MUST SEE SITES OF TALLINN ESTONIA CINEMATIC TOUR Maarjamäe Memorial Complex German, Soviet, Estonian

In this vlog we continue with our tour of the top sights of Tallinn. There is so much fascinating history to be appreciated, absorbed and hopefully to learn from in this country!

We take the tram from the Balti Jaam station over to Kadriorg Park where we then use the Bolt app to get us the rest of the way by car! After getting dropped off just outside the History Museum (Maarjamäe Palace) we make the quick walk over to the Maarjamäe Memorial Complex, although this area is situated just outside the main city centre (10 mins by car) it is worth venturing over for the History museum, Memorials and Pirita Beach :)

There are 3 main points of interest here which we will take you through in their chronological order:

* The German War cemetery (1941)
* The Soviet Memorial (1960-1975)
* The Estonian Memorial (2018)

To see the Soviet Statue graveyard behind Marjamäe Palace click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cYHMil5q3U 8:08.

The German military cemetery was created by the German army in 1941 but after the war ended and Estonia fell under Soviet occupation, all the German headstones were removed and a Soviet memorial was erected (1960) Later the Soviets replaced the headstones with memorial markers to the Red Army units that fought in Estonia. In 1998 the cemetery was re dedicated and is now portrayed by the triple granite crosses that you can see among the grass where the bodies of some 2,300 German soldiers are buried.

In 1960 an Obelisk was raised beside the sea in Tallinn’s subdistrict of Maarjamäe (which in Estonian means “Maria’s Hill”). It commemorated the Bolshevik victims of the 1918 Russian Civil War, part of which played out here when Allied nations intervened against the Bolshevik forces in the Baltics.

The obelisk alone was already controversial. The Bolsheviks had actually been fighting against Estonia during the conflict it referenced, and numerous memorials to Estonia’s own dead were removed during the years of Soviet occupation. Nevertheless, in 1965, a decision was made to expand the memorial complex at Maarjamäe.

The extended memorial complex was overseen by the architects Allan Murdmaa, Valve Pormeister, and Henno Sepmann. It was completed in 1975. At the sea end of the complex, a symbolic amphitheater overlooks the road to Pirita and offers a panoramic view over Tallinn Bay. An “eternal flame” once occupied a corner of this space, surrounded by evocative hand-shaped reliefs.

Since Estonia gained its independence from Soviet rule in 1991, the Maarjamäe Memorial Complex has faced an uncertain future. Its symbolism goes beyond being merely pro-Soviet, to being, arguably, even anti-Estonian in meaning; celebrating the Bolshevik troops who died fighting against independent Estonia in 1918, while featuring the graves of crewmen from two Russian battleships that had been shelling the port of Tallinn during the conflict. We note that this section of the memorial is not really maintained.

In 2018 An Estonian memorial was built adjacent to the Soviet and German memorials (during it’s construction further bodies of German soldiers were discovered).

The memorial consists of two parts – the Journey with plaques bearing the names of those who perished in the terror, and the Home Garden, to which are added location stones with information texts marking the locations where the terror was carried out. A monument to Estonian officers who fell victim to the communist terror is also part of the Memorial.

The communist regime of terror was established with the occupation of Estonia on 17 June 1940 and ended with the restoration of Estonia’s independence on 20 August 1991. Estonia lost every fifth person of its population of slightly over a million, of which more than 75,000 were murdered, imprisoned or deported. The Memorial to the victims of communism is dedicated to all of them
Upcoming videos

Be sure to tune into our next vlog where we finally get to visit inside Maarjamäe Palace, the film museum and stables, as everything re opens post pandemic lockdown!

Travel vlog 19 | Tallinn, Estonia | Country #4 | Filmed May 2020

The music used here is from:
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A British couple from just outside London, England. We got married in 2018 and decided instead of a honeymoon we’d travel the world together for a year. We saved money and travel points, quit our jobs, rented our house out and boarded a one way flight. We started this Youtube channel to share our experiences with friends, family and anyone who plans to travel to the places we’re visiting. We leave TKT tips/facts on all our vlogs and blogs to give information that we wish we’d had before visiting. We hope you find our content useful :)

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