• HISTORICAL
• All-linn
• Profession
• Commerce
• Folk etymology

Hobusepea (Hobusepea)

Horse’s head. Once upon a time, back in the merry 15^th C, there lived a man called Hans Hannemann. Hans was a horse trader and, acordingly, the street he lived in became known as Perdekoper (horse-buyer, -trader, cf. MLG köpen, to trade, and mod. Ger. kaufen, to buy). Needless to say, sometime later the kop part of the word was thought to be German Kopf, head (earliest record 1873), Pferdekopfstraße, and the rest is history. But not quite, the communists’ desire to eliminate any sign of individual leadership, removed the head and converted a noble steed to a nordinary nag: Hobuse (1923-1987). Actually, the Russians called it Конная (horse) back in 1907. Also known in medieval times as, among others, klene strate, alse men to den süstern geit / parva platea quod itur ad moniales (little street through which you go to get to the ‘sisters’). Today, you reach Lai, which used to be Nunne.

• Käik

Kooli (Kool)

School. The two contiguous education street-names of Kooli and Gümnaasiumi were fused (1939-1989) under the name Gümnaasiumi ja Kooli during the Soviet occupation, both streets referring to the Gustav Adolfi Gümnaasium, which Kivi lists under its 1972 name of Nikolai Gümnaasium.