Soviet Tallinn
Like most cities that once formed part of the Soviet empire (whether as a member of the
USSR itself or one of the
Eastern Bloc states)
Tallinn received its share of the stamp of
communism. The era left behind Soviet relics ranging from typical architecture to
socialist realist artwork and propagandistic statuary. In
Estonia, the post-Soviet clean-up, in the zeal to clear away all reminders of that chapter of history, was particularly pronounced. So there isn't that much left in that category for dark tourists to see. But some traces can be tracked down if you know where to look – or better still: go on a specially-tailored guided tour!
What there is to see: Two highlights for those in search of relics of the
Soviet era in
Tallinn are given their own separate entries here:
The latter was also part of a guided tour that I went on when I was in Tallinn in late April 2014. The tour was entitled “Soviet Tallinn – Back in the USSR” and was run by
EstAdventures – see the
sponsored page for
this company here! I highly recommend this, because otherwise you may miss many a detail.
UPDATE: the name of the tour has meanwhile been changed to "
Communist Stories of Tallinn" but this seems to incorporate most of the stops that featured on the "Soviet Tallinn" tour I was on in 2014, except for
Maarjamäe and Linnahall. These current walking tours last two hours and are conducted in English.
The main stops on the tour as outlined below can also be found unguided, but not all of the smaller details are so noticeable, and you would certainly lose out on the accompanying stories that put it all into a proper connected context. So for once I'd say doing this on a guided tour is better than doing it on your own. I won't give too many details and stories away here, just a few main points:
The tour I was on started at the
Sõprus building on the edge of Tallinn's Old Town. Partly because it is an easy spot to find, and partly because the building itself, a former cinema built in the early 1950s, i.e. in
Stalinist times, is a prime example of
Soviet architecture still left in this city today. Just look up at the facade and spot all those Soviet stars!
The walking tour then continued to the building in which the Writers' Guild used to meet during Soviet times to discuss politics – it is still a cafe, now a modern capitalist one of course, so you could come back to have a coffee there yourselves and ponder the change of times …
Also still within the Old Town is the
former KGB building. Its counterparts in
Tartu,
Riga and
Vilnius, were quicker to commodify this aspect of dark Soviet history, and when I first was in Tallinn in 2014, the building was inaccessible and only a small plaque referenced (in Estonian only) the former history of the house. But meanwhile the
KGB cells in the basement of the Tallinn KGB HQ have also been opened to the public and and turned into a small exhibition. The interior of the rest of the building has been converted into luxury apartments.
The next significant stop on the tour was at
Linnahall. The name literally means as much as 'town hall' but that is quite misleading. What it actually is is a large event location complex built for the 1980 Olympics (which mostly took place in
Moscow, of course, but
Tallinn was the venue for the sailing competitions – hence!). On the tour, the guide showed us pictures of what it looked like back in the day, and these contrast rather starkly with the appearance of the place today. Neglected and mostly abandoned, the cheap concrete that the complex was built from is slowly crumbling away, the paving is cracked and the whole thing looks closer to a ruin than anything remotely functional. It's too big to simply demolish, it seems, so it's just left there – to rot. If you are like me and actually get a special kick out of looking at a) dereliction and b) shoddy socialist designs and construction practices, then this is quite a cool place! Needless to say, most Estonians prefer to simply ignore its existence (except for the graffiti sprayers, of course, who see it more like a free-for-all canvas).
UPDATE: Linnahall is no longer part of the newer “Communist Stories of Tallinn” walking tours that have replaced the “Soviet Tallinn” Tour I had been on (see above) . But you can just as well go there independently to have a look around.
We then headed back towards the centre, only not to the Old Town but rather the more modern part to the east. We walked past the Viru Hotel (see
KGB Museum), a former Valuta shop that is completely window-less (so that normal mortals could NOT see the wares on offer to only those privileged enough to have access to foreign currency), a former ministry building (where a Lenin statue used to stand) and Soviet- era apartment buildings. Of the latter we were shown the difference between "elite" and "normal". The elite building is grand and topped by a Stalinist-style tower that – remarkably for
Estonia – still features its spire with the
Soviet star at the top.
We then caught a bus from the Viru Centre underground bus station and travelled out to Maarjamäe for the Soviet memorial complex there – see the
separate entry here!
Back in the centre, we were taken to a cafe that is still as close to the Soviet style as is currently possible to find, which meant that it was cheap, the range of food and drinks on offer very limited and very old-fashioned, and the service splendidly stern and smile-less. Bring a little tongue-in-cheek “masochism” and you too will love it.
The final bits of the tour took us to Victory Square where the last few stories were told, recommendations for further things to see were offered, then we parted. It was a great half day with a great guide.
The added value of the guiding really makes it worth it, even though you could theoretically see many of the spots described above on your own just as well. But the guide not only told fascinating stories and put things into a historical background context, he also had a folder of old photos making for a before-after effect that you would not get on your own.
