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. From the 13th century until the early 20th century, Rakvere was more widely known by its historical German name Wesenberg(h). It has also been referred to as Tarvanpea, Tarvanpää, and Rakovor.
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.
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 (Vallimägi) nearby.
After the Kingdom of Denmark conquered northern Estonia, it started to erect stone buildings in 1220. A settlement called Tarvanpea is first mentioned in 1226 in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry. The Danish stronghold is first recorded as Wesenbergh (in Middle Low German) in 1252. 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. 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 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.
On 17 June 1940, the Red Army occupied Estonia, and on 20 August 1991, Estonia again declared its independence.
Rakvere is reportedly Europe's smallest town with its own professional theatre. The roots of Rakvere Theatre date back to 1882. Construction of the theatre was completed at the end of the 1930s, and its festive opening was on 24 February 1940. The theatre survived World War II and, today, presents 10 new productions each season. Rakvere Theatre has given Estonia many renowned actors, including Volli Käro, Üllar Saaremäe, Indrek Saar, Ülle Lichtfeldt, and Aarne Üksküla. Since 1990, the theatre has organized the biannual event Baltoscandal, which hosts avant-garde plays and groups from all over the world.
On 15 July 2000, a high-end F2/T5 tornado hit Rakvere, killing one person and injuring one other. The tornado damaged 110 homes and destroyed 120 garage buildings. One car was seen airborne.
The T5 highway to Pärnu starts near Rakvere, and the T1 Tallinn-Narva highway, part of European route E20, is just to the north of the town. Narva is 114 km to the east of Rakvere. The Tallinn-Narva railway passes the city, and passenger trains between Tallinn and Narva, operated by Elron, stop at Rakvere several times a day. Daily busses connect Rakvere to Tallinn and Narva, too, as well as to many small towns throughout Lääne-Virumaa, including Tapa and Kunda.
Rakvere has a total area of 10.75 square kilometres. There are 19 districts, or neighborhoods, in Rakvere: Kondivalu, Kukeküla, Kurikaküla, Lennuvälja, Lepiku, Lilleküla, Linnuriik, Moonaküla, Mõisavälja, Paemurru, Palermo, Roodevälja, Seminari, Südalinn, Taaravainu, Tammiku, Vallimäe, Vanalinn, and Õpetaja Heinamaa. Although about 15% of Rakvere is covered by forests and parks, it is Estonia's third most densely populated urban area.
The oldest known archeological traces of the ancient fortress on Rakvere's Vallimägi hill date from the 5th and 6th centuries. Throughout the ages, Rakvere Castle has belonged to Danish kings, knight-monks of the Livonian Order, and the Swedish and Polish states. During the Polish-Swedish War of 1600-1629, the castle was partly blown up by Polish troops in 1605, and, later, by the Swedish army. The castle has lain in ruins ever since.
Today, permanent exhibitions and seasonal programs and activities in the castle explain everyday life in the 16th century. Visitors can dress as medieval knights and walk through the castle's rooms, including a torture chamber, an alchemist's workshop, and a room of historical artifacts. -->
Rakvere's "Tarvas" statue of an aurochs, by Estonian sculptor Tauno Kangro, is considered the largest animal statue in the Baltic region. Erected in 2002 for Rakvere's 700th birthday, Tarvas, which stands on the edge of Vallimägi, pays homage to the town's historical name Tarvanpää and symbolizes the town's motto Väge täis (Full of Strength). Along with its granite pedestal, the bronze sculpture is seven meters long and four meters high and weighs about seven tons. The individuals and companies who financed it are engraved in the granite block.
Trinity Church, Rakvere's Lutheran church, originally called St. Michael Church and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, dates from the 15th century. It was designed to also be a stronghold in times of trouble. The tower, the masonry stairway, the sharp edges of the windows, and some pillars have been preserved. The church was severely damaged during the Livonian War and during Polish-Swedish conflicts in the 17th century. It was reconstructed from 1684 to 1693, becoming a three-nave chamber from which the name Trinity Church came. In 1703 and 1708, during the Great Northern War, the church was damaged again. It was reconstructed from 1727 to 1730; a Renaissance-style tower was completed in 1752, which was replaced by a neo-Gothic tower in 1852. The church's interior displays fine craftsmanship, including a Baroque pulpit from 1690 made by Christian Ackermann and the altar wall from 1730 by Johann Valentin Rabe. A statute of an egg and a cock that was on the top of the tower is now in the Rakvere Museum
Pikk Street is the oldest street in Rakvere. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, Pikk Street was the town's main shopping street with banks, shops, restaurants, and guesthouses. In 2020, as part of the EV100 "Good Public Space" program, approximately 700 meters of Pikk Street were reconstructed, making it a pedestrian-friendly, historical thoroughfare reminiscent of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The so-called Carrot Stairs (Estonian: Porganditrepp) with wider steps at the top and little ones at the bottom lead up to Vallimägi and Rakvere Castle ,
In 2004, Rakvere's central, or town, square got a new, modern look with architects' Otto Kadarik, Mihkel Tüür, and Villem Tomiste's five yellow domes (or umbrellas or chanterelle mushrooms or medieval turret tops) hanging from white semi-arches on cobbled hills. In 2010, the sculpture A Young Man on Bicycle Listening to Music was dedicated to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, an honorary resident of Rakvere, in honor of his 75th birthday The sculptors are Aivar Simson and Paul Mänd. Surrounding the young man and the square is Rakvere's central business district, including a historical market building and the SEB Pank building, one of the most representative bank buildings in Estonia designed by Ferdinand Gustav Adoff.
The building of Rakvere Freedom School (Estonian: Rakvere Vabaduse Kool), designed by alumnus Alar Kotli, is a significant example of Functionalism. A key characteristic of Functionalism (architecture) in school architecture is an open building plan that incorporates plain white wall surfaces and round windows. Opened in 1938, Freedom School was one of the first schools to have a separate gymnasium and assembly hall. Local singers and musicians contend that Freedom School's assembly hall has the best acoustics of any school in Lääne Viru County.
From 1994 to 2022, Freedom School was one of Rakvere's high schools (gümnaasium). In 2022, the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research opened a high school (Estonian: Rakvere Riigigümnaasium) in a new 4,100-square-meter building, and Freedom School became an elementary school.
From 1936 to 1940, during a period of significant growth, Harald Estonian: Henno Jänes, an Estonian patriot, was the director of Rakvere High School. In 1954, composer Arvo Pärt graduated from the high school. (Across the street from Freedom School the Municipality of Rakvere is converting St. Paul's Church, also designed by Kotli, into a multipurpose music center in honor of Pärt.) In 1970, entrepreneur Estonian: Oleg Gross graduated from the school.
Rakvere is twinned with: