• History & Culture
  • Art & design
  • Monuments

Monument to Juri Lotman

W. Struve tn 1, Tartu linn, Tartu maakond, 50091

The long-serving professor of the University of Tartu was one of the brightest scientists in 20th century Tartu. Lotman studied the history of Russian literature and culture and general regularities of culture. He laid the foundation of cultural semiotics and was the founder of the Tartu-Moscow school of semiotics. The monument to the world-famous culturologist and semiotician, which consists of pipes, water and light, was opened on 6 October 2007. The idea for the sculpture made of 15 m of steel pipe is based on the self-portrait of Juri Lotman. Authors of the monument: Mati Karmin, architect Andres Lunge.

See more

  • Monuments

Kalevipoeg – War of Independence Monument

Kalevipoeg is the Estonian national epic about the adventures of the hero called Kalevipoeg.In 1950, the memorial Kalevipoeg, which was dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in the War of Independence, was taken down by the occupying power. The monument was built by Amandus Adamson. In 1952, the monument to Kreutzwald, the Father of Song, was erected at the same location. Discussions over restoring the memorial Kalevipoeg were held since 1988, but in 2002, when the exhibition ‘Kalevipoeg in Sculpture’ took place, the restoration proptly started. Sculptor Ekke Väli modelled the momorial on the basis of photos, and he was consulted by Endel Taniloo, a senior sculptor, during the restoration of Kalevipoeg.

  • Monuments

The steam engine monument

The year 1886 when the plan to build the Pihkva-Riga railway with a branch from Valga to Tartu became a crucial year in the development of the little town.The steam engine monument erected near the Valga railway station in 1998 celebrates the 110th anniversary of the Pihkva-Valga-Riga rail connection. Engine SU 251-98 was built in the Sormovo Shipyard in 1949. Interesting facts: * the engine weighs 87 tons and its output is 12 tons of steam per hour; * Riga-Pihkva railway was officially opened on 22 July 1889 in Pihkva.

  • Monuments

Monument to Barclay de Tolly

Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (1761–1818) was a Russian military commander and a field marshal general. Barclay de Tolly (Russian: Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly) was descended from a family of Baltic nobility. As a Russian military commander, Barclay de Tolly displayed talent and courage in several battles for which he was awarded 14 decorations. Barclay de Tolly has been awarded the Order of St. George (1st class), the title of a Count, the rank of a Field Marshal General, and the title of a Prince.The monument was erected in 1849. The authors are V. Demut-Malinovski and A. Stsedrin. Barclay de Tolly is buried in his family tomb in Jõgeveste.

  • Monuments

Monument to Karl Ernst von Baer

Karl Ernst von Baer was a biologist, the founder of descriptive and comparative embryology and an academician of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He studied medicine in Tartu from 1810 to 1811 and obtained the degree of doctor of medicine here. He was a professor of zoology and anatomy in Königsberg from 1817. He studied anthropology, geography and ichthyology during his time in St Petersburg. He spent the last years of his life (1867-1876) in Tartu where he wrote his 3-volume collection of articles and speeches and participated in the activities of the Estonian Naturalists Society and was elected its president in 1869.The statue of Karl Ernst von Baer was completed in 1886, its author is M. Opeku.

  • Monuments

The Fr. R. Kreutzwaldi Monument and Park on the Shore of Lake Tamula

The Monument to Dr. Fr. R. Kreutzwald is located in a park on the shore of Lake Tamula. The author of the monument is A. Adamson and it was cast in bronze in Italy. The monument was opened in 1926. It is not known when the park was founded, however the age of most of the species of trees, birches and lindens is estimated at more than one hundred years. The coniferous trees in the park include spruces and firs. Lake Tamula has an oval shape in an east-west direction with an average depth of 4.2 m. The lake is deepest to the northeast of its centre (7.5 m) and has a surface area of 231 ha. There is a swimming area, beach and a beautiful promenade on the shore on the city side. In Kreutzwald Park, there is an accessible trail.

  • Monuments

Monument to Friedrich Robert Faehlmann

The monument to Friedrich Robert Faehlmann – a bronze bust on a pillar of local grey granite – was opened in front of the Old Anatomical Theatre at Toomemägi, Tartu, on 18 May 1930. Friedrich Robert Faehlmann (1798 - 1850) was one of the founders of Estonian national literature, a physician and a democrat. He studied in Rakvere District School, Tartu Upper Secondary School and the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Tartu. Faehlmann worked as a physician in Tartu from 1824. He worked in the Old Anatomical Theatre. He was a lector of the Estonian language in the university and sometimes also gave lectures in pharmacology and prescriptions.