Culture of Estonia

Theculture of Estoniacombines an indigenous heritage, represented by the country'sFinnicnational languageEstonian, withNordicandGermancultural aspects. Over the centuries, the culture of modernEstoniahas been significantly influenced by that of theGermanic-speaking world.Due to its history and geography, Estonia's culture has also been influenced by the traditions of theBaltic GermansandScandinaviansas well as the neighbouringBaltic,Slavic, andFinnic peoples.
Though the tradition of creating books in the Estonian language could be said to have existed since the publication of theWanradt–Koell Catechismin 1535, few notable works of non-ecclesiastical literature were written until the early 1800s, which saw the beginning of an Estonian national romantic movement. This promptedFriedrich Robert Faehlmannto collect Estonian folk poetry, andFriedrich Reinhold Kreutzwaldto arrange and publish them asKalevipoeg, the Estonian national epic.
The first periodical publication in Estonian wasLühhike öppetus(1766–1767). The first Estonian-language newspaperTarto maa rahva Näddali-Lehtwas published in 1806.
The era ofEstonian national awakeningfrom 1850s onward saw a rapid increase in the number of poets and novelists who wrote in Estonian, notablyL. Koidula.
After Estonia became independent in 1918, there was a movement of modernist writers, most famouslyA. H. TammsaareandKarl Ristikivi. The Soviet invasion of Estonia during World War II prompted a repression of free speech, opinion and culture in general. The Soviet era was characterized by a large circulation of books and their cheap price, but a rather small number of different titles. After the end of the Soviet rule in 1991, the literature in modern Estonia is in a healthy state, with detective stories in particular enjoying a boom in popularity.
According to a 2018 study, EstoniaEstonialeads the world in book ownership, on averageEstoniansown 218 books per house, and 35% own 350 books or more.
The earliest mentioning of Estonian singing and dancing dates back toSaxo Grammaticus'Gesta Danorum(c. 1179).Saxo speaks of Estonian warriors who sang at night while waiting for an epic battle.
TheEstonian Song Festival, held every five years since 1869, is now one of the largestchoralevents in the world and aMasterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.The joint choir of the song festival has comprised more than 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000.
Estonia today is well respected for its musicianship, with the quality education of classical musicians having produced a high proportion of world-class conductors and singers. Estonian art music came to the forefront as a part of the national romantic movement.
The indie folk rock band Ewert and The Two Dragons are among the best known Estonian bands, having had success in Europe and signing with Warner Bros. Records and winning the European Border Breakers Award in 2012. The girl band Vanilla Ninja were also one of the best-known Estonian bands before their hiatus. In addition, artists such as Hortus Musicus, Kerli, Vaiko Eplik & Eliit, Iiris, NOËP, Miljardid and Trad.Attack! have gained popularity outside Estonia.
TheArt Museum of Estoniais the main national museum of visual arts, and has a large collection of Estonian art on permanent display. It was founded on November 17, 1919, but it was not until 1921 that it got its first permanent building –Kadriorg Palace, built in the 18th century. Today the palace is used to display foreign art while a new purpose-built museum houses the main branch of the museum, calledKumu.
Some of the more famous Estonian painters includeAdamson-Eric,Johann Köler,Ants Laikmaa,Paul Raud,Evald Okas,Kristjan RaudandKonrad Mägi.
The Theatre of Estonia dates back to 1784, whenAugust von Kotzebuefounded an amateur theater company inTallinn. Most of the plays at the time were comedies for the amusement of the localBaltic Germannobility. In 1809, a professional theater company was established with its own building in Tallinn. The repertoire was mostly in German, but plays in Estonian and Russian were also performed.
After centuries of the serfdom that the native Estonian population had fallen into since theLivonian Crusade, serfdom was finally abolished in Estonia in 1816. The first native Estonian musical society,Vanemuinewas established in 1865.Lydia Koidula'sThe Cousin from Saaremaain 1870, staged by theVanemuinesociety, marks the birth of native Estonian theater.
TheVanemuinesociety was headed byAugust Wierafrom 1878 to 1903. In 1906, a new building was erected for the society, andKarl Menningbecame director of the theater company. Plays by Western writers such asHenrik Ibsen,Gerhart Hauptmann, RussianMaksim Gorky, and EstoniansAugust Kitzberg,Oskar LutsandEduard Vildewere staged.
TheEstonia Theatreis an opera house and concert hall in Tallinn, Estonia. It was built as a national effort led by Estonian society in 1913, and was opened to the public on August 24. At the time, it was the largest building in Tallinn.
In 2004 there was 20 theaters in Estonia.46% of the urban population and 40% of rural population visited theaters in 2009.
