Chapter 7.1.5: Culture in the 18th century

In terms of culture, Estonian peasants and Baltic-German classes formed two different, clearly separate societies. Peasant culture was based on the centuries old local traditions, which had an effect on the way people spoke, folk clothes, songs and customs of each church parish. Baltic-German culture was inseparably linked to the German language, way of thinking and cultural legacy, although over time it acquired some characteristics which differed from the Central-European German culture.

The most important influencers of peasant culture remained Christian religion and the church. Protestantism was the main cultural link between the Estonian and Baltic-German communities, as peasants, town citizens and manor lords all learnt from the same religious texts, went to church on Sundays and followed Christian customs. The only difference was that the church services were separate for Estonians and Germans, as they were in different languages. The second influencers were manors and cities, from which new handicraft skills and fashions (for example the use of vests) were learnt. There are many German loanwords in Estonian, for example: kleid- kleit (dress), ring- ring (circle), brille- prillid (glasses), birne- pirn (pear), treppe- trepp (stairs), kaiser- keiser (emperor), schloss- loss (palace) and so on.

In cities there was no distinct border between Estonians and Baltic-Germans, German culture was dominant.

The arrival of the Russian Era meant a regression for common education, as neither the nobility nor the state were interested in educating the peasants. Educating people was spearheaded by the initiative of local pastors, mostly pietists. The largest problem was a lack of teachers, most teachers were only able to read and sing in the right tune. Teaching writing and basic algebra was very rare. What kept a massive fall in the reading ability amongst the peasants from happening was homeschooling, parents who were able to read taught their children to read as well.

The Moravian Church proved a very positive influence on education, as their literature was mostly based in handwriting. The need to copy those texts, communicating with other congregations via mail and writing different diaries and so on meant that being able to write became a necessary skill.

With the joint backing of pastors and the enlightened Empress Catherine the Great, a programme of building new village schools in Livonia began in 1765. The same programme began in the governorate of Estonia in the 1780s. By the end of the 18th century about two thirds of Estonian peasants in Livonia were literate, in the governorate of Estonia and on Saaremaa the numbers were a bit more moderate.

The most important milestone in the development of the literary grammar of European languages was the publication of the Bible in the respective language, as the Bible was the most authoritative religious text and as such became the literary norm in most cases. The first Estonian Bible was published in 1739. It was the result of a long time cooperation of several pastors, but the effort was led by pastor Anton Thor Helle.



The first copy of the Bible in Estonian.

The 1739 translation of the Bible remained the base for Estonian grammar until the beginning of the 19th century. As the Bible was written in Northern Estonian, and spread across all of Estonia, Northern Estonian became the base for written Estonian and led the way to Northern Estonian becoming modern Estonian. Southern Estonian prevalence started to decrease from thereon out.

As a result of the enlightenment, secular Estonian literature appeared as well in the 18th century. The most common texts were calendars, which also included educational stories, pieces about history and other lands and tips about healthcare as extras. The first Estonian calendar was printed in Tallinn in 1718. Between 1766-1767 the first Estonian magazine, the concisely titled “Short Instruction Which Includes Providing Information About Some Medicine For Both Humans As Well As Cows In Case Of Illness Or Wounds, So Those Who Need To Find Help Could Understand, How They Could Find Help And What To Notice About Each Ailment.”


The first issue of the magazine “Short Instruction…”

In the last decades of the 18th century, Baltic-German pastors also published several collections of short stories in Estonian, which were meant to be educational and moralising. They were mostly based on German stories.

The 18th century saw huge changes to Baltic-German culture. The use of Lower German was replaced by High German over time as a result of large-scale immigration from Germany, where High German had taken over. However, some vocabulary from Lower-German was retained. Baltic-German culture was also influenced by Estonian peasants. The Estonian language led its influence to both the vocabulary and pronunciation used by the local Germans and as a result, Baltic-German became its own dialect of German, different from the German spoken in Germany. Some examples of Estonian loans in Baltic-German (German- Baltic-German- Estonian (English)): Kind-Laps- laps (child), Schurke- Lurjes- lurjus (rogue), Gartenbett- Penar- peenar (garden bed).

The most educated strata of society were the pastors, as they had gone to university. As there weren't any universities in Estonia, they mostly studied in Germany. New ideas spread through newspapers and books. The most important cultural centre in Estonia was the city of Tallinn, as it was the only larger city, where the citizenry had the material means to enjoy music and theatre and acquire art. At the end of the century, the famous German playwright August von Kotzebue lived in Tallinn and founded an amateur theatre which later became a professional theatre, the first of its kind in the country. The theatre was active until 1939.