On the occasion of the day celebrating the restoration of independence, Estonian World has chosen 12 of Estonia’s most outstanding statespeople in recent times.* In the evening of 20 August 1991, Estonian parliamentarians decided to take advantage of the chaos in Moscow – the conservative Soviet hardliners had gone on offensive against the reformist Mikhail Gorbachev and […]
Top 12 most outstanding Estonian statespeople Read More »
The Estonian Song Celebration (Laulupidu) is a unique event, which every five years brings together a huge choir of 25,000 people for a weekend in July. More than 100,000 spectators enjoy the concerts and sing along to the most popular songs.* The festivals have become the main anchor of Estonian identity. Twice the song celebrations
Estonian Song Celebration timeline Read More »
The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory opened an exhibition about the international crimes of communism at the former Patarei prison in Tallinn. The exhibition, “Communism is Prison”, educates visitors on the ideology and international crimes of communism as well as giving hindsight into the history of the former Patarei prison complex – a sprawling concrete
An exhibition about communist crimes opens in Tallinn Read More »
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 up to the 1990s. The
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 place in Lindanise – Tallinn’s
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 people, one of the keywords
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 Navy during the First World
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 consider the Holocaust a “hoax”.
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 – 1968) was a lawyer and
Imbi Paju: Remembering guides us forward Read More »
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 to the Finnish volunteer, Aukusti
Estonian and Finnish defence ministers commemorate the dead of the War of Independence Read More »