Thefilmindustry in Estonia started in 1896, when the first "moving pictures" were screened inTallinn.The first movie theater was opened in 1908.The first local documentary was made in 1908 with the production of anewsreelabout Swedish KingGustav V’s visit to Tallinn.The first Estonian documentary was created byJohannes Pääsukein 1912, followed by the short filmKarujaht Pärnumaal(Bear Hunt in Pärnumaa) in 1914.
The first full-length feature film was made in 1924,Shadow of the Pastdirected byKonstantin Märska.Theodor Luts,Noored kotkad(Young Eagles) (1927) is generally regarded as the cornerstone of Estonian cinema.
In the 1960s, the story ofPrince Gabriel, by Estonian writerEduard Bornhöhe, was turned into a movie script byArvo Valton.Grigori Kromanovwas named as the director ofViimne reliikvia(The Last Relic), released in 1969 by Tallinnfilm.
In 1997, theEstonian Film Foundationwas founded by theEstonian Ministry of Culture. In 2007, about 10 feature films were made in Estonia, notablySügisball(2007) by Veiko Õunpuu, receiving, among other awards,Best Directorat theThessaloniki Film FestivalandInternational Film Festival Bratislava, and theVenice Horizons Awardat the64th Venice International Film Festival.Georg(2007), by Peeter Simm, is a movie about the life of legendary Estonian singerGeorg Ots.
The most successful Estoniananimation directorhas beenPriit Pärn,winner of Grand Prize at theOttawa International Animation Festivalin 1998, forPorgandite öö(Night of the Carrots).
Estonian Television(Eesti Televisioonor ETV) is the national public television station of Estonia. Its first broadcast was on July 19, 1955, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 19, 2005.
The architectural history of Estonia mainly reflects its contemporary development in northern Europe. Worth mentioning is especially the architectural ensemble that makes out the medieval old town ofTallinn, which is on theUNESCO World Heritage List. In addition, the country has several unique, more or less preservedhill fortsdating from pre-Christian times, a large number of still intact medieval castles and churches, while the countryside is still shaped by the presence of a vast number of manor houses from earlier centuries.
The history of formal education in Estonia dates back to the 13th to 14th centuries, when the first monastic andcathedral schoolswere founded. The first primer in theEstonian languagewas published in 1575. The oldest university is theUniversity of Tartu, a member of theCoimbra Group, which was established by the Swedish kingGustav II Adolfin 1632. In 1919, university courses were first taught in the Estonian language.
Today, education in Estonia is divided into general, vocational and hobby education. The education system has four levels, which include the pre-school, basic, secondary and higher education.A wide network of schools and supporting educational institutions has been established. The Estonian educational system consists of state and municipal, public and private educational institutions. There are currently 589 schools in Estonia.
Bengt Gottfried Forselius(ca 1660–1688) was the founder of public education in Estonia, author of the first Estonian language ABC-book, and creator of a spelling system that made the teaching and learning of Estonian easier.
The area of modern Estonia has historically been inhabited by the same people as today, mostly speakers ofEstonian, but some minorities, such as Russians, have immigrated more recently.  Although Estonia has been ruled by several different countries, for a long time the elite and ruling class of society were theBaltic Germans, especially the German-speaking nobility. Even though the Baltic Germans enjoyed considerable autonomy under foreign with the administrative language being mostlyGerman, the indigenous population retained their native language and culture.
The formation of a more defined Estonian cultural identity in the modern sense was accelerated in the 19th century, during the period of overall nationalRomanticismandNationalismin Europe. Support from the German-speakingEstophilesin upper strata of Estonian society for a separate Estonian identity led to theEstonian Age of Awakening.
Some pagan aspects of culture, such as storytelling traditions, have survived to modern times, and are generally more popular inSouth Estonia.
Today, Estonian society encourages equality andliberalism, with popular commitment to the ideals of the welfare state, discouraging disparity of wealth and division into social classes. TheProtestant work ethicremains a significant cultural staple, regardless of its decline during theSoviet Unionera, and free education is a highly prized institution.
The traditional occupation of Estonians, like most Europeans, has beenagriculture. Until the first half of the 20th century, Estonia was an agrarian society, but in modern times, Estonians have increasingly embraced an urban lifestyle. In 2013 the main export of the second largest town of Estonia,Tartu, is software.  Nonetheless, many Estonians maintain a fondness for a rural lifestyle close to nature, and it is a common custom to visit a summer cottage in the countryside during vacations.
Estonian family life is nowadays centered around anything but thenuclear family. Members of an extended family typically live apart, and youths seek independence and typically move from their parents' residence around the age of twenty.
The divorce rate is close to 60%. Estonia has one of the greatest percentages of single parents in Europe. The average percentage of single parents in Europe is 13% (2009),while in Estonia in 2000, 19% of the families with children under 18 had only one parent. In 2006, the percentage fell to 16%. The decline may be affected by the overall decline in birth rate.
