Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the

Toompea Castle Toompea castle ( et, Toompea loss) is a medieval castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia. History The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estonia ...

, on

Toompea Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...

hill in

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 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 ...

. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase with 215 steps leads to the top of the tower. The tower consists of ten internal floors and a viewing platform at the top. Pikk Hermann tower is situated next to the Estonian Parliament building and the flag on the top of the tower at above sea level is one of the symbols of the government in force.

The national flag, measuring by , is raised and the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

is played at the time of sunrise (but not earlier than 7 am) and lowered at the time of sunset (but not later than 10 pm). While it is lowered, the song "'' Mu isamaa on minu arm''" (My Fatherland is My Love) is heard. For the first time, the flag was raised to the top of Pikk Hermann at three o'clock in the afternoon of December 12, 1918 after the

independence of Estonia __NOTOC__ The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia ( et, Manifest Eestimaa rahvastele), is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the Natio ...

. The Soviet troops who later occupied Estonia lowered the flag from the tower in the summer of 1940 and later replaced it with the flag of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. The original flag was raised back on the tower on February 24, 1989.

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1370 Towers completed in the 14th century Towers in Estonia Buildings and structures in Tallinn Kesklinn, Tallinn Gothic architecture in Estonia Fortified towers Round towers {{estonia-struct-stub