Estonian World takes a glimpse into an increasingly forgotten era – the street scenes of the Soviet Union-occupied Estonia (1944-1991) and, specifically, the country’s capital Tallinn at the time. The Hungarian-made Ikarus bus was the backbone of the Tallinn public transport system in the 1970s and 80s, all the way …
30 pictures of the Soviet-era street scenes in Tallinn Read More »
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark will pay a visit to Estonia in June, in conjunction with the 800th anniversary of the Danish flag that has a mythical connection to Tallinn, the Estonian capital. The Danish legend says the country got its flag, known as the Dannebrog, during the battle that took …
Queen Margrethe to visit Estonia for the 800th anniversary of the Danish flag Read More »
A new exhibition has opened at the Kumu art museum in Tallinn about the socialist art of the 1970s and 1980s in fine arts and the post-Soviet aesthetic of the 2010s in fashion. 21 July 1940. Estonians lose their freedom to the Soviet Union. Besides the restrictions that came upon …
An exhibition about fine arts and fashion inspired by the Soviet era opens in Tallinn Read More »
“My Formative Years” is an autobiography of a famous Estonian military commander, Sir Johan Pitka (1872-1944); first published in the 1930s Estonia, it has now been translated into English, and talks about Pitka’s “golden years” of youth. Pitka is one of the most famous Estonian historical and military figures. He led the Estonian …
Book introduction – “My Formative Years”, by Johan Pitka Read More »
Among the 7,000 Estonians murdered by the Nazis was a promising Fauvist painter Karl Pärsimägi. Education is lacking in some compartments in Estonia. While there’s plenty of information about the Soviet crimes committed during the occupation of Estonia – and justifiably so – there are sadly still many people who …
Imbi Paju, a Helsinki, Finland-based Estonian journalist, writer and filmmaker says in a speech when accepting the Heli and Arnold Susi Mission Award for the Courage to Speak Out that remembering our history is important because history is not history – it is us right now. Editor’s note: Arnold Susi (1896 – …
The defence ministers of Estonia and Finland on 3 January commemorated the fallen of the Estonian War of Independence in the Estonian town of Kuusalu. The ministers remembered the crucial battles of the war that took place 100 years ago, laid wreaths at the Kuusalu cemetery and dedicated a headstone …
Estonian and Finnish defence ministers commemorate the dead of the War of Independence Read More »
The Estonian member of the European Parliament, Tunne Kelam, is to be awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation will award the Medal of Freedom, alongside with Kelam, also to the former president of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, and …
Estonian MEP Tunne Kelam to be awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom Read More »
In Estonia, the countryside has always meant a lot more than a rural area where some people prefer to live; the countryside determines identities, the national cuisine and family relationships – at least it used to. The Estonian language – often ranked as one of the most difficult languages in …
The right of the local noble to deflower local peasant brides on their wedding night before their newlywed husbands holds a certain place in the nation’s cultural memory – but where’s the truth? This article is brought to you in collaboration with the University of Tartu blog. The right of the …
Who owned the right of the first night in Estonia? Read More »