Same-sex relationships are legal in Estonia. The legislation allowing same-sex marriages took effect in 2024.
Estonian holidays are mostly based on theWestern Christiancalendar andProtestanttraditions.
Notable among these isJaanipäev, the Estonian Midsummer, which involves seeking one's way to non-urban environments, burning large bonfires ("jaanituli"), and participating in the drunken revelry ofjaaniõhtu.
Part of the "jaaniõhtu" tradition is that almost near the morning, when the bonfire ("jaanilõke") has burned off and only ashes are glowing, a component of Estonian traditional food,potatoes, are dug into the ground, right under the ashes, into the remains of the bonfire. After a few hours, when the potatoes have been cooked under the glowing ashes, the potatoes are dug up, peeled and eaten, while they are still hot.
The midsummer traditions also include different versions of pairing magic, such as collecting a number of different kinds of flowers and putting them under one's pillow, after which one is meant to see one's future spouse in one's dreams. Another "jaaniõhtu" related tradition is the seeking of bugs called"jaaniuss".
The EstonianChristmas,Jõulud, is generally in line with the Northern and Central European traditions ofChristmas trees,Advent calendars, and traditional meals, involving a number of dishes that are typically only eaten on Christmas. Christmas is the most extensive, appreciated, and commercialized holiday in Estonia. The Holidays start from December 23, and continue throughChristmas Eve(24th) and Christmas Day (25th). In schools and in many workplaces, vacation continues untilNew Year's Day.
Estonian Independence Dayis the 24th of February and a national holiday.
Historically, the cuisine of Estonia has been simple peasant food, which today is influenced by many countries, thus including many typical international foods. The most typical foods in Estonia areblack bread,herring,pork,potatoes,sour creamand othermilk-derived products. Estonians themselves have consideredblood sausage(verivorst) andsauerkraut(hapukapsas) also as "typical Estonian foods", and these are mostly eaten duringChristmas.
Traditionally, Estonia has been seen as an area of rivalry between western and eastern Europe on many levels. An example of this geopolitical legacy is an exceptional combination of multiple nationally recognized Christian traditions:Western Christianity(theCatholic Churchand theEstonian Evangelical Lutheran Church) andEastern Christianity(theOrthodox Church(theEstonian Apostolic Orthodox Church)). The symbolism of the border or meeting of east and west in Estonia was well illustrated on the reverse side of the5 krooninote. Like the mainstream cultures in the other Nordic countries, Estonian culture can be seen to build upon ascetic environmental realities and traditional livelihoods, a heritage of comparatively widespreadegalitarianismarising out of practical reasons (freedom to roamanduniversal suffrage), and the ideals of closeness to nature andself-sufficiency.
Many Estonians consider themselves to beNordicrather than Baltic.As an ethnic group, Estonians are notBalts; the Estonian language is closely related to theFinnish language, rather theBaltic languages, and Estonians are aFinnicpeople. The northern part of Estonia was part of medievalDenmarkduring the 13th–14th centuries, being sold to the Teutonic Order after St. George's Night Uprising in 1346. The name of the Estonian capital,Tallinn, is thought to be derived from the Estoniantaani linn, meaning 'Danish town' (seeFlag of Denmarkfor details). Parts of Estonia were under Danish rule again in the 16th–17th centuries, before being transferred toSwedenin 1645.
Estonia was part of theSwedish Empirefrom 1561 until 1721. The Swedish era became colloquially known in Estonia as the "good old Swedish times". Swedish ambassador, Mr. Dag Hartelius's speech on the Estonian Independence day, 24 February 2009, where he considered Estonia "A Nordic Country" gathered a lot of attention in the country and was widely considered as a great compliment. Additionally, the foreign trade minister ofFinland,Alexander Stubb, has been quoted saying that Estonia is a "Distinct Nordic country".
Beginning from the 14th century, parts of Estonia's northwestern coast and islands were colonized by ethnic Swedes, who later became known as theEstonian Swedes. The majority of Estonia's Swedish population fled to Sweden in 1944, escaping the advancing Soviet Army.
There are many words inFinnishandEstonianthat are spelled exactly the same and pronounced almost the same way, but have totally different meanings. Many jokes, including derogatory ones, are based on the differences of the meanings of the words. Both, Finns and Estonians, tend to have, create and understand those jokes. However, Finnish and Estonian are sufficiently different languages that it is not possible for a native speaker of one of the languages to speak nor sufficiently comprehend the other language without explicitly learning the other language. Finns tend to have difficulties pronouncing the Estonian letter "õ" and Estonians tend to get "revealed" to Finns by their Estonian accent. For some reason, probably due to the greater amount of loan-words and expressions from other languages, native Estonians, who have not learned Finnish, tend to comprehend and acquire Finnish more easily than native Finns comprehend Estonian.