Tallinn History Facts and Timeline

(Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia)

Estonia's capital Tallinn is a fantastic European city, with a stunning UNESCO Old Town centre and lots of interesting neighbourhoods spreading outwards. It is located right on the Gulf of Finland, meaning that sea trade has always been an integral component of the history of Tallinn.

Today, the capital is going high-tech as one of the world's top ten digital cities, although it still loves its historic roots, earning the designation of European Capital of Culture in 2011.

Danish Christianity

This may be an Estonian city today, but hundreds of years ago it bounced around between the Finns, the Danes, the Germans and everyone else who held sway during the long history of Tallinn. The Danish King Valdemar II is a good starting point in the city's timeline, as he conquered Northern Estonia in the year of 1219 as part of his enforced Christianity plan for the region known as the Northern Crusades.


The king met fierce resistance at Tallinn, however, and was about to give up when a flag fell from the sky, with a white cross on a red background. Since it fell into his bishop's hands, the king took it as a sign from God to carry on and eventually his men won the battle and took Tallinn. The flag became Denmark's national flag and the king built a new castle atop Toompea hill. At this time, the city was renamed as Taani Linn (meaning Danish Town).

The Hanseatic League

For the rest of the 1200s, Tallinn was swapped between the Danes and the German-controlled Hanseatic League. By 1285, the city was firmly in the hands of the Hanseatic League, allying itself with the military and commercial might of Germany's cities in Northern Europe. In the year of 1346, the Danes sold their remaining territory around Tallinn and Northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights.

At this stage in Tallinn history, the city was an important Hanseatic trading centre. Its population was approaching 10,000 and the city was surrounded by strong walls and almost 70 individual defence towers. During the Medieval era, Tallinn was divided into a lower town of German merchants and artisans called Reval, and the castle on Toompea controlled by the Teutonic Knights and the bishop.

Russian Expansion

As the Hanseatic League waned in the 16th century, everyone fought over the Baltic region. Sweden stepped in to take control in 1561, although Russia's Ivan IV Vasilyevich (better known as Ivan the Terrible) laid siege to Tallinn in 1570. The Swedes eventually surrendered to Russia's Peter I (Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov) in 1710. After that, the city was turned into one of the Russian Empire's main Baltic ports and was connected to St. Petersburg by rail in 1870.

Estonian Republic

Under Russian rule, native Estonians poured back into the city. By the beginning of the 20th century, around 90 percent of the residents were Estonian. After a brief war of independence with Russia in 1918, the Tartu Peace Treaty was signed in 1920, recognising the new Estonian Republic with Tallinn as its capital.

Tallinn was a major shipyard port in WWI, but suffered heavy Soviet bombardment in WWII. The Soviets took control after the war, turning the city into a major grain-processing port for the USSR. The Soviets ran the city into the ground, but when the USSR collapsed, Estonia reasserted its independence and began restoring its dusty historic core.

Although heavily damaged throughout much of its modern history, Tallinn's Old Town district has managed to retain a great deal of its historical architecture and charm. In 1997, UNESCO named the Old Town a World Heritage Site and this provides the main attraction for tourists today.