survived. Most of the relics were distroyed in the Soviet air-raid on March 9, 1944. The restoration took place from 1953 to 1984. Now the church is a concert hall and the Museum of Medieval Art.
St Olaf ’s Church , a 3-nave Gothic basilica , was first mentioned in chronicles in 1267. It was known for its soaring spire, which also served as a lighthouse for ships, being probably one of the tallest buildings in the world at the time. The spire has been struck by lightning many times . The fire of 1820 destroyed the church but it was later restored in the same Gothic style. Since then the height of the spire has been 124 metres. Since the spring of 2003 people have been able to climb the tower to enjoy the view of Tallinn.
Town Hall and Town Hall Square
The Town Hall, the centre of administration and judicial power, was definitely the most important public building in the Middle Ages. The Tallinn Town Hall was first recorded in 1322, but there must have been some kind of a hall in the last quarter of the 13th century already . The present Town Hall was built in 1401-1404, but was renovated in the 17th century. The last renovation took place in the 1970s when it got its original appearance. The weather-vane was put on the spire in 1530 .
The Town Hall is a 2-storeyed structure with a basement and 11 rooms in all. The ground floor accommodates the present vestibule, it was called a wine cellar in the Middle Ages. The room next to the vestibule was a torture chamber according to the legend, but no evidence has been found to prove it. The main or the first floor was made up of the Citizens’ Hall, the Council Hall, the office, the kitchen and the toilet. In the Council Hall the town councillors held their official meetings.
Town Hall Square was the real centre of the town in the Middle Ages. It was the most crowded part of Tallinn in those days. There were dwelling houses of the merchants and craftsmen at the side of the square. Numerous shops and stalls stood in front of them. The square was a market place already in the 11th century and served as such until 1896. It was called Suur Turg and got its present name – Raekoja Plats only in 1923. On one side of the square, there was the House of Weights and Measures where all imported goods were weighed and measured before they got into the shop .
There were also two pillories – the big and the small one in the square. The culprits and those who were sentenced to death were brought to the pillory. The small pillory was fixed to the wall of the Town Hall. The punishment was carried out by the hangman and his assistants and was considered a great shame and dishonour. A round stone slab in the square signifies the place of the pillory.
Pharmacy
The Town Council Pharmacy is the oldest medical establishment in Tallinn and it is one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe that has worked at the same place since the early 15th century. Beside medicine , the pharmacy sold all sorts of different products in the Middle Ages. One could buy sweets, preserves, marzipan and cookies. The pharmacy sold stationery , dies, gunpowder, spices, candles and torches. When tobacco was brought to Europe and then to Estonia, the pharmacy started to sell it first.
There were a few miracle drugs on sale , like the unicorn’s horn powder , the powder made of the oversea mummies, the powders made of burnt hedgehogs, earthworms or swallow’s nests. The Burcharts are the family whom we usually speak about in connection with the Town Council’s Pharmacy.
Johann Burchart I came from Hungary in 1580 . Three years later he leased the pharmacy and so did his heirs until Johann Burchart IV bought the property from the Town Council and became the owner. Altogether, there were 10 Johann Burcharts who all played important roles in the life of Tallinn. The coat of arms of the Burcharts can be seen on the wall of the entrance-hall.
Liberty Square
Liberty Square was originally a Hay and Wood Market of Tallinn. The market was liquidated at the end of the 19th century. In order to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Russian power the place got a new name – Peter´s Square. A monument to Peter the Great was set up in the middle of the square. In 1923 the square was renamed Liberty Square. During the Soviet period it was called Victory Square.
Parks
The largest and probably the most beautiful park of Tallinn is Kadriorg . The park and palace were designed in Baroque style by the Italian architect Niccolo Michetti and built in the 1720s on the order of Peter the Great.
In 1857 Tallinn was not a fort any more and the 17th and 18th century fortifications were given to the municipality to lay out parks and public gardens. The Ingrian Bastion was turned into Harjumägi in 1860. The Swedish Bastion became a park in 1862 . In the 1920s people started to call it Lindamägi after the sculpture of Linda by A. Weizenberg that was set up there in1920. The Wismar Ravelline and the filled up moat became a dendrological garden later called the Deer Park.
Gates
In the Middle Ages there were eight gates in Tallinn. They were the Short Leg Gate, the Long Leg Gate, the Karja Gate, the Viru Gate, the Harju Gate, the Great Coast Gate, the Small Coast Gate and the Nun´s Gate.
The Viru Gate was first recorded in 1359 and it was considered one of the major gates. The Harju Gate was situated at the place where Müürivahe Street crosses Harju Street.
Museums
There are more than 20 museums in Tallinn. The oldest of them is the History Museum. It was founded in 1842. The museum is situated in the Gothic guildhall in Pikk Street built for the Great Merchants` Guild in the 15th century.
The Town Museum has a permanent exhibition on the history of Tallinn from the 13th century. The museum is situated in a 14th century dwelling house in Vene Street.
The Museum of Natural History in Lai Street offers a survey of Estonian geological past, mineral resources, plants and animal life.
The Maritime Museum lies in the 16th century defence tower Stout Margaret in Pikk Street. There are displayed old nautical instruments, models of ships, maps and charts.
The Museum of Applied Art stands on the corner of Lai and Aida Street. It offers collections of pottery, leatherwork, metalwork, glasswork, carpets and jewellery.
The Theatre and Music Museum in Müürivahe Street has a display of old musical instruments.
The Estonian Open -Air Museum at Rocca al Mare is actually the Estonian Village Museum (established in 1957). The museum is divided into sections that show typical village architecture (old farmhouses and outbuildings) of certain areas .
Districts
The City of Tallinn is divided into City Districts. Tallinn consists of 8 different districts.
Haabersti . The heart of the district is the residential area consisting of the big panel houses of Väike-Õismäe, which were mostly established in the seventies. The territory of Haabersti is 18,6 km².
Kesklinn . It consists of the historical Old City and the surrounding suburbs with wooden buildings erected in the end of the last and the beginning of the present century. The territory of Kesklinn is 28,0 km².
Kristiine. The main part of the buildings in this district consists of 2-storeyed apartment houses built in the twenties and the thirties and modest single family houses built in the fifties. The territory of Kristiine is 9,4 km².
Lasnamäe. Lasnamäe is the biggest district both by its area and its population and at the same time this is the last region formed by big panel houses. The territory of Lasnamäe is 30,0 km².
Mustamäe. The building of big panel houses started in the sixties and was mainly completed in the seventies. The main problem of Mustamäe is the bad heat keeping of the houses. The territory of Mustamäe is 8,0 km².
Nõmme. At first it developed as an independent city, in 1940 it was linked to Tallinn. Up to today the prevailing type of building is single family houses, which are located on sandy areas covered with pine groves. The territory of Nõmme is 28,0 km².
Pirita. Because of its good natural and other advantages this is one of the most presti- gious districts in Tallinn. Single family houses are the main type of building. The territory of Pirita is 18,7 km².
Põhja-Tallinn. Like the Centre, this is one of the most diverse districts both architecturally and historically and socially. Being mostly located on a peninsula, North Tallinn has a big development potential. The territory of Põhja-Tallinn is 17,3 km².