The abolition of serfdom, the improvement of economic conditions of Estonians, and the ideas of the Enlightenment all contributed to creating a cultural explosion which marked the Estonians’ joining the ranks of the “nations of culture”. Those who managed to get to the university no longer changed their nationality, |
but were consciously Estonian. F.R. Kreutzwald, a doctor, compiled a national epic based on folk songs that was initially meant as a romantic tribute to the past glory of a nation doomed to vanish. Influential Estonian newspapers were printed, folk songs and items of folklore were collected. In 1869, the tradition of |
nationwide song festivals was established. The festivals have successfully continued until the present day. Professional Estonian art in all its forms was born during the last decades of the 19th century. For Estonians, the patriotic poetry with tragic undertones has an everlasting significance. |
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