Chapter 8.6: Culture

With Estonia becoming independent, the role of the state within culture changed as well. Whilst before it had been the servant of a foreign power and culture, now it became the protector and advancer of Estonian national culture. Estonian culture started to receive stable financing, which had been only a dream before. As time went on and the state became stronger financially, the subsidies for arts and culture increased as well. In 1925 the Kultuurkapital (Cultural Endowment of Estonia) was founded, which distributed grants and rewards to creative people, artists, writers, musicians and so on, as well as funded cultural institutions and undertakings.

The logo of the Eesti Kultuurkapital, re-established in 1994, active till this day. Its funding comes from alcohol, tobacco and gambling taxes.

Cultural connections with the world expanded. Further influences of French, English and Scandinavian culture appeared, different societies for cultural exchange were established and Estonian culture was also showcased abroad.

The consumption of culture became widespread. People attended the theatre, cinema and concerts more often. The nation was covered by a dense network of the so called rahvamajad, which served as a venue for local cultural events and a place for local choirs and orchestras to rehearse and perform. The tradition of local and county music days continued. Nationwide Song Festivals, which had been sporadic during the Russian era (taking place in 1869, 1879, 1880, 1891, 1894, 1896 and 1910), started to take place once every 5 years (1923, 1928, 1933, 1938). With each song festival the number of performers grew, in 1923 there were about 10 thousand singers, in 1938 over 17 thousand singers.



The VII (1923) National Song Festival.


The poster for the X National Song Festival. Depicted is the god of song Vanemuine.


The XI National Song Festival. From 1928 onwards the song festivals started taking place in what is now known as the Song Festival Grounds (Lauluväljak). At the back you can see the first stage, built in the late 1920s.

In 1934 the first National Dance Festival was held as well, the second one took place 5 years later in 1939. The dance festivals were part of a larger event called Eesti mängud (Estonian games), which was a gymnastics and sports event, the Estonian public amateur olympics if you will. The participants of the games were selected through county competitions. In both games there were about 6000 participants in total competing in roughly 30 different fields of sport, including track and field, swimming, volleyball, basketball, football, boxing, tennis, fencing, cycling, sailing events and so on.



A parade of women in folk costumes during the II Estonian games in 1939.


The II Estonian Games.

Estonian high culture had firmly reached European levels. Professional writers, musicians, actors, composers, architects, painters and sculptors produced high quality work and their number grew quickly during the independence years. The spread of intradisciplinary discourse and ideas was promoted by associations such as the Eesti Kirjanike Liit (Estonian Writers Union), Eesti Näitlejate Liit (Estonian Actors Union) and so on.

New professional orchestras and choirs appeared. In addition to Estonia (Tallinn), Vanemuise (Tartu) and Endla (Pärnu) theatres, which had already been established before, several new theatres appeared as well. The theatre that would be renamed Eesti Draamateater (Estonian Drama Theatre) in 1937 was first established in 1924 in Tallinn. Two years later the Tallinna Töölisteater (Tallinn Workers Theatre) was established as well. The Ugala theatre in Viljandi was created in 1920 and the Narva Theatre in 1928.

Estonian music was enriched by new choir and solo songs, as well as symphonic grand works like oratorios and operas. The first Estonian opera Vikerlased (The Vikings) premiered at Estonia in 1928, created by Evald Aav. Four other operas would follow in the interwar period, three of which were by Artur Lemba. Some notable composers include Heino Eller, Olav Roots and Eduard Tubin. Tubin would also go down in history as the author of the first Estonian Ballet called “Kratt”, which he started composing in 1938 but which premiered during the German Occupation in 1943.





The premier of Vikerlased on the 9th of September 1928. The opera centres on the razing of Sigtuna in 1187, which I covered in one of the earliest chapters.



The Warriors Choir from the opera.

In the 1930s light entertainment music spread as well, played by popular dance orchestras. It also saw the beginning of what can be considered Estonian pop music, with musicians such as Raimond Valgre, Ants Eskola and Artur Rinne finding their way in many venues and onto records.



Helmi, written by Raimond Valgre.



Raimond Valgre (1913-1949). His story is tragic as during the 1930s he was a very popular ladies man whose dance music echoed in the restaurants and dance halls of pre-war Estonia. Following the occupation he was drafted into the Red Army and had to fight in the war for the Soviet Union, which crushed his soul and made him become depressed and eventually a drunkard. The latter caused him to die prematurely due to health complications.



Auntie Anna by Artur Rinne (1934) 

Paula, You have Boy´s Head by Ants Eskola (1938). In the video you can see pictures from Estonian magazines from the time.

The Forest Hums by Artur Rinne (1934), the video shows lots of random tidbits from the era.

