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Rakvere
Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. In 2022, Rakvere was one of 10 ACES European Towns of Sport. In 2023, Rakvere won the Green Destinations' Silver Award after having been selected in 2021 as part of the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories.
Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: the Rakvere door. Reflecting German baroque cabinets of the 17th and 18th centuries and the expressionist style of the 1920s, the wooden Rakvere door has a pointed, raised rectangle in the center. In 2023, there were 15 Rakvere doors on 13 houses.
A settlement called Tarvanpea, which means the 'head of an aurochs', was first mentioned in 1226 in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry. This Danish stronghold was first recorded as Wesenbergh, the Middle Low German adaptation of Tarvanpea, in 1252, and, up until the early 20th century, the town was widely known as Wesenberg. The name Rakovor appears in 1268 in the Russian Novgorod First Chronicle, and present-day Rakvere is associated with Rägavere, in which vere in Estonian refers to a topographical feature. Rakvere has also been referred to as Tarvanpää.
The earliest signs of a human settlement, dating back to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries AD, have been found on Rakvere's Theatre Hill (Teatrimägi). Probably to protect this settlement, a wooden stronghold was built on another hill, or mound, (Vallimägi) nearby, Rakvere's highest point.
After the Kingdom of Denmark conquered northern Estonia, it started to erect stone buildings in 1220. The Battle of Wesenberg, with the Danish and Teutonic knights and local militia on one side and the forces of Novgorod and Pskov on the other, occurred near Rakvere on 18 February 1268. The Danish King Erik VI Menved granted Rakvere Lübeck rights on 12 June 1302. After the king sold Danish Estonia to the Livonian Order in 1346, a large stone castle was built on top of the stronghold on Vallimägi. The Ordensburg was protected by towers and courtyards.
The building of a Franciscan monastery started on Theatre Hill in 1508. Yet, in 1558, during the first year of the Livonian War, Muscovite troops captured Rakvere, and, in 1574, Sweden heavily damaged the town after the disastrous Siege of Wesenberg. In 1581, Sweden captured Rakvere and passed it to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1602; Polish troops destroyed the castle in 1605. After Rakvere returned to Swedish control that same year, a mansion was built on the ruins of the monastery. In 1703, during the Great Northern War, Rakvere was burned down. With the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 and the subsequent Treaty of Nystad in 1721, the town became part of the Russian Empire. It was a part of Russia until 1918 when, following World War I, Estonia became an independent nation.
During the period of independence from 1918 to 1940, Estonia completed its first railway, and Rakvere was at the heart of the crucial Tallinn-Rakvere-Narva-St. Petersburg trade route. Telephone lines had been installed in 1898, and nearly the entire city had electric lights in 1918. Many prominent buildings were built, too, in Rakvere, during this period, including the market building, the old bank building (today, SEB Pank), and Rakvere Secondary School (since 2022, Rakvere Freedom School). Local newspapers emerged, including the county paper Virumaa Teataja in 1925. The idea of a professional theatre in Rakvere started to take shape as well. In 1930, during the administration of Mayor Heinrich Aviksoo, the town stadium opened. Later, Anton Soans developed a new master plan from which emerged a private German-language school and a public Estonian-language high school.
With Estonia in World War II, the Soviet Red Army invaded and occupied the country in June 1940. On 14 June 1941, hundreds of Rakvere's residents were deported to Russia. From 7 August 1941 to 19 September 1944, the town was occupied by Germany. In the autumn of 1941, the Dulag 102 prisoner-of-war camp was relocated from Šiauliai to Rakvere, and was later moved to Volosovo. On 19 September 1944, the Soviets bombed the town, killing at least 20 civilians, including two children. The next day the town was re-occupied by the Soviets.
Rakvere
Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. In 2022, Rakvere was one of 10 ACES European Towns of Sport. In 2023, Rakvere won the Green Destinations' Silver Award after having been selected in 2021 as part of the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories.
Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: the Rakvere door. Reflecting German baroque cabinets of the 17th and 18th centuries and the expressionist style of the 1920s, the wooden Rakvere door has a pointed, raised rectangle in the center. In 2023, there were 15 Rakvere doors on 13 houses.
A settlement called Tarvanpea, which means the 'head of an aurochs', was first mentioned in 1226 in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry. This Danish stronghold was first recorded as Wesenbergh, the Middle Low German adaptation of Tarvanpea, in 1252, and, up until the early 20th century, the town was widely known as Wesenberg. The name Rakovor appears in 1268 in the Russian Novgorod First Chronicle, and present-day Rakvere is associated with Rägavere, in which vere in Estonian refers to a topographical feature. Rakvere has also been referred to as Tarvanpää.
The earliest signs of a human settlement, dating back to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries AD, have been found on Rakvere's Theatre Hill (Teatrimägi). Probably to protect this settlement, a wooden stronghold was built on another hill, or mound, (Vallimägi) nearby, Rakvere's highest point.
After the Kingdom of Denmark conquered northern Estonia, it started to erect stone buildings in 1220. The Battle of Wesenberg, with the Danish and Teutonic knights and local militia on one side and the forces of Novgorod and Pskov on the other, occurred near Rakvere on 18 February 1268. The Danish King Erik VI Menved granted Rakvere Lübeck rights on 12 June 1302. After the king sold Danish Estonia to the Livonian Order in 1346, a large stone castle was built on top of the stronghold on Vallimägi. The Ordensburg was protected by towers and courtyards.
The building of a Franciscan monastery started on Theatre Hill in 1508. Yet, in 1558, during the first year of the Livonian War, Muscovite troops captured Rakvere, and, in 1574, Sweden heavily damaged the town after the disastrous Siege of Wesenberg. In 1581, Sweden captured Rakvere and passed it to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1602; Polish troops destroyed the castle in 1605. After Rakvere returned to Swedish control that same year, a mansion was built on the ruins of the monastery. In 1703, during the Great Northern War, Rakvere was burned down. With the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 and the subsequent Treaty of Nystad in 1721, the town became part of the Russian Empire. It was a part of Russia until 1918 when, following World War I, Estonia became an independent nation.
During the period of independence from 1918 to 1940, Estonia completed its first railway, and Rakvere was at the heart of the crucial Tallinn-Rakvere-Narva-St. Petersburg trade route. Telephone lines had been installed in 1898, and nearly the entire city had electric lights in 1918. Many prominent buildings were built, too, in Rakvere, during this period, including the market building, the old bank building (today, SEB Pank), and Rakvere Secondary School (since 2022, Rakvere Freedom School). Local newspapers emerged, including the county paper Virumaa Teataja in 1925. The idea of a professional theatre in Rakvere started to take shape as well. In 1930, during the administration of Mayor Heinrich Aviksoo, the town stadium opened. Later, Anton Soans developed a new master plan from which emerged a private German-language school and a public Estonian-language high school.
With Estonia in World War II, the Soviet Red Army invaded and occupied the country in June 1940. On 14 June 1941, hundreds of Rakvere's residents were deported to Russia. From 7 August 1941 to 19 September 1944, the town was occupied by Germany. In the autumn of 1941, the Dulag 102 prisoner-of-war camp was relocated from Šiauliai to Rakvere, and was later moved to Volosovo. On 19 September 1944, the Soviets bombed the town, killing at least 20 civilians, including two children. The next day the town was re-occupied by the Soviets.
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