'The Kissing Students' sculpture and fountain is one of the most recognised symbols of Tartu. The fountain has stood in the same place since 1948, when newlyweds and their guests would visit it for luck, and people would also take a dip in it. The sculpture was created by Mati Karmin and completed in 1998. Since 2006 the fountain has been surrounded by tiles bearing the names of Tartu's sister cities – Bærum, Deventer, Ferrara, Fredriksberg, Hafnarfjörður, Hämeenlinna, Kaunas, Lüneburg, Pihkva, Riia, Salisbury, Tampere, Turu, Uppsala, Veszprem and Zutphen. Each of these is situated in the direction that the cities lie from Tartu, with the distances marked.
The Kaarnakivi Stone by the sculptor Tiiu Kirsipuu is a memorial to the writer Juhan Jaik erected on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Fantasy author Juhan Jaik (1899-1948), born in Sänna in Võru County, wrote captivating and enchanting stories and poems for both adults and children. "Kaarnakivi", a collection of ghost and animal stories, is an Estonian children's literature classic that continues to excite readers today.The "kaarnakivi", as many Estonians already know, is a stone that gives its finder whatever he or she wants, if a person knows how to use it prudently.
Otepää irradiates good energy! The monument that celebrates the existence of positive energy fields was opened in Mäe Street on 1 October 1992.The entire field is surrounded by benches and the location of these as well as the column itself was selected by psychics. The energy column is the symbol which reminds us that in this rapidly changing world, humans are a part of nature and everything is based on the rules of nature that rely on balance and co-dependency.
Standing in the landcaped area opposite the former main entrance of the Räpina Paper Factory is the Tree Garden Warrior, a monument to the historical Tree Garden War designed by Riho Kuld in 1984. The locals refer to the warrior as the Iron Man.In 1784 a peasant uprising took place in Räpina following the levying of a bounty tax. In the tree garden of the local manor a battle erupted between the soldiers and the local farmhands, who were armed with poles - ending in the deaths of five local men.
The emotional and powerful memorial (2016) was erected to honour the harsh fate of the people deported from Võru and Võru County from 1941 to 1952. The sculptor is Jaak Soans.The memorial depicts two rows of bronze animal wagons placed on a concrete block 1.6 metres high, with human figures visible between them. A ramp made of original railway sleepers and dolomite gravel, which is 4 metres wide and 16 metres long, takes to the memorial. The total length of the memorial complex is almost 24 meters.
You can feel touched by the divine when walking on the beach or swimming in Lake Pühajärv.Namely, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935), the leader of the Tibetan people, visited Estonia and Otepää on 3 October, 1991. He blessed Lake Pühajärv on the same day. The historical visit is commemorated with a wooden sculpture near the beach in Pühajärv Park.
The monument consists of the number 100,000 carved of granite with the bronze sculpture of a child sitting on number 1. The monument celebrating the birth of the 100,000th Tartu resident was initially located in the green area between the former Restaurant Kaunas and the Võidu Bridge. The monument was moved onto the banks of the Emajõgi River between Atlantis and Kaarsild.
Karl Menning was the founder of professional theatre in Estonia and the first professional theatre and stage director in the country. He was the director of the Vanemuine Theatre from 1906 to 1914. His sculpture was created by Mare Mikoff and is unique for the fact that it can be turned on the spot.