Estonian Cultural Heritage Book

This book gives an overview of the cultural heritage activities over the past five years. The 1666 heritage act and the first 50 years of the Tallinn Old Town conservation area are discussed. In the section on maritime heritage, the extraordinary wreck finds from Kadriorg, 100 year old steamer Suur Tõll and the Baltic Sea coastal culture are analysed. Positive co-operation with metal detectorists in the protection of archaeological heritage is described along with a case of an illegally excavated Viking sword which was saved from the black market. The restoration of the Kuressaare fortress, Keila-Joa manor house and St Paul’s Church in Tartu are major works undertaken in this period. Questions of preservation and conservation are also analysed in the context of manor outhouses, urbaltisch houses and Soviet modernist architecture. Special attention is paid to the vast field of industrial heritage: from the Rotermann grain elevator and Tallinn power plant to smock mills and dams. The conservation of art works has become a science-based, interdisciplinary and more co-operative activity. The investigation of a fresco by Johann Köler, the remounting of a fresco by Elmar Kits, the rescue of Old Believer icons after a disastrous fire and two large-scale research projects – ‘Rode altarpiece in close-up’ and ‘Christian Ackermann – the arrogant and talented Phidias from Tallinn’ – are some of the topics covered in this book.