Rakvere
Encyclopedia
Rakvere is a town
in northern Estonia
and the county seat of Lääne-Viru County, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland
.
in 1226. The new Danish
stronghold was called Wesenbergh in Middle Low German
for the first time in 1252. The battle of Wesenberg between the Danish
and German
knights and Russia
ns occurred nearby in 18 February 1268.
On 12 June 1302, Rakvere was granted Lübeck rights. When the Danish king sold Danish Estonia
to the Livonian Order
in 1346, a large castle was built on top of the previous stronghold. The Ordensburg
was protected by towers and courtyards. The building of a Franciscan
monastery was started in 1508.
During the Livonian War
from 1558-1581, Rakvere was under Russian rule and was heavily damaged. Sweden
, after the disastrous Siege of Wesenberg (1574)
, captured the town in 1581 before it passed to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
in 1602; Poles
destroyed the castle in 1605. After being returned to Swedish control in that year, a mansion was built on the ruins of the monastery. During the Great Northern War
, Rakvere was burned down in 1703. With the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia
in 1710 and the subsequent Treaty of Nystad
in 1721, Rakvere passed to the Russian Empire
, where it remained until Estonia's independence in 1918 following World War I
.
During the first period of independence many prominent buildings were built, such as the market building, the old bank building (current SEB Eesti Ühispank
), and Rakvere Gymnasium. In 1930 the town stadium was opened. Local newspapers started to emerge, including the county paper Virumaa Teataja, which was first published in 1925. The idea of Rakvere's own professional theatre started to take shape as well. The construction of the theatre house was completed at the end of the 1930s and it was festively opened on 24 February 1940. The theatre survived World War II
and is active to this day.
Rakvere also has a professional theatre and it is believed that it is the littlest town in Europe which has a professional theatre. Its roots date back to 1882 and it is still active and very popular. The theatre of Rakvere has given Estonia many famous actors/actresses such as Üllar Saaremäe, Indrek Saar, Ülle Lichtfeldt, Aarne Üksküla etc. It also helds biannual event Baltoscandal, which gathers plays and groups all over the Baltics in every two years.
of an auroch, which was made by the Estonian sculptor Tauno Kangro. It is thought to be the largest animal statue in the Baltic countries
.
It is situated on the edge of Vallimägi hill and was erected for the town's 700th birthday. Along with the granite
block it sits on, the statue is seven meters long, four meters high and weighs about seven tons.
The statue is made out of bronze
. The names of the companies and private people who financed it are engraved in the granite block.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in northern Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and the county seat of Lääne-Viru County, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
.
History
The earliest signs of human settlement dating back to the 3rd-5th centuries AD have been found on the present theatre hill. Probably to protect that settlement, a wooden stronghold was built on the present Vallimägi. When it changed owners in 1220, the Danes started to erect buildings from stone. A settlement called Tarvanpea was first mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of LivoniaChronicle of Henry of Livonia
The Livonian Chronicle of Henry is a document describing historic events in Livonia and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. Apart from the few references in the Primary Chronicle compiled in Kievan Rus' in the twelfth century, it is the oldest known written document about the history of these...
in 1226. The new Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
stronghold was called Wesenbergh in Middle Low German
Middle Low German
Middle Low German is a language that is the descendant of Old Saxon and is the ancestor of modern Low German. It served as the international lingua franca of the Hanseatic League...
for the first time in 1252. The battle of Wesenberg between the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
knights and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
ns occurred nearby in 18 February 1268.
On 12 June 1302, Rakvere was granted Lübeck rights. When the Danish king sold Danish Estonia
Danish Estonia
Danish Estonia refers to the territories of present-day Estonia that were ruled by Denmark firstly during the 13th–14th centuries and again in the 16th–17th centuries....
to the Livonian Order
Livonian Order
The Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic Knights...
in 1346, a large castle was built on top of the previous stronghold. The Ordensburg
Ordensburg
An Ordensburg was a fortress built by crusading German military orders during the Middle Ages. "Ordensburg" was also used during Nazi Germany to refer to training schools for Nazi leaders.- Medieval Ordensburgen :...
was protected by towers and courtyards. The building of a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monastery was started in 1508.
During the Livonian War
Livonian War
The Livonian War was fought for control of Old Livonia in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia when the Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of Denmark–Norway, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.During the period 1558–1578,...
from 1558-1581, Rakvere was under Russian rule and was heavily damaged. Sweden
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
, after the disastrous Siege of Wesenberg (1574)
Siege of Wesenberg (1574)
The Siege of Wesenberg was an abortive Swedish siege of the Russian-held town of Wesenberg in Estonia from January through March 1574, during the Livonian War. The siege is infamous for a brawl and subsequent combat between German and Scottish mercenaries within the besieging army, which claimed...
, captured the town in 1581 before it passed to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
in 1602; Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
destroyed the castle in 1605. After being returned to Swedish control in that year, a mansion was built on the ruins of the monastery. During the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
, Rakvere was burned down in 1703. With the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia
Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia
With the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 the Swedish dominions Estonia and Livonia were integrated into the Russian Empire following their conquest during the Great Northern War...
in 1710 and the subsequent Treaty of Nystad
Treaty of Nystad
The Treaty of Nystad was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and Swedish Empire on 30 August / 10 September 1721 in the then Swedish town of Nystad , after Sweden had settled with the other parties in Stockholm and Frederiksborg.During...
in 1721, Rakvere passed to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, where it remained until Estonia's independence in 1918 following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
During the first period of independence many prominent buildings were built, such as the market building, the old bank building (current SEB Eesti Ühispank
SEB Eesti Ühispank
SEB is an Estonian bank, owned by the Swedish bank SEB. SEB is the second largest bank in Estonia and is the member of the international SEB Group. Until 11 April 2005 the name of the bank was Eesti Ühispank...
