Chapter 10.4: Culture
The ties between Estonian culture and its Western and Northern European counterparts were severed and instead new ties with Russian culture were established. In addition the Soviet power strived to destroy a portion of the older generations' cultural legacy. Many historically and/or culturally important buildings and neighbourhoods that could have easily been rebuilt post-war were demolished. Libraries were cleansed of their “bourgeoisie legacy”, a large portion of literature and journalistic works of the independence era were systematically destroyed. Only a few copies were saved and placed in special collections which were only allowed to be browsed with a specific permit. 
Some more works of this style (I do not know the year or the author as I was not able to find them):
Estonian Red Guard at Lenin, by Evald Okas.
The railway terminal of Valga (1949). Stalinism became the new norm in architecture, trying to copy the architecture of wider Russia at the time.
A couple of Stalinist era buildings in the Old Town of Tallinn, built in the place of the destroyed quarters.
A couple of Stalinist Era buildings in Tallinn.
The Soviet Anthem in Estonian, from 1944.
“Punane Lipp” (Red Banner).
The remnants of the intelligentsia that had not escaped to the West fell under ideological terror, and their creative output either decreased immensely or stopped entirely. (13 Estonian novels were published abroad and only one in Estonia in 1947). Many were forced to publicly condemn their previous work and many were arrested. A lot were fired from cultural and scientific institutions.
In the second half of the 1950s the pressure started to diminish and the partial restoration of Estonian culture began. Some of the members of the independence era intelligentsia were allowed to work again and a new generation stepped into the limelight. The big breakthrough took place in the 1960s, with a somewhat free creative environment, individual and fresh ideas.
Georg Ots (1920-1975), a famous baritone. During the 1930s he gathered fame as a swimmer, in the 50s and 60s he became widely recognized as an opera singer and he is still regarded as the most famous Estonian opera singer.
Ots performing the Estonian variant of the Soviet song “May there always be sunshine”.
Margarita Voites (an Estonian prima donna) and Georg Ots performing 'La ci darem la mano' from "Don Giovanni" in 1969 at the Estonia Opera.
Voldemar Panso (1920-1977) was a famous Estonian stage director of the era. Was one of the founders of the ESSR Youth Theater in 1965, which is now the City Theater in Tallinn.
The Endla theatre building in Pärnu, also opened in 1967.
The Ugala theatre in Viljandi, opened in 1982.
Heli Lääts singing the original variant of “I cannot find my song”, which is more known by the 2000s rendition by Metsatöll.
The song “Dark man” being performed by Els Himma in 1967.
The war and the post-war era had mainly hampered high culture, however mass culture stayed in put. Instrumental music, folk dance, acting groups and choirs remained active across the country. The song festival tradition was restored, with the first occupation era one taking place in 1947.
A couple of posters for the second soviet era song festival. A few things to note. The usual gap between Song festivals is 5 years, however between 1947 and 1950 there were only three years. All the following ones would take place every 5 years. This shift was done so that the festivals would coincide with the anniversaries of the establishment of the ESSR. The text above the posters says Hail the 10th Anniversary of the Estonian SSR. Another change that happened was whilst the 1938 song festival was officially the XI song festival and the 1947 one was thus the XII song festival, after that the numeration system ceased existing and they were just called the “1975 Song Festival of the ESSR” or “1980 Song Festival of the ESSR” in an attempt to erase the historical continuity with the pre-occupation era.
Gustav Ernesaks (1908-1993) an Estonian composer and a quintessential figure in the Song Festival history. Among his works was his rendition of Mu Isamaa on Minu Arm”, “My fatherland is my joy”, which premiered in 1947. Its performance was cancelled in 1950, however the choir started to sing it spontaneously. From 1965 onwards it has remained as the core part of all song festivals, becoming a symbol of all the songs that were not allowed to be sung and earning the fame of an unofficial anthem. (As the real anthem was banned.).
Laulukaar, opened in 1960 in the Song Festival Grounds and still in use till this day.
To give a feel about the Soviet Era song festival, I have included a few clips from the 1985 Song Festival.
The beginning of the song festival, the performance of the Soviet anthem in Russian and of the anthem of the ESSR.
The May There Always Be Sunshine song I mentioned earlier, which I included because I like it. :3
Despite the waving of red flags and the inclusion of ideological songs and folk songs of the other member states of the Soviet Union, (in the 1985 Song Festival, only 48 of the 82 songs were written by Estonian authors), not to mention songs in Russian, these festivals remained a grand national celebration, centering around the few highlights, such as Estonian folk songs like Tuljak and Kodumaa or songs like Mu Isamaa on Minu Arm.
The performance of Tuljak
The very end of the song festival with the song Kodumaa. (Homeland).
