The Book

All author earnings of A Rambling Dictionary of Tallinn Street Names to be donated to the foundation or donate here.

If anyone could help or advise as to the legal mechanism, it would be appreciated, thanks!

The Website

Not intended at the beginning, the present website is taking on a life of its own, with plans for relevant discussion forums, picture galleries and, over time, more non-streetname entries.

In theory, it will be funded by advertising relevant to people in Tallinn, to be determined.

A percentage of profits (also to be determined) to be donated to the foundation.

Vana-Veerenni (Vana-Veerenn)

Old Channel. Between this and Liivalaia, close to the present-day Sõprus Cinema, was one of Tallinn’s earlier outdoor entertainment parks, the Kivivõllaste paik (lit. place of the stone-built gallows) aka Hukkamispaik (execution square) where guests were hung, drawn, gouached and quartered then their heads and other body parts impaled and displayed in the Timukaaed (hangman’s garden) to encourage a belated sense of civic behavior. During the course of its history, Tallinn has had a variety of places of execution. Raekoja Plats and Toompea (which may have been called Jeruusalemma Mägi [Mount Jerusalem] but where?) and may have been among the earliest, along with another (until 16^th C?) in front of Viru Värav (executions inside the city were prohibited by 17-18^th C). The main one, however, identified as Võllamägi (gallows hill), was built here at the turn of the 14/15^th C, some 50-odd m S of Liivalaia. Archaeology has confirmed the remains of the above-mentioned ‘stone-built gallows’ to be located beneath Swedbank at approx. ///delivers.dogs.organs. But the Karte der Gouvernements-Stadt Reval of 1876 shows a Galgen Berg (also gallows hill) some 600 m further south approximately within the Vana-Lõuna / Pille triangle, also apparently known as Jeruusalemma Mägi or Kolgata (Golgotha). They both seem to share the same dates (14-17^th C), and some kind of overlap is suspected, perhaps more for exhibition / warning purposes closer to town and disposal of decaying corpses further away. With topics like this, prurient and anecdotal information abounds. Add salt.

Vana-Lõuna (Vana-Lõuna)

Old South, Southern, Southerly. Runs NE-SW... ‘Old Lunch’, one hopes (see Lõuna), is less likely. Renamed (1959-1991) as Sihveri J. during the Soviet occupation. Street approximately on land once known as Galgen Berg (Gallows Hill), but see Vana-Veerenni.

Tartu (Tartu)

University town in southern central Estonia, settled since 5^th C CE, known previously as Dorpat, Tharbata, Yuryev. Ruled by the Poles in the 16^th century, the city received its red and white flag from Stephen Bathory (István Báthory), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, one-time Prince of Transylvania, and uncle of Erzsébet Báthory, sometimes known as Countess Dracula for her extremely questionable employment of girls whose blood was said to provide her with eternal youth (possibly, like France’s Gilles de Rais, framed for financial reasons). Happily, Tartoons are given to gentler occupations such as grammar.

Tondi

(Jobst Dunte, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5…)

Disappointingly, not from tont, ghost or specter, as local lore would have it, but after the summer estate (see Mõisa) of Jobst Dunte, which all seems nice and simple, but it’s not. Which Jobst (or Jost) Dunte (or Dunt or Dunten)? There are (at least) 5 of the buggers, bred like rabbits, leading to this breakdown:

Jobst Dunte 1, (d. 1579) came to Tartu from Hildesheim, Germany, date unknown, married mayor’s daughter, moved to Tallinn, and had 3 sons (suspects in bold):

Gert Dunte (d. 1641), various progeny, including grandson:
1. Jobst Dunte 4 (c. 1635-1697), Tallinn alderman (raehärra, some say ‘Mayor’) in 1670 and 1688-1696, landowner and trader, after whom Tondi Sub-district is said to be named. May once have lived at Viru tänav 20
Hans Dunte (1565-1641), moved to Riga so out of the story
Jobst Dunte 2 (1569-1615), Tallinn alderman, Rector of Niguliste church, member (?) of the ‘Mustpea’, Brotherhood of St. Maurice, or Blackheads (see Jüriöö), probably referred to as Ä., der Ältere (the Elder), although it could also be his father, had 3 sons:
1. Jobst Dunte 3 (d. 1624(?) or 1637), merchant, received Keila Mõis outside Tallinn as fief from King Gustaf II Adolf in 1630, sons knighted and ennobled in Sweden. Recruited craftsmen from Germany for church ornamentation. At times confused with this father.
2. Ludwig Dunte (1597-1639), clergyman, spoke 9 or 10 languages, churchmen offspring
3. Hans Dunte (d. 1640), various descendants including (grandson?):
  1. Jobst Dunte 5 (1670-1710), Tallinn alderman (some say ‘Mayor’), said to be founder of Dunteni Suvemõis (see Dunteni) in Tondi.

Two candidates for both Tondi asum and Tondi tänav are often seen: 1) Jobst Dunte 4 of c. 1635-1697; and 2) Jobst Dunte 5 of 1670-1710. No clear candidate for Tondiraba. On the night of 1625-06-28/29, a fire in Viru tänav damaged (destroyed?) the house of a Jobst Dunte who, or whose son, later donated bells to Oleviste church in 1671 and 1694. While the donation dates coincide well enough with celebrations for JD4’s mayorship, he’s too late for the fire, unless it refers to his son? To conclude: very little unequivocal data to confirm exactly who is who, and all-round confusion. Did I mention a breakdown? Given the inconsistency in dates, there may even have been a Jobst Dunte 6... Did I mention the Duntenhof Krug dating to at least 1688? See below.

Getting back to ‘ghosts’, although Estonians tend to translate tont (see Vaimu) as above, historically, it was more a house fairy, generally evil, often used as bogeyman for children, while its Swedish ancestor, tomte, was more benign. The more usual term for ghost is kummitus as in Estonia’s favorite tongue-twister: Kummikutes kummitus kummitas kummutis (ask someone to explain). Soviet occupation renaming (1950-1990): Matrossovi A..

Detail of the 1688 Waxelbergh map of Tallinn showing Duntenhof Inn.