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Discover Jewish Tallinn What took you so long to visit? Tallinn shines as a little-known Jewish destination whose time has come. With its four-year-old Beit Bella synagogue, containing a sanctuary, mikveh, and restaurant, its active Jewish Community Center and school, and its well-kept Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust memorials, Tallinn is an example of a city coming to terms with its past while advancing confidently towards a tolerant and progressive future. A cruise-ship port on the Baltic Sea, Tallinn is both the capital of Estonia and a 2011 European Cultural Capital! Experience the Middle Ages in Tallinn--its old town with its web of winding cobblestone streets is a World UNESCO Heritage Site. Dating back to the 11th century it is original due to an extant defensive wall telling of its history as an important Hanseatic or sea-merchants’ city. Home to a Jewish community since the 14th century, many were themselves merchants and artisans. Being occupied over the centuries by Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Germany has infused the city with a complicated history but a strong sense of self. Under the Russian Czar Alexander II in 1865 Jews gained official citizens’ rights that lead to a tremendous growth and cultural autonomy. Many Estonian Jews fought in the country’s war of independence in 1918-20. Estonians staunchly defended the rights of Jews even into the Nazi era, electing Heinrich Gutkin as a Jewish member of parliament in 1937! Nazi occupation then decimated the community who were either arrested, forced to flee or killed. The ensuing post-war Soviet occupation did nothing to help. The devastation of the Estonian Jewish community makes today’s revival all the more astounding. In 1988, on the eve of Estonia’s independence from the Soviet Union, a Jewish Cultural Society was founded in Tallinn, followed by a Jewish day school as well as several clubs and unions with roots in the pre-war past. Today’s synagogue with its fantastic all-glass front, mirrors the city around it—a metaphor for the metamorphosis that has taken place here. The people of Tallinn are both proud and welcoming. They will invite you to become a part of their city while also wondering just why it took you so long. Tour Options 5 hour walking tour of Jewish and general Tallinn Being occupied over the centuries by Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and Germany has infused the city with a complicated history but a strong sense of self. A short drive out of the old town we will visit the current Jewish Community Centre, the Jewish School and the new 2007’s synagogue. Please see the "Discover Europe" section of our website for additional tour options in Tallinn.
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