Kärdla’s bridges or trumms

Kärdla owes its existence to the many waters running within its borders, which are channelled by the edges of an ancient meteorite crater to a relatively narrow area at the Tareste Gulf. The abundance of water in the location had an impact on the setting up and expansion of the village of Hiiumaa Swedes in the present-day territory of Kärdla and the relatively rich waters of the Nuutri River were also a decisive factor for choosing the site for the future broadcloth factory.

There are three larger streams running through Kärdla: the Nuutri River, Liivaoja and Kammioja, with a total length of 7.9 kilometres within the town and also countless ditches, streams and rivulets. These can be crossed via trumms (bridges). The name ‘trumm’ is a loan from Coastal Swedish dialect (trumma) and the word was formerly used almost everywhere in Hiiumaa to denote a bridge that could be crossed with a horse cart. To date, the word trumm is used to denote bridges in Kärdla only and local people know all trumms by their name.

The bridges got their names in different ways: it was sometimes derived from the name of the owner of the nearest plot of land, e.g. Marditrumm or Balli trumm (was situated near the bakery shop of Madam Ball, popular in the beginning of the 20th century) or from its lo- cation, e.g. Vabrikutrumm (Factory Bridge) was next to the factory, Kabelitrumm (Chapel Bridge) next to a German chapel built in 1847, or after the body of water it crossed, e.g. Liivatrumm across the Liiva Stream and Nuutri trumm across the Nuutri River. The name of Suur trumm (Big Bridge) is also believed to be associated with the name of the river Suur- jõgi (the Big River) but sometimes also with the fact that it is the largest and most impres- sive of the bridges in the town. The name of Hõbetrumm (Silver Bridge) has been derived from its former silver grey colour; another explanation says however, that the name comes from the complaints of a baron of Kärdla over the cost of its construction, which was said to be nearly as high as if the bridge had been built of silver.