King and Queen of Norway quarantined

The Norwegian Royal Court informed today that the king and queen and 14 employees at the Royal Palace are in quarantine after an employee has been diagnosed with Covid-19. Queen Sonja is in quarantine because she has been in close contact with the employee, while King Harald's home quarantine is self-imposed. Neither the king nor the queen has shown any symptoms so far.

The quarantine means that the king will preside over the Council of State by phone from his home at Bygdø Royal Farm on Friday 20 November at 11 a.m.. The telephone solution was also used in the spring of 2000 during the first wave of the pandemic.

Crown Prince Haakon will step in to grant the President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, an audience at 10 a.m. on Friday. The quarantine also mean several changes to the king and queen's program in the next few days.

King Harald V on sick leave

The Norwegian Royal Court informed earlier today that King Harald V is on sick leave for the rest of the week due to a strain and pains in one of his feet.

The court added that during the time the king is on sick leave, the Crown Prince will serve as regent in accordance with the Constitution Article 41. This is not entirely correct, however, as the Crown Prince is currently paying an official visit to Estonia, which means that it is the the Council of State, i. the Government, which «will conduct the administration of the realm» until the Crown Prince returns on late Thursday 26 April.

Siselinna Cemetery, Tallinn, Estonia

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(2) Graves of an Russian Orthodox archbishop named Pavel and a bishop named Issidor.

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(7) Grave of Olga (1903-1916), Oskar (1908-1916) and Juhannes Johanson (1918-1926). Such short lives...

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(9) Family grave of Taru, Pontak and Luisk.

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(11) Promani and Ilja family grave.

(12) Grave of the musician Rolf Uusväli (1930-2005). Not easy to find information about him, though, but the monument certainly gives you the idea that he played the organ. If anyone has more details, please tell!

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(14) Hans Mittenpaul (1835-1905).

(15) Grave of Johannes Heinrich Bunabart (1880-1912) and Marti Bunabart (b. 1845, death year missing - it is not even registered at the cemetery's official website).

(16) Grave of Daniel Reeps (1868-1960) and Helene-Wilhelmine Reeps, née Pukk (1888-1970).

(17) Eduard Ferdinand Beckmann (1871-1908).

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(19) Another Johanson grave - Alide (1888-1936) and Julius (1880-1942).

(20) Grave of Peeter (1833-1910) and Leena Kulberg (1835-1908).

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(27) Map of to of the three cemeteries. In the following a list of graves of prominent people.

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Before my trip to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, in November 2011, I had prepared myself among others by checking out the official website of Tallinn Tourism, which to my great surprise contained a subpage surveying the cemeteries in the capital. I decided that if I got some additional time, I would try to visit one of them. 

Metsakalmistu (the Forest Cemetery) or Pärnamäe semed to be most interesting - the former included among others the graves of the first Estonian president, Konstantin Päts, and the writer Anton-Hansen Tammsaare (didn't I pass his house on my way to Kadriorg Park?) - but the said cemeteries were both situated several kilometres from the old city of Tallinn. As I preferred to walk, I decided for the forest cemetery of Siselinna. 

Siselinna, measured to about 18 hectares, is actually not one cemetery, but three - the former Russian Orthodox Cemetery established in 1775 and known as Aleksander Nevski Cemetery, the Estonian Vana-Kaarli Cemetery opened in 1864 and the Military Cemetery (the Defence Forces Cemetery). I didn't visit the latter, though. I can't say that Siselinna is situated in the nicest part of the city, I would certainly not have visited the place at night (but the cemetery would have been closed anyway!), but it was a nice walk from the old city. The cemetery - or cemeteries - were interesting enough, even though I didn't know any names of the people buried there. As a forest cemetery it was rather dark at times, and I was not satisfied with the quality of all the photos I took. The enscribed names were rather representative of Estonian history, as one could find Swedish, German, Estonian and Russian family names. 

Go to the cemetery's official website to read more and to search for details about the graves. 

 

This article is the third and last from my November 2011 visit. I hope to get back to Tallinn and Estonia again in the not too distant future! 

Tallinn, Estonia

(1) Remains of the fortifications.

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(4) On the way to the main square (Raekoja plats).

(5) Raekoja plats and the town hall.

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(9) One could write a book with only photos of the many beautiful gates in Tallinn! Maybe someone has done it already?

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(12) The Occupation Museum. Much smaller than I had expected, and it didn't take too long to get through the exhibition. I have to say that the war museum in Riga was much more impressive.

(13) Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Beautiful!

(14) Danebrog Towers.

(15) As the legend goes, this was the place where the Danish flag, Dannebrog, fell down from heaven during the battle of Lyndanisse.

(16) Most of the inscription and the colours of the flag has unfortunately disappeared. But at least "1219" is still visable. Get some more paint, please!

(17) Lossi plats 7. Formerly the property of the Marshal of the Estonian Nobility, now the residence of the German Ambassador.

(18) Toompea 1. The Commander's House, built c. 1690. Both King Karl XII of Sweden and Emperor Peter I of Russia have been here. Abram Hannibal (c. 1696-1781) of Ethiopian origin, Russian General-in-Chief, was the garrison commander of Reval (Tallinn). He was the great-grandfather of the poet Alexander Pushkin.

(19) Toompea Palace, seat of the government.

(20) View of the city.

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(23) Memorial of the Estonian uprising and war of freedom 1918-1920.

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I visited Tallinn, the wonderful capital of Estonia, in early November 2011. My first article covering my visit was published in November (Kadriorg Palace and Park). I am planning another article (a cemetery visit) before I move on to other trips I have made.

I like to visit at least one "new" country every year, and in 2011 Estonia became the 54th foreign country I have visited. I didn't see anything but the capital, though. I hope one day to make a car trip around the Baltic Sea, starting in Helsinki and then travelling through Estonia, Latvia (which I visited in 2006, by the way) and Lithuania as well as Poland and Germany. Time will tell when I manage to make this trip. Really something to look forward too!

The highlight of Tallinn is certainly its old city, although the Kadriorg article proves that you will find many wonders outside the city wall as well. The old city is described as smaller than the one in Riga, but the way I remember it much more charming, especially with the hill of Toompea (called "Cathedral Hill"). With so many nations setting their mark on the city - Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Germany (German Knights) - it has become rich of architecture and history and has a lot to offer, with its fortifications, churches, palaces, mansions, museums, restaurants and shops. Something for everyone! After a short-lived independence between the world wars, the Estonians had to suffer Soviet Russian and German occupation and then Soviet Russian occupation before becoming independent again in 1991. The many years of occupation and the brave independence movement towards the end of the 1980s have made many Norwegians feel close to Estonia and the other Baltic countries, Latvia and Lithuania. Estonia is, as already mentioned, most certainly a country I would like to visit again and explore further some time in the future.

All the photos above are taken in the weekend 4-7 November 2011. As you can see, the weather varied a lot. I visited some of the places several times and took photos each time. When the weather was gray or I arrived too late in the afternoon, the photo quality could suffer a bit. But all in all I hope you will enjoy the few glimpses of what Tallinn can offer.