Paide is the first Estonian city fully equipped with civil defence sirens

Civil defence in Estonia reached an important milestone recently when Paide became the country's first city to be fully covered by air raid sirens. In an emergency, these sirens will always be used in conjunction with other notification systems including texts / SMS, kriis.ee and the state phone helpline 1247. Since Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine the Estonian government has increased defence spending. Installation of sirens is simultaneously underway in more than 15 settlements across Estonia. In the coming years, the Estonian government will be allocating an additional €1.1 billion to national defence.

Estonia to celebrate 33rd anniversary of restored independence

The 20th August is a national holiday in Estonia. A day of celebration to mark the end of fifty dark years of Soviet occupation. During those grim years Estonians endured so much yet never gave up the hope of restoring independence one day. That day finally came on the 20th August 1991 when Estonians finally rid their country of Soviet rule. Estonians around the world rejoiced, waving the beloved sinimustvalge flag that was banned for so long. Head taasiseseisvumispäeva! Elagu Eesti!

Northern lights seen from Lääne-Viru county

Once again Estonian meteorologist Kairo Kiitsak has captured sone stunning images of the northern lights in Estonia. These photographs were taken on Monday night in Lääne-Viru county.

 

 

No Olympic medals for Team Estonia

It was a disappointing year for Team Estonia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. For the first time since 1996, Estonia failed to secure a single medal at the Summer Olympics. Female fencer Nelli Differt was the closest to achieving a medal, finishing 4th in the women's épée final. There were high hopes for 400m hurdler Rasmus Mägi who, for his third consecutive Olympics Games, managed to reach the men's final, but unfortunately stumbled on the last hurdle and finished 7th place. Despite Estonia's lack of medals, the athletes should feel proud of their achievements as many of them now rank among the top ten in the world in their respective events. The official medal tally can be found here.

Freedom of the Press Worldwide 2024

 Estonia is the sixth freest country in the world! Northern Europe leads the way!

 

 

25% of the World's best decathlon athletes are Estonian

The Olympic Games decathlon final took place yesterday in Paris. Johannes Erm, Janek Õiglane and Karel Tilga represented Estonia, and although they did not secure a medal, all three althletes now rank among the top 11 best in the world. Janek Õiglane was the highest ranking Estonian at 5th place. For a country with a population of 1.3 million, this is a fantastic result for Estonia!

The final scoreboard can be found here.

Who was Emilie Rosalie Beermann?

Born in Pilistvere on the 16th of December 1860, Emilie Rosalie Beermann was the eldest of eight children in the family of Gustav Heinrich Beermann and Caroline Beermann. Her father was a school principal in Põltsamaa and gave her the name Emilie in honour of her godmother. Like her father, Emilie was an ardent nationalist and after graduating from Põltsamaa parish school, she became a crafts teacher for girls at the same school.

In 1881, the Estonian Students’ Society “Vironia” was founded at the University of Tartu. It was here where the colour combination of blue-black-white first emerged, selected as the fraternity's flag which later went on to become the national flag of Estonia. Emilie Beerman bought the blue, black and white fabric from the Leihberg cloth store in Põltsamaa and is credited as being the maker of the first blue-black-white flag in 1884. According to varying sources, Emilie did not sew the flag alone, Miina Hermann and Paula Hermann also took part in sewing the flag. Emilie's father made a pole for the flag in his workshop and her brother Christoph transported the flag to the Estonian Students’ Society (EÜS) in Tartu.

That original flag still exists today and can be viewed at the Estonian National Museum in Tartu.

The blue, black and white (sinimustvalge) flag was adopted as the national flag of Estonia in 1918 and it is deeply cherished by all Estonians!