Rait Prääts is a younger generation than Evie Hone (born 1952).
Tallinn was relatively undamaged in WW II but on 15th March 1944 it was bombed by Russia as Tallinn was being used as a supply hub by the Germans. Unfortunately the bombs fell on Tallinn’s medieval city centre as well as the port, railway and military installations. Well, the Russians were on our side and Britain bombed civilian targets too. 1,549 buildings were destroyed and 3,350 others damaged, affecting about a third of the city’s buildings. 554 civilians were killed and about 20,000 left homeless. Proportionally for a small country like Estonia this was as traumatic as the London Blitz and 15th March is still remembered.
One of the buildings badly damaged was St Nicholas’s, hence the modern stained glass window. The church has been restored but now is a museum (Niguliste Museum) with some fine medieval religious art mostly painted on wooden panels. This is the show stopper in the collection; originally it was 30 metres long, today only 7 1/2 metres remain. But it is still awkward to photograph and I thought I would buy a postcard – there wasn’t one.
“The Dance of Death, located in St Anthony’s Chapel of St Nicholas’ Church, is the best-known and most valuable medieval artwork in Estonia. Only a fragment containing thirteen figures has been preserved. Against the background of an autumn landscape, the dance of mortals is introduced by a preacher from a pulpit, followed by figures of Death holding a bagpipe and carrying a coffin. The first dancer is the Pope, wearing a papal tiara. The mortals who follow him are the Emperor, holding a sword and an orb, the beautiful Empress, the Cardinal and the King. In the right-hand corner of the painting, it is possible to see the edge of the robe of the next character, the Bishop. Under the figures there is a winding band with text, a painted dialogue in verse between Death and the other characters written in the Low German language.” (Niguliste Museum, St Nicholas’s)
The old medieval town is still walled and I can count seven towers in this photograph.
The church on the right, with a tall spire, is St Olaf’s probably dating from the 12th century although the first written reference is 1267, and it has had several make-overs since. A taxi driver told me it was once the tallest building in Europe but this is not quite true.
“A medieval craftsman claimed it was 84 fathoms tall. One source assumed he was referring to Rhineland fathoms, which would’ve made it 159 metres tall, which would be the tallest building in the world at the time. Although he was probably referring to local fathoms, and in 1590 the total height of the church tower was probably 115.35–125 m. The tower has been hit by lightning around 10 times, and the whole church has burned down three times throughout its known existence. After several reconstructions, its spire now stands 123.8 meters tall.” (Wikipedia)
However, this may, perhaps, be the oldest pharmacy in the world, first mentioned in 1422. Estonia has a strong national identity and while proud of its past is known as The Baltic Tiger – you don’t need to remind me – Ireland was known as The Celtic Tiger once – hubris.
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