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Day 37, Tallinn

Published: 26.06.2022

Today I'm going to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. I need to be at the ferry terminal at 7:30 am for check-in. The ferry takes two and a half hours to cover the 85 km between Helsinki and Tallinn, crossing the mirror-smooth Baltic Sea.

Estonia has a population of only 1.3 million. Accordingly, Tallinn is also a manageable city. Formaly, Estonia belongs to the Baltic states. However, culturally, most Estonians feel closer to the Finns than to the Latvians and Lithuanians.

When entering the harbor, I still see two cruise ships. The small town will be packed because our ship is also fully booked. To avoid the crowds, I decide to explore outside the city walls.

First, I visit old industrial architecture that is now used for cultural purposes.

Shortly afterwards, I arrive at the former Patarei Prison. The former naval fortress was used by Nazi Germany and subsequently by the Soviet Union during the 20th century to imprison and execute innocent people. In addition to criminals, political opponents of the regime were also held captive and executed there. Overall, an estimated 45,000 citizens and residents of Estonia were imprisoned for political reasons during the Soviet occupation. Patarei is considered one of the greatest symbols of Soviet political terror for the people of Estonia.

Visiting the prison is both very interesting and depressing, especially the stories of individual prisoners who survived this hell.

During today's visit to Tallinn, one thing becomes clear to me: the country wants nothing to do with Russia anymore and proudly displays its independence, which it peacefully achieved in the Singing Revolution of 1991.

Patarei Prison, together with its neighbors, the Seaplane Harbour Museum, the Proto Discovery Factory, and the Kai Art Center, forms a cultural and leisure center in the northern part of the city, just a 15-minute walk from the Old Town.

Here, a lot of exciting new architecture has been created without forgetting the memory of the old buildings.

On the way to the Old Town, I see some strange devices on the street.

These are self-driving robots from the company Starship. The company's website states: 'We believe our robots will revolutionize food and package deliveries, offering people convenient new services that improve everyday life.'

I had heard before that Estonia is at the forefront of digitalization worldwide. Who knows if it will catch on.

The Old Town is really worth seeing, and luckily, most of the crowds have already left the Old Town heading back to the ships.

In the middle of the city is the Russian embassy, guarded by two policemen. The attitude towards the former occupier is clear.

In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied the country. Estonian intellectuals were persecuted and deported. In 1941, the Germans arrived and built concentration camps in Estonia as well. In 1944, the country fell back to the Red Army, which once again deported the elite. 100,000 actual or perceived anti-Soviet residents of Estonia were deported to Siberia, and the same number had to emigrate. In return, almost 200,000 Russian workers were settled.

The Soviet Union took targeted measures to destroy the Estonian people's national consciousness: it weakened the Estonian language, destroyed books, and banned the singing of national songs. The decades under Soviet occupation were a traumatic time for many Estonians, which they have neither forgotten nor forgiven to this day. One quarter of all Estonians (especially in the east of the country) are of Russian origin, and Russia is trying to destabilize the country with targeted misinformation.

It is terrible that exactly the same is happening in Ukraine right now.

It is interesting to see how people react to the embassy in front of the embassy. Many Russian-speaking people simply walk by without looking to the side.

It has become very hot by now, and I seek some relief in the Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

A beautiful day with many different impressions comes to a cozy end on the ferry. It's a mild summer evening. I enjoy the beer that I bought at reasonable prices in Estonia in the evening sun.