The art of the era can be separated into two camps. First was the avant-garde of the 1920s and the second was the more realistic approach of the 1930s, both waves originated from Paris. Popular motives were landscapes, city views and actions in nature. National and everyday motives remained as well.



The First General Exhibition of Estonian Art in 1919.


The View from Toompea by Arnold Akberg. (1923)


Sunday by Felix Randel (1924)



The Landscape of Capri by Konrad Mägi (1923).


Wintery Tartu with Emajõgi by Nikolai Triik 1936.


Kalevipoja´s travel to the Nordic Land by Kristjan Raud (1935).



Comedie Francaise by Karin Luts (1939).


Hell by Eduard Wiiralt (1932).



Work



The Triumph of Estonia by August Jansen. Both are located in the White Hall of the parliament (1937).




Deer by Jaan Koort (1928)


Woman with a Platter fountain by Juhan Raudsepp, built in 1935 in Tallinn.


The monument of Lydia Koidula, opened in Pärnu in 1925.

To commemorate the fallen of the War of Independence, many memorials were erected across the country. There are memorials in almost every single city and small town in Estonia, as well as several rural church parishes.

Here is a selection:



Kalevipoeg statue in Tartu, opened in 1933, rebuilt in 2003.


Lembitu monument in Suure-Jaani, opened 1926, rebuilt in 1990.



The memorial in Rakvere, opened in 1925, rebuilt in 1992.



The memorial in Viljandi, built in 1926, reconstruction is in progress.



The monument in Kuressaare, built in 1928, rebuilt in 1990.



The one in Pärnu. Opened in 1922, rebuilt in 1993.


The one in Valga, built in 1925, rebuilt in 2013.



The one in Rõuge, built in 1926, rebuilt in 1988.


The one in Kohila, opened in 1939, rebuilt in 1993.



The memorial at the site of the battle of Paju. The artificial hill was finished in 1940 but the memorial was never opened due to the occupation. The memorial was finally completed in 1994 on the 75th anniversary of the battle.



The planned Freedom Statue on Freedom Square in Tallinn. The design is from 1937. The statue was never built due to the occupation.



The Tallinna Kunstihoone (Tallinn Art Gallery) was built in 1934 to house art exhibitions and provide work spaces for the artists. It was financed by Kultuurkapital and the building was designed by Anton Soans. On the facade are the statues of “Work” and “Beauty” by Juhan Raudsepp (1937).

The literature at the beginning of the 1920s was ruled by the poetry of the Siuru group, which united many influential poets of the time, like Marie Under, Friedebert Tuglas and Henrik Visnapuu. It focused on love poetry and was responsible for widely popularising literature and poetry amongst the average Estonians.



Siuru members in 1917.

The second half of the 1920s was the height of realistic novels, spearheaded by Anton Hansen Tammsaar who produced his magnum opus, the pentalogy of Tõde ja Õigus (Truth and Justice) between 1926-1933.



Anton Hansen Tammsaare (1878-1940).

Whilst the literature of the 1920s had focused on social criticism, the literature of the 1930s centred around a more peaceful and national mood. Some notable writers of the era were the likes of August Mälk, Karl Ristikivi, Mait Metsanurk and Albert Kivikas.



The cover of the first edition of “On the River Ümera” by Mait Metsanurk (1934). Set during the Livonian Crusade (or the Ancient Fight for Freedom, as it was referred to back then.)



Cover of Blossoming Sea (1935).

The poetry of the second half of the 1930s was influenced by a group called Arbujad, whose members were Betti Alver, Bernard Kangro, Uku Masing, Heiti Talvik and Paul Viiding among others. The group promoted a stronger sense of soul and emotional tension.



Betti Alver(1906-1989) in 1930.

During the interwar period many world classics were also translated into Estonian for the first time.

Despite architecture being taught in the Tallinn University of Technology and its predecessors, most Estonian architects received their education in German universities. During the 1920s the most common style was traditionalism, during the early 1930s functionalism and later 1930s something that has been called esindustraditsionalism, or presentable traditionalism roughly translated.

The tens of thousands of new farms built at the beginning of the independence period as well as the new building on older farms were in a new, more refined style.








A selection of typical new farmhouses from that period.








Härjapea farm from Virumaa. A modern well-off countryside farm from the 1930s. In the Open Air Museum in Tallinn.

NB! VIDEO HAS ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

Here is a film from 1939 showcasing how Tallinn had developed during the 1930s. Shows areas in the city centre around Pärnu maantee, Freedom Square and Tõnismäe. Starting from the mid 1930s the city went through a building boom, newspapers in 1939 declared that the government had postponed the construction of several public projects to alleviate the shortage of construction workers in the private industry.

During the interwar period the concept of garden towns spread as well. Near Tallinn the city of Nõmme was formed, which followed those new ideas. In Tartu new garden town neighbourhoods were built, Tammelinn in the 1920s and Tähtvere in 1930s.