Roosikrantsi (Roosikrants)

Rosary, from rose plus (Ger. Kranz) chaplet, crown or wreath, but also the name of a Danish dynasty of Hanseatic merchants. Renamed (1944?-1989) as Lauristini J. during the Soviet occupation. Next door to Hariduse, and various interpretations have been put forward: there used to be a place of execution called Rosenkranz nearby; criminals used to tell their rosaries on the way to becoming debeaded; a Michel Rosenkrans bought some land nearby in 1643. Similarly, being close to a St-Barbara cemetery resulted in its being named Barbarastraße for a few hundred years (1575±25-1800±25), and another name was Kummerstraße, street of sorrow (1813). The result of all this is the perfect haze for popular etymology and wishful thinking. Research needed. There were actually two Roosikrantsi streets, a greater and a lesser. Enlarged, the latter later resulted in part of today’s Pärnu.