The wider consumption of culture was advanced by urbanisation and the quick spread of mass communication devices like radios and the TV´s. Eesti Televisioon (ETV), the first Estonian TV channel and the first channel of the state broadcaster was established in 1955. In the end of the 1970s colored broadcasts began. The programme of Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio) was increased as well. However, mass communication devices were subjugated under state censorship and spread propaganda. Nevertheless the media of the time broadened the horizon of the people and helped with spreading culture.
Northern Estonians were able to see Finnish TV thanks to TV waves carried over from the other side of the gulf and this helped with spreading western ideas and lifestyle, especially in Tallinn. Movements such as hippies, punk and disco spread to the Soviet Union through Estonia. This gave Estonia a much more Western vibe.
Estonia, along with other Baltic states, were always regarded as an outlier in the Soviet Union. People here were different, they went to dine at cafes, always ate with a knife and a fork, and retained the bourgeois customs of being polite and mannerful. The signs used a latin alphabet and Estonians were highly regarded for their work ethics, precision and conscientiousness. Estonia had the reputation of being the “Soviet West”.
Telemaja (TV House), opened in 1962. Houses the TV studios of the state broadcaster.
Estonian hippies. 
The 1970s also saw the emergence of pop music bands, like Vitamiin and Fix.
The Estonian cover of the song Linda being performed by Vitamiin.
“Circus” by Fix, from 1985. (The beginning is weird, the song starts about 30 seconds in).
“At you” by Proov 583, performed in 1985.
Individual singers also increased in popularity as time went on. That included already known ones like Els Himma, as well as newcomers like Anne Veski, Jaak Joala, Marju Länik and Tõnis Mägi, who would also become famous in the rest of the Soviet Union.
Els Himma performing “Rolling Day”, the Estonian cover of “September” in 1980.
“Leave the keys out of the door” by Anne Veski from 1983.
Chamomile by Marju Länik in 1984.
Estonians would also sing in Russian for the wider all-Union audience. Here is one performed by Anne Veski in 1984.
And one by Jaak Joala in 1981.
Tõnis Mägi singing a song dedicated to the 1980 Moscow olympics. The event was also prominent in Estonia, as the sailing events were held in Tallinn. For that reason the city was given a face-lift to make it more modern and presentable for foreign visitors as a “model Soviet city”. The Old Town, which was in a dire state, was extensively renovated in the late 1970s. The 84 m tall “Olümpia” hotel was built, the tallest building in Estonia at the time. The city also received a new airport, a TV tower, a “cultural palace” on the waterfront, the building called “Post Building” and several street widenings, most notably the promenade of Pirita road. And of course the sailing centre itself.
Here is a video showing the construction of some of the buildings I mentioned.
The Soviet era also saw the premier of many Estonian movies that would become classics of the Estonian cinema. Some of them include “Kevade” (1964, Spring), “Viimne reliikvia” (1969, The Last Relic), “Siin me oleme” (1978, Here we are) and Nukitsamees (1981).
The Song of the Dagger from the movie “Viimne reliikvia” which is famous for its music. It is set in the 16th century during a fictional peasant revolt and is loosely based on a book by Bornhöhe. As the original was set in the Livonian war with the Russians as the aggressors, the story was changed to fit the political climate.
Escape, Free Child from the same movie.
When the Sea is as Grey as Seals from “Siin me oleme”. The movie is a comedy that is centred around a couple of city dwellers making their way to the countryside where they believe they are entitled to a holiday. They just appear at a farm one day and proclaim “Here we are. From Tallinn, proper Soviet people. We want to spend a holiday here.” Condescending as hell. And the common sense country folk are not fond of it.
The Song About a Northern Land from the movie “Spring in the heart” (1985). It is a musical that is centred around some children in a summer camp. Why I put it here is not because of the movie, but rather the song itself. The song is from an Estonian musical about Pippi Longstocking, but even though it was meant to be sung by Swedish children (in the musical), it became a well-known patriotic song that is beloved till this day and is regarded as the second unofficial national anthem (in addition to My Fatherland is My Joy (additional note: in the song sung in the movie the word “Church bells” has been substituted by “Jingle bells” due to ideological reasons)).
Whilst (after Stalin) the Soviet Union officially had religious freedom, in reality there was no such thing. Life was made difficult for the congregations, the churches were nationalised and congregations had to pay rent to use them. The faculty of religion was closed at the University of Tartu. Atheist propaganda was prominent, instead of church traditions non-religious traditions were promoted. Religious burials were replaced by secular ones, sunday school by youth summer days, confirmations by graduations. Church holidays disappeared, celebrating Christmas became a secret affair. Being caught being religious had consequences. Churches were monitored and the goers were noted down. Even if you were not religious yourself and a highly qualified great student, you might have not gotten into a university because your mother was religious.
Instead of Christmas, a copy of it called “näärid” became common, which was celebrated on the 31st of December.
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