), and Rakvere Gymnasium. In 1930 the town stadium was opened. Local newspapers started to emerge, including the county paper Virumaa Teataja, which was first published in 1925. The idea of Rakvere's own professional theatre started to take shape as well. The construction of the theatre house was completed at the end of the 1930s and it was festively opened on 24 February 1940. The theatre survived World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and is active to this day.
Rakvere also has a professional theatre and it is believed that it is the littlest town in Europe which has a professional theatre. Its roots date back to 1882 and it is still active and very popular. The theatre of Rakvere has given Estonia many famous actors/actresses such as Üllar Saaremäe, Indrek Saar, Ülle Lichtfeldt, Aarne Üksküla etc. It also helds biannual event Baltoscandal, which gathers plays and groups all over the Baltics in every two years.
Sports clubs
- BasketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
- BC Rakvere TarvasBC Rakvere TarvasBC Rakvere Tarvas is an Estonian professional basketball club, based in Rakvere which is participating in Korvpalli Meistriliiga and Baltic Basketball League...
— a men's basketball team, runner-up of 2009-10 Estonian Championships and 2010 Estonian Cup. The club takes part in Korvpalli Meistriliiga and Baltic Basketball LeagueBaltic Basketball LeagueBaltic Basketball League is a Baltic states basketball league founded in 2004.Currently, the league is divided into two: the Elite division and the Challenge Cup division. The 10 strongest Baltic basketball clubs participate in the Elite division. The rest of the teams compete in the Challenge Cup...
- BC Rakvere Tarvas
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
- VK Rakvere Rivaal - temporarily named Rakvere Grossi Toidukaubad due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's volleyball team, multiple Estonian Champion and Cup winner. The club takes part in Schenker LeagueSchenker LeagueThe Schenker League is a Baltic volleyball club tournament, launched in 2005 inspired by the Baltic Basketball League. Top club sides from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania take part in the competition....
- VK Rakvere Rivaal - temporarily named Rakvere Grossi Toidukaubad due to sponsorship reasons, is a men's volleyball team, multiple Estonian Champion and Cup winner. The club takes part in Schenker League
- Football
- Rakvere JK Tarvas — an amateur football club established in 2004. The club got promoted to EsiliigaEsiliigaEsiliiga is the second-top league arranged by the Estonian Football Association. The league format was changed along with the Meistriliiga's, and therefore from the year 2005 consists of ten teams. Esiliiga starts from April and lasts until around the start of November...
(second tier in Estonian football) in 2008, but the 2011 season will be played in II Liiga as they were relegated.
- Rakvere JK Tarvas — an amateur football club established in 2004. The club got promoted to Esiliiga
Sports events
- Amateur Sumo World Championships 2008
Tarvas statue
Rakvere is also known now for its Tarvas statueStatue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
of an auroch, which was made by the Estonian sculptor Tauno Kangro. It is thought to be the largest animal statue in the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
.
It is situated on the edge of Vallimägi hill and was erected for the town's 700th birthday. Along with the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
block it sits on, the statue is seven meters long, four meters high and weighs about seven tons.
The statue is made out of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
. The names of the companies and private people who financed it are engraved in the granite block.
Twin towns
| Cēsis Cesis Cēsis , is a town in Latvia located in the northern part of the Central Vidzeme Upland. Cēsis is on the Gauja River valley, and is built on a series of ridges above the river overlooking the woods below... , Latvia Kuopio Kuopio Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest... , Finland Lappeenranta Lappeenranta Lappeenranta is a city and municipality that resides on the shore of the lake Saimaa in South-Eastern Finland, about from the Russian border. It belongs to the region of South Karelia. With approximately inhabitants Lappeenranta is the largest city in Finland... , Finland Lapua Lapua Lapua is a town and municipality of Finland.It is located next to the Lapua River in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water... , Finland |
Lütjenburg Lütjenburg Luetjenburg is a town of the district of Ploen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located approx. northeast of Ploen, and east of Kiel.-History:thumb|left|Lütjenburg um 1895... , Germany Panevėžys Panevežys Panevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants. The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys is the Cido Arena... , Lithuania Senaki Senaki Senaki is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, western Georgia. It is located at around .From 1935 to 1976 it was called Tskhakaya in honor of the Georgian Bolshevik revolutionary leader Mikhail Tskhakaya.... , Georgia Sigtuna Sigtuna Sigtuna is a locality situated in Sigtuna Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 18 inhabitants in 2005. It is the namesake of the municipality even though the seat is in Märsta.... , Sweden |
Szolnok Szolnok Szolnok is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. Its location on the banks of the Tisza river, at the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, has made it an important cultural and economic crossroads for centuries.... , Hungary Vyshhorod Vyshhorod Vyshhorod is a city in the Kiev Oblast , in central Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of the Vyshhorodskyi Raion , and is located along the Dnieper River upstream from the national capital, Kiev... , Ukraine |
Distances
- HelsinkiHelsinkiHelsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
122 kilometers - PärnuPärnuPärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
183 kilometers - RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
297 kilometers - Saint PetersburgSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
274 kilometers - StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
503 kilometers - TallinnTallinnTallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
98 kilometers - TampereTampereTampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
310 kilometers - TartuTartuTartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
126 kilometers - TurkuTurkuTurku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
260 kilometers - VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
522 kilometers