Kärdla (; sv, ; german: Kertel) is the only town on the island of

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa (, ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within H ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. It is the capital of

Hiiu County Hiiu County ( et, Hiiu maakond or ''Hiiumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia, being the smallest county both in terms of area and population. It consists of Hiiumaa (German and sv, Dagö), the second largest island of Estonia, and several s ...

and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

Hiiumaa Parish Hiiumaa Parish ( Estonian: ''Hiiumaa vald'') is a rural municipality of Estonia on the island of Hiiumaa. Hiiumaa Parish was established by merging Emmaste Parish, Hiiu Parish, Käina Parish and Pühalepa Parish after the municipal elections held ...

Geography

Kärdla is located on the northeastern coast of Hiiumaa, by the Tareste Bay; to the southeast of the town lies the 455 million year old Kärdla meteorite crater. Several small rivers flow through the town. There are also

artesian well An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

s in Kärdla. The Swedish name ''Kärrdal'' means "marsh valley"; the town is located in a lowlands valley.

History

Kärdla was first mentioned in 1564 as a village inhabited by

Swedes Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...

. Its growth was greatly influenced by the cloth factory founded in 1830. A port was built in 1849. Both the port and the factory were destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920, and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with

Kõrgessaare Parish Kõrgessaare Parish ( et, Kõrgessaare vald) was a rural municipality in the north-west of Hiiu County, Estonia. In 2013 it was merged with the town of Kärdla to form a new Hiiu Parish. Settlements There was 1 small borough () Kõrgessaare and ...

to establish

, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Population

Transport

Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute () ferry crossing from

Rohuküla Rohuküla is a village in Ridala Parish, Lääne County, in western Estonia. It is a seaport connecting the mainland with the islands of Hiiumaa ( Heltermaa port) and Vormsi ( Sviby port). During winter there are two ice roads An ice road ...

Heltermaa Heltermaa is a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County, in northwestern Estonia. The village is the site of the seaport connecting Hiiumaa with Rohuküla harbour on the mainland by ferry. The village is first mentioned in 1620 (''Heltermecky''). ...

, which is by road from Kärdla. There are about 10 ferry departures a day operated by

TS Laevad ''TS Laevad'' ("TS Ships") is an Estonian ferry company which operates two routes between the Estonian mainland and the islands of Hiiumaa and Muhu in the Baltic Sea. (Muhu is connected by a causeway to Estonia's largest island, Saaremaa). The ...

. In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day between

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

(the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla. There are no scheduled passenger boats directly to Kärdla. Kärdla is served by

Kärdla Airport Kärdla Airport ( et, Kärdla lennujaam, ) is an airport in Estonia. The airport is situated east of the town of Kärdla on Hiiumaa island. The airport has one asphalt runway, 14/32, and is . The runway was upgraded in 1998. Overview Kärdla A ...

, with regular flights to Tallinn. Kärdla town itself is small enough to get around on foot. Bicycle rental is available, and there is a good

bicycle path Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

built from Kärdla towards

Kõrgessaare Kõrgessaare (german: Hohenholm) is a small borough () in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County, Estonia, on the northwestern coast of Hiiumaa Hiiumaa (, ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Ba ...

Events

June's first weekend annual Hiiumaa Children's festival takes place. In the first week of August, the coffee-loving people of Kärdla expect visitors to Kärdla Cafés' Day celebrated just for one day in their own gardens, serving coffee and home-made pastry.Hiiumaa kohvikutepäevad
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Notable people

Hillar Eller Hillar Eller (15 December 1939, Kärdla – 22 February 2010) was an Estonian former long distance runner and politician, most notable for being a voter for the Estonian restoration of Independence. He was also the chair of the Estonian Left Par ...

(1939–2010), politician *

Heiki Nabi Heiki Nabi (born 6 June 1985) is an Estonian Olympic champion Greco-Roman wrestler. Nabi was born in Hilleste, Hiiumaa. At the 2006 World Wrestling Championships he won the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman (96 kg) category and became ...

(born 1985), Olympic wrestler *

Eveli Saue Eveli Saue (born February 13, 1984) is an Estonian orienteering competitor and retired biathlete. She is world champion in the combined sport ''biathlon orienteering''. Orienteering She received a bronze medal in the ''short course'' at the 20 ...

(born 1984), biathlete and orienteer *

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür () was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition w ...

(born 1959), composer

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

The former municipality of Kärdla was twinned with: * -

Georgioupoli Georgioupoli ( el, Γεωργιούπολη) is a resort village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Apokoronas, of which it is a municipal unit. ...

, Greece

Gallery

File:Hiiumaa Kärdla Püha Ristija Johannese kirik 01 1863 2021.04.13MF.jpg, St. John the Baptist Lutheran Church File:23565 Kärdla tuletõrjemaja.jpg, Kärdla fire station File:Kärdla rannakivi, Kärdla, ostrov Hiiumaa, Estonsko 04.jpg, Kärdla beach stone File:Hiiumaa politseijaoskond 2015.jpg, Hiiumaa police station in Kärdla

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kardla Cities and towns in Estonia Hiiumaa Parish Populated places in Hiiu County Populated coastal places in Estonia Kreis Wiek Former municipalities of Estonia