Aegna

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About Aegna

Aegna Island (formerly also called Wulf Island) is located in the northern part of Tallinn Bay. The island is 300 hectares in size and the maximum height from sea level is 14 meters.

On the 16th century Aegna and the nearby area waters were frequently visited by pirates. From 1528 to 1566, the Tallinn town council had armed soldiers with boats on the island to keep pirates off.
When Swedish pirates had a foray of Aegna in 1577, they did not take only the islanders’ belongings but the islanders themselves as well. By the 17th century the threat of forays was gone.

Until 1689 Aegna was subject to the Tallinn town council, but after that it belonged to the Sweden. During the Great Northern War, when czarist army invaded Tallinn in 1710, Aegna was also captured by Russians.
In 1721, the island was made a quarantine center. In 1728 a cannon battery was placed on the island.

In 1726, 3 families lived in the village; by 1770 there were just two actively used farms. At the end of the18th century an estate owner from Viimsi activated the life on Aegna and the village got a chapel. More people came to live on the island. The estate owner gave free wood, but the rest of the necessary materials to build a house had to be taken care of by the newcomers themselves. The new habitants built houses of their own, but as soon as the roof was ready, their home started belonging to the estate owner, and the farm owner became a lessee. 19th century brought some positive changes (new warning signs for sailors, new chapel was blessed), which was reflected in the number of population as well. By 1900 there were already seven farms on Aegna. The main activities of the islanders were fishing and seal hunting and of course farming their tiny properties.

20th century brought changes everywhere in the world and the small world of Aegna did not stay untouched either. During the First World War the whole population of the island was chased out of their homes and Aegna became a military zone. Powerful cannons were mounted, battalions constructed (including side buildings) and a narrow railway built (it still exist on the island). The war ended and by 1920 the rule over the island had moved from Russians to Estonians, from Estonians to Germans and finally back to Estonians. The island was now an Estonian military point. Old barracks were reconstructed and new ones built. Aegna remained closed for civilians. Only families of the officers (*in the picture: Konstantin Tingas) had a permission to live on the island. Agena’s school and pilot station were founded in 1938.

At the beginning of the Soviet invasion in 1940, Estonians had to leave the island. For a while Germans felt cozy on the island but it ended soon, when the Soviet Army came to power again in 1944. Aegna was again a military zone, where civilians where not allowed. In the summer of 1961, seasonal regular boat traffic was opened and only those who had a permission to stay at the holiday center were permitted to visit the island.
In 1975, the island was given to Tallinn and permits to enter the island were given to the residents of the city. 1960–1990 there were approximately 20 holiday centers on the island, which could accommodate up to 600 persons. The holiday centers where first owned by former Soviet jurisdiction companies and later by the biggest RAS (state owned companies): Estonian Phosphor, Estonian Tobacco, Estonian Paper, Estonian Talleks, Consumer Glass, Kommunaar, Tallinn Mechanical Factory, Klementi, Flora, etc. Back at that time, Aegna