Historicism in Estonia
	Ants Hein

	On the night of 16 June 1820, lightning struck the spire of the most magnificent mediaeval church in Tallinn, St Olav's (Oleviste). At first one of the small corner turrets caught fire, but soon the whole spire was ablaze. Firemen were called in, but they were powerless, they did not even dare to approach the building because no one knew in which direction the burning shell was going to fall. At last - at about half past one - it collapsed with a terrible crash across Lai street. Now the real spectacle began: the towering steeple turned into a powerful flue which drew up an enormous roaring column of fire and spat out glowing firebrands. Melting copper and tin made the flames look bluish green. One could only imagine how the fire raged within the walls, listen to the clatter of falling lofts and stairways and watch whirlwinds of sparks burst out from the windows. It was all over in four hours. Nothing but smoking ruins remained of "the pride and glory of the city", as St Olav's was often called back then. Even the floors had fallen in because heat had destroyed the girders supporting the graveslabs. The fire in St Olav's church is not only one of the events that shocked the people of Tallinn in the early 19th century; with hindsight it also proved to be important from the point of view of architectural history. It was during the restoration of this church that methods and principles of construction which are characteristic of Historicist architecture were first applied in Estonia on a large scale. In many respects, St Olav's church can be seen as a monument not only to mediaeval, but also to 19th century architecture, where Neo-Gothic comes second to real Gothic.
	It is worth mentioning that the aim of rebuilding St Olav's church to look more or less as it had before was established during the first months after the fire - "to restore it to its original form without significant disfigurement and changes". Today such an idea is almost self-evident, but it was not so at the beginning of the 19th century. Let us recall that, for example, when Johann Wilhelm Krause, the architect of the University of Tartu , presented a rather similar plan to rebuild the Tartu Cathedral which lay in ruins in 1803, he had to start his prospectus with the words: "Please do not laugh at this effort..." and presenting the same plan 17 years later he was still compelled to note that "it would be the first attempt to apply mediaeval Occidental upward reaching style to Russian building". The intervening years brought about an essential change in attitudes and Alexander Feldmann and Ludwig von Maydell, who were in charge of the restoration of St Olav's, could take it as read that they would proceed from the mediaeval form. Their aim was not so much to restore the church to its original shape, as to its 'ideal form' - more ideal than the mediaeval builders could have imagined. The time had arrived when an architect, besides having "the imagination of an artist" was supposed to possess "the erudition of an archaeologist" and so the details of the church were manufactured according to "the best examples available": the window traceries, for instance, were fashioned according to the model of the windows in the chapel of Marienburg (today Malbork) Castle in Prussia, Meissen Cathedral was the example for the vault bosses, etc. But as always in such cases, the quest for 'historical' details resulted in the rigidity of form which always separates the copy from the original, and only shortly after the scaffolding had been removed, the church was considered "too clean, too smooth and new, where little has remained of the dim mystery that was there before the fire".
	At the same time as the change in ecclesiastical architecture, a turn from Neo-Classicism to Neo-Gothic took place in manorial architecture. In this respect, the most notable example is Keila-Joa Manor near Tallinn. The Count Alexander Benckendorff, one of the most powerful men in Russia at the time, bought the manor in 1827 mainly because of its attractive location: near a fast flowing river in the valley, a roaring waterfall, and with an open beach half an hours walk away. A picturesque nature required a more romantic approach to architecture and so a castle resembling a mediaeval chivalric retreat was erected. Andrei Stackenschneider, the young architect from St Petersburg who, in 1831, produced the design for the manor house, particularly emphasised the 'Gothicism' of the building, as if to justify his renunciation of Classical norms: a slender octagonal crenellated tower on the corner, lanced windows with coloured windowpanes, carved familial coats of arms above the main entrance etc., not to mention the interior design and furniture, about which one of his contemporaries said "one can only list it, as to give a more precise description one ought to be an archaeologist". "Every armchair was like the Milan Cathedral in miniature," recalled Prince Sergei Volkonski later. The 'Gothic' theme continued in the park, where one could find Neo-Gothic pavilions, monuments, bridges, and sham ruins.
