Tallinn-Estonia
My very first visit to
Balticum happens in the extended weekend May 4-6, 2007. The visit has been
planned instantly before the disturbances thanks to the removal of a Russian
Memorial from WW2. The tensions blow up again between the Estonians and the
large Russian minority of 34 percent of the Estonian population.
The
comprehension of reactions is of course different, depending of which eyes,
which face the riot. My Estonian contact has a view as well as my Russian
counterpart has another view of the present situation and the historical
background.
Estonia has a population of 1, 4 mio. Inhabitants, of which
1, 1 mio live in the cities, hereby 400.000 live in the capitol of Tallinn. The
language is Estonian, a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Finnish and
distantly related to Hungarian. - Believe me, as a Scandinavian it is like
gibberish.
Tallinn - walking around doesn't remind you of the
Globalization at all. Mainly all figures are from Estonia or close by - not like
f.ex. Denmark and Sweden nowadays.
Must to see
The Medieval
Heritage - The milieu and structure of the old Town is very much seaworthy.
Since 1997 the Old Town has been included in UNESCO´s World Heritage
list.
Town Hall Square - Town Hall Pharmacy are both unique to
watch.
The Russian Cathedral is just beautiful. So is the Old City
Mall.
Kadriorg-district contains Kadriorg Palace (beautiful baroque
style) from 1718, now resident for the president of Estonia. The park is
seaworthy, so is the famous tribune, which is the platform of song-festivals
every year. From the hill of the tribune-area one have a marvellous view over
the harbour in a certain distance.
In a corner one will find a complete new,
modern art museum KUMU.
In general I found the architecture as a mix of
old-communist-days and new glass, steel and aluminium in different shapes and
colours, mostly in uniforms as hotels and business.
Shopping - some goods
are close to EURO-level, however supermarkets and retail areas still shows
prizes about 10-20 percent under western level. Supply and demand seem to be -
almost - at right level, at least in very centre of
Tallinn.
Communication - the public transport system of buses, trams and
regional trains seem to be almost sufficient; I do miss a metro however. There
are too many cars miss-adapted to a poor highway and street-system.
There
are splendid see-connections to Finland (Helsinki), Sweden (Stockholm) and
Germany (Rostock) with excellent ferry-boats.
The Estonians have worked
hard to accomplish a sufficient digital level compared with the west. For
example the citizen has an alternative voting by internet to the last National
election - I truly believe for the very first time in the world.
Denmark
linked to Estonia
The legend says that the Danish flag "Dannebrog" dropped
down from the Sky under the King Waldemar the Victory crusade in 1219 in
Tallinn. The white cross on the red square is a part of the modern Tallinn's
city weapon as a "link" from 1219.
A former Danish foreign minister was very
much active and dynamic in 1991 on behalf the Baltic liberation in the days of
August. He plays a very much active part in order to unite his colleagues in EU
for putting a pressure of the dying SovjetUnion, which we still shall remember,
even today.
Talking links - my dear Estonian mail partner has made a
marvellous programme for me during my stay. Not only did I say many parts of
Tallinn, neither did I see the life of an Estonian family behind the private
doors.
The Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - deserve
the support and sympathy of EU. They work very hard to bringing their economy
and population up to a certain EU-standard in a rapid tempo.
Tallinn is
for sure worth a visit - do it if possible one day.