The tour was in English (with a native speaker – namely an Australian in our case, as the tour was led by
EstAdventures' founder who originally hails from near Melbourne). And it was friendly, fun and delightfully off-mainstream in the style of delivery … i.e. very personal and attentive, instead of pre-packaged learned-by-rote speeches, let alone that awful microphone-and-headphones set-up you see so often in mainstream city sightseeing tours. None of that here. It was more like being shown round
Tallinn by a friend in his/her home town, who also happens to be an expert on
Soviet history.
Location: various spots in different parts of the city, here's a selection with Google maps locators:
Access and costs: The sites themselves are mostly freely accessible at any time, but the guided tours run only at certain times or by special appointment; given how much you get out of them, they are very good value for money.
Details: You could walk to most of the locations mentioned here from anywhere within the city centre of
Tallinn, except the
Maarjamäe memorial complex, which requires a bus ride. If you go on the guided tour described above, this bus ride will be included in the price. The rest is a walking tour.
The former “Soviet Tallinn – Back in the USSR” tours, now renamed "Communist Stories of Tallinn" are still offered by
EstAdventures (
sponsored page) in a shortened form (2 hours). They are on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 p.m., starting at Neguliste 2. The price for this tour is no longer given on the new website, and it will presumably also depend on the number of participants. When I did the "Soviet Tallinn" tour in 2014 the price was 15 EUR per person (there were only my wife and myself, so it was very good value for money). This is very likely to have gone up by now. In addition to the regular tours, private tailored tours are also available (and cost varies per group size and duration). Things may be quite flexible, so just ask.
Time required: The Soviet Tallinn walking tour by
EstAdventures that I went on was officially scheduled to last three-and-a-half to four hours, but we were “on the road”, so to speak, for over four hours. The current "Communist Stories of Tallinn" that replaced the former format are scheduled to last only two hours. Adding on the
Maarjamäe museum and the
Bronze Soldier could make this a whole day of thematic sightseeing. I would not, however, recommend doing the
Occupations Museum and the
Viru KGB Museum on the same day too, as that may overstretch anybody's limits of concentration. Better split your Soviet Tallinn explorations over at least two days.
Combinations with other dark destinations: Apart from the
Maarjamäe memorial complex that used to be part of the guided tour described above, the
Bronze Soldier is also an important relic of the Soviet days.
Of course, another significant offering for those trying to find bits of the Soviet legacy, the
KGB Museum tour at the Hotel Viru is not to be missed. The Soviet Tallinn walking tour has a stop outside the building too, but to get the full picture, you have to go on the hotel's own guided tours of their museum.
The KGB cells in the the basement of the former HQ of the Soviet secret police in Tallinn have also been turned into a memorial site open to the general public.
Patarei prison too is (partly) linked to the Soviet era – it too was used by the Soviets to incarcerate political and other prisoners. Meanwhile parts of the complex have opened to the public and house an extensive exhibition.
The other most commodified offer in Tallinn relating to the Soviet times is the
Occupations Museum. This focuses mostly on the repression under both the Nazi and the Soviet occupations of
Estonia, but in the cellar there are some Soviet busts and
socialist realist propaganda posters as well as a few other intriguing artefacts from the time.
Further out of town, the
TV Tower, built in Soviet times for the 1980 summer Olympics also played a role in Estonia’s break with the USSR, and the
Estonian War Museum out in Viimsi has bits about the Soviet era as well.
Further afield still, a day trip to Tartu is worth it for the grim and intriguing
KGB cells museum in this otherwise cheerful student town.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: see under
Tallinn.
Soviet Tallinn 01 - Soprus cinema
Soviet Tallinn 02 - star relic
Soviet Tallinn 03 - writers meeting point
Soviet Tallinn 04 - former KGB building
Soviet Tallinn 05 - bricked-up cellar with cells
Soviet Tallinn 06 - Linnahall
Soviet Tallinn 07 - built for the 1980 Olympics
Soviet Tallinn 08 - now largely abandoned
Soviet Tallinn 09 - no more yachting
Soviet Tallinn 10 - Soviet-era elite housing estate
Soviet Tallinn 11 - Soviet star still in place
Soviet Tallinn 12 - Ministery of Foreign Affairs - sans Lenin statue
Soviet Tallinn 13 - windowless former valuta shop
Soviet Tallinn 14 - another star
Soviet Tallinn 15 - if you look closely you can find quite a few
Soviet Tallinn 01 - Soprus cinema
Soviet Tallinn 02 - star relic
Soviet Tallinn 03 - writers meeting point
Soviet Tallinn 04 - former KGB building
Soviet Tallinn 05 - bricked-up cellar with cells
Soviet Tallinn 06 - Linnahall
Soviet Tallinn 07 - built for the 1980 Olympics
Soviet Tallinn 08 - now largely abandoned
Soviet Tallinn 09 - no more yachting
Soviet Tallinn 10 - Soviet-era elite housing estate
Soviet Tallinn 11 - Soviet star still in place
Soviet Tallinn 12 - Ministery of Foreign Affairs - sans Lenin statue
Soviet Tallinn 13 - windowless former valuta shop
Soviet Tallinn 14 - another star
Soviet Tallinn 15 - if you look closely you can find quite a few
(non-guided) 
(guided) -