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 ...

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 ...

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 is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of Hiiumaa Parish.

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 wells 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. 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 opposing ...

. Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920, and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with Kõrgessaare Parish to establish Hiiumaa Parish, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Population

Transport

Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute () ferry crossing from Rohuküla to Heltermaa, which is by road from Kärdla. There are about 10 ferry departures a day operated by TS Laevad. 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, 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
/ref>

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 (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, 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