Estonians remained tillers of the land, ‘country folk’, and their cultural interests found expression in folk songs, farmhouse architecture and belt ornaments. They retained their language and secretly kept in touch with their pagan gods. In order to communicate with the peasants, the chiefly German feudal lords were forced to learn some Estonian. The major Estonian towns belonged to the Hanseatic League where Low German was spoken. Estonians |
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who managed to settle in those towns learned this language and, as a result, partly changed their nationality. The first book including some Estonian — the Lutheran catechism — was published in 1535; the Bible in its entirety appeared in 1739. Until the mid-19th century, the overriding city culture in Estonia was basically German. But in the second half of the 19th century, there was a sudden upsurge of cultural interest which has been called the National Awakening. |
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