Kärdla (; ; ) 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, 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 ...

. It is the capital of

Hiiu County Hiiu County ( 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 language, German and ), the second largest island of Estonia, and several smaller isl ...

and the

administrative center An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

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 h ...

. The Chairman of the District Council of Kärdla is Tõnis Paljasma.

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 well is a well that brings groundwater to the surface without pumping because it is under pressure within a body of rock or sediment known as an aquifer. When trapped water in an aquifer is surrounded by layers of Permeability (ea ...

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 (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

. 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

Kõrgessaare Parish Kõrgessaare Parish () 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 58 villages: Heigi, ...

to establish

, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.

Demographics

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 up to 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 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) 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 A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. ...

built from Kärdla towards

Kõrgessaare Kõrgessaare () 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 Baltic Sea. It has ...

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 (1939–2010), politician * Heiki Nabi (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 wi ...

(born 1959), composer

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

The former municipality of Kärdla (until 2013) was twinned with: * -

Georgioupoli Georgioupoli () is a resort village and former municipality in the Chania (regional unit), 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. The m ...

, 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 File:Kardla bussijaam.jpg, Kärdla bus station

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