Looking north

Small Hiiumaa has offered the world many greats, such as composer Rudolf Tobias, artist Ülo Sooster or writer Evald Mänd (Ain Kalmus). There are many other creative people who were born, lived, created or rested on the island, and we all have something to learn from them. Find their footprints, their creations and their thoughts!

For hundreds of years, the dominant language in the northern part of Hiiumaa was Swedish, because the coastal Swedes lived here. They called themselves rather Hiro-Swedish. Their main centres or villages were Reigi and Kärdla. Unfortunately, about 1000 of the Reigi Swedes were sent on their way to present-day Ukraine in 1781, and the Swedes of Kärdla became the new settlers of either Vormsi or Noarootsi in the early 19th century. Those who remained gradually became Estonian-speaking Hiidans. However, what can easily be associated with the Swedes’ residence on Dagö or Hiiu island can still be seen today. Be it place names, churches, farms or something else.

Hiiumaa can be explored in many ways: by walking around with a backpack on, by driving through important places with a guide, or by setting up and discovering routes yourself with the help of maps, guidebooks and internet information. The lighthouse journey is one option.

Where did you get such a name-lighthouse tour? This is another update of an old idea.

1990. Douglas Wells, a peace corpsman from far away Nebraska, volunteered in Hiiumaa. He has even written a book about his life in Estonia called “The Adventures of the Yankee in Hiiumaa”. One of the things with which he left his mark on Hiiumaa was the marked and labelled objects and the accompanying book with explanations. All this was intended for tourists arriving by car on the island, which had been freed from the border zone. New and modern information boards have now arrived, but the book still remains. Slight changes have been made to the objects that will be presented – but the idea itself has also remained the same. This means that the lighthouses, with their beams of light, act as guides and signposts for discovering the island of Hiiumaa.

How, what, who or what rituals people believe in has changed over time. Worshipping of protective heather trees, land mothers and spring spirits began in Hiiumaa in the 13th century. All this took time, and so it is still possible to go to the sacred trees (Tärkma oak and Ülendi lime). Of the Christian churches on the island, you can see large parish churches (such as Pühalepa, dating from the 13th century), auxiliary churches or chapels (such as Kassari), Orthodox churches (such as Kuriste), as well as houses of worship of the Brethren, Baptists or Pentecostals. In addition to these, pastorates (such as Reigi), cemeteries (such as Kuri) and parsonages (such as Käina) are closely linked to religious life. This is all worth exploring.