Tallinn | Estonia, Map, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

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Tallinn, city, capital of Estonia, on Tallinn Bay of the Gulf of Finland.

History

A fortified settlement existed there from the late 1st millennium bce until the 10th–11th century ce, and there was a town on the site in the 12th century. In 1219 it was captured by the Danes, who built a new fortress on Toompea hill. Trade flourished, especially after Tallinn joined the Hanseatic League in 1285. In 1346 it was sold to the Teutonic Knights.

During the medieval and early modern era, Tallinn (then more commonly known by its German name of Reval) was a multiethnic trading town that was economically dominated by its German merchant class. Upon the dissolution of the Teutonic Order in 1561, it passed to Sweden. Peter I (the Great) captured Tallinn in 1710 during the Great Northern War, and it became part of the Russian Empire. During the later years of the 19th century, Tallinn began to industrialize, and its historically German and Scandinavian character gradually changed due to the influx of ethnic Estonian workers from the countryside. It became the capital of independent Estonia in 1918.

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In 1940 Estonia was annexed to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The city was occupied by German forces from 1941 to 1944 and was severely damaged. After Soviet rule was re-established in 1944, the city expanded greatly, reaching a population of about 500,000 by the late 1980s, in contrast to the number of 137,792 recorded in the 1934 Estonian census. This was mainly due to the development of new industries. To work in these industries, large numbers of people from Russia and other Soviet republics were brought in. As a result, today’s Tallinn is only 53 percent ethnically Estonian. After the Supreme Soviet of Estonia declared independence in 1991, Tallinn became the capital of the refounded Estonian republic.

Other demographic disruptions had a major impact on the city’s population during the 20th century. Both in 1940 and again in 1944–49, many Tallinn residents were deported and imprisoned by Soviet forces for alleged conspiracy, collaboration with the Germans, and opposition to Soviet rule. Others chose voluntary exile; a large proportion of them settled in Sweden or North America. During World War II, Tallinn’s remaining Baltic German population was forcibly resettled, mainly to Polish territories then occupied by Germany, while its Jewish community was destroyed.

The contemporary city

Many relics of Tallinn’s long history survive or have been restored, especially on Toompea hill and in the old, walled Lower Town. They include the 13th-century Toom Church, the Gothic Oleviste (St. Olaf’s) and Niguliste (St. Nicholas’s) churches, the Great Guildhall of 1410, the Rathus (Town Hall) completed in 1404, and much of the old castle. The city’s historic center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.

Today Tallinn is a major commercial and fishing port and industrial center. Shipbuilding and machine building head a range of engineering industries, and many consumer goods are produced. One of the most important developments in recent years has been Tallinn’s growth as an information technology center, characterized by both a high rate of local start-up companies and the siting of IT development facilities for major foreign corporations. Boosted by Estonia’s membership in the European Union and Schengen area, tourism is another important contributor to the local economy, with more than four million visitors annually. The cultural center of Estonia, Tallinn has an academy of sciences; polytechnic, fine-arts, and teacher-training institutes; a music conservatory; and several theaters and museums. Tallinn Airport, servicing both domestic and international flights, is the biggest airport in the Baltics. Pop. (2021) 437,817.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Scott Spires.