Toompea castle () is a medieval

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

on Toompea hill in the central part of

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, the capital of

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

. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia (''Riigikogu'').

History

The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estonian stronghold had been in use since at least the 9th century AD. In 1219, the castle was taken over by

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

led by king Valdemar II. According to a popular Danish legend, the flag of Denmark (''Dannebrog'') fell from the sky during a critical stage of the battle (known as the Battle of Lindanise). This first proper castle was referred to as the "Castle of the Danes", in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''castrum danorum'' and in contemporary archaic Estonian ''taani linna''. From the latter, the modern name of the city of Tallinn is possibly derivedDictionary of the Estonian language
accessed 1 April 2022 (see also ). In 1227, the castle was taken over by the Order of the Brethren of the Sword, who initiated rebuilding schemes. The castle's reconstruction began in the 13th century and is to a large extent the castle that can be seen today. The castle again fell to Denmark just ten years later, in 1237, but was sold to the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

in 1346, and would remain in their hands for the remainder of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. As the crusading Teutonic Order was a religious order, the castle came to resemble a monastery in several ways. It included a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, a

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

and a dormitory for the knights. The order was also responsible for erecting the still visible towers of the castle, including "Pilsticker" (translated as "arrow-sharpener"), "Stür den Kerl" ("ward off the enemy"), "Landskrone" ("crown of the land"), and "Langer Hermann" (in Estonian Pikk Hermann or "Tall Hermann"). Tall Hermann is tall and dominates the castle skyline. The flag of Estonia is hoisted at the top of the tower every day at sunrise, to the sound of 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 European ...

, and lowered at sunset. After the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

and many wars that followed in the 16th century, the

lost its last possessions in Estonia and the region became contested by Sweden, Poland and Muscovy (Russia). By 1561, northern Estonia had become part of the Kingdom of Sweden. The Swedish rulers transformed the castle from a medieval fortress into a ceremonial and administrative centre of political power in Estonia, a purpose the castle has served ever since. In 1710, Sweden lost the territory of modern-day Estonia to the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

. Subsequently a number of larger reconstruction schemes were carried out and the building complex was effectively turned from a castle into a palace. A new dominating wing in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and Neoclassical style, designed by Johann Schultz, was added in the eastern part of the complex. It housed the provincial administration of the

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Esthonia (Estland) Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. It was located in the northern Estonia with some islands in the West Estoni ...

and the living quarters of the imperial governor. In the 19th century, a public park was also created and to the south-east of the castle, and an archive building erected nearby.

Parliament building

After Estonia became independent in 1918, the government decided to build a new house for the nation's parliament (''

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

'') at the site of the former convent building of the Teutonic Order. Taking two years to complete, the parliament building, designed by architects Eugen Habermann and Herbert Johanson, was finished in 1922. Although its exterior is traditionalist, the interior is Expressionist in style - the world's only Expressionist parliament building. After June 1940, during the period of foreign occupations — by the Soviet Union until 1941, by Nazi Germany in 1941—1944, and then again by the Soviet Union after 1944 — the democratically elected parliament of Estonia was disbanded. The castle and the building of ''Riigikogu'' were however used by the local Supreme Soviet, the formal rubber stamp legislative body of Soviet-occupied Estonia without any substantive meaning, between 1947 and 1990.

Popular culture

According to a legend, recorded in the 19th century, the entire hill of Toompea was once upon a time created by a mythological heroine Linda who built it boulder-by-boulder with her own hands.

References

Bibliography

External links