	Most Neo-Gothic manor houses, however, were erected in the second half of the 19th century. One of the best examples is Sangaste in southern Estonia, which the Count Friedrich Berg had built between 1879 and 1883 according to the design of architect Otto Pius Hippius. For some reason, when talking about this particular building, many have tried to find specific prototypes (as if to emphasise the eclectic nature of the building). Usually some historical British building, such as Windsor Castle is cited, and in this context people have often referred to Count Berg's Anglophile tendencies. This assertion is justified since for the more progressive branch of the Baltic aristocracy of the time, Britain with its constitutional monarchy and more liberal economic system embodied a type of dreamland. However, actual English buildings, especially historical buildings, were hardly ever copied; what the Estonian builders found impressive was the way in which British architects delved into mediaeval architectural heritage and drew upon its resources. Because of this, if we were compelled to provide some concrete examples, we should choose English castles and estates contemporary to Sangaste, such as Peckforton in Cheshire, Minley Manor in Hampshire, Thursley Hall in Nottinghamshire, Tyntesfield in Somerset, Carlton Towers in Yorkshire or even some of the Neo-Gothic castles on the continent, e.g. Anif, Egg, and Fischborn in Austria, Welfen near Hanover and others. Architect Otto Pius Hippius also designed the most magnificent Estonian ecclesiastical building of the second half of the 19th century - Kaarli church in Tallinn, constructed between 1862 and 1870. It was no longer the Gothic style that Hippius took as his point of departure, rather building this in the Neo-Romanesque style. Like the great cathedrals of western Europe, Hippius' design affords a western front with two high towers. Yet, the true architectural magnificence of the church is concentrated into the interior - from the inside, the church seems particularly wide and majestic. The ingenious support system for the vaults plays an important role in this - the wooden ceiling is supported by brick ribs, which have made it possible for the whole expense to stand securely space without any intermediary supports. The design was developed in co-operation with Rudolf von Bernhard. The church is also remarkable for its works of art, among them the fresco depicting Christ, painted by Johann Köler, the founder of the Estonian national school of painting.
	Of course, Neo-Renaissance became popular too. Usually the House of the Nobility on Toompea Hill in Tallinn (architect Georg Winterhalter, 1846-7) is given as one of the earliest examples - with its rusticwork and narrow arched windows it is somewhat reminiscent of the of Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Still, the best example of Neo-Renaissance is a manor house - Muuga manor in Virumaa to be precise. Carl Timoleon von Neff, a successful Baltic German artist from St Petersburg, had it built between 1866 and 1871. Buying the manor, he had it in his mind to find a worthy location for his rich art collection, and as his collection consisted mainly of copies of works by ancient and Italian Renaissance masters, what could have represented a more appropriate setting than an Italian-style palazzo. When Neff was designing the building, he consulted several architects in St Petersburg and finally commissioned the drawings from Ludwig Bohnstedt. In order to give the building an especially Italian appearance, he even had a campanile erected next to it.
	Toila-Oru Hall on the northern coast of Estonia, commissioned from the architect Gavril Baranovski by Grigori Yelliseyev, a commercial and industrial tycoon from St Petersburg, represents a more luxurious Neo-Renaissance. Despite the fact that in its details (as numerous balconies, balustrades, decorative vases etc.) the building was Historicist throughout, in its overall treatment of form one could, to a certain extent, already detect the advent of the turn-of-the century Art Noveau. Unfortunately the mansion, which between 1935 and 1936 was converted into a residence of the Estonian president, burned down in World War II and now even the ruins have been demolished. At the very end of the century, the local architectural landscape was supplemented by the campaign to build Russian Orthodox churches. There had only been a few Orthodox churches in Estonia before, but as a part of the policy of Russification that began in the 1880s, tens were suddenly erected. Alexander Nevski Cathedral, which now towers over Tallinn is one of the fruits of the construction campaign. The architect Mikhail Preobrazhenski, one of the best experts on Old Russian architecture, primarily based his design on the style of the 17th century churches in Moscow. Unfortunately, in the case of this church, as well as that of most other churches built in that period on the order of the Tsarist government, one is compelled to agree more or less with the words of Alexander Herzen regarding the churches built during the rule of Nicholas I: "Without faith and any special reasons it is difficult to create a living thing. All the new churches reek of oppression, hypocrisy, and anachronism, they stand as five-piece-sets of spice boxes in the Indian-Byzantine style with onion domes on top instead of lids..."
	| Estonian Art 2/99 (6) | Published by the Estonian Institute 1999 | ISSN 1406-5711 | einst@einst.ee | tel: (372) 631 43 55 | fax: (372) 631 43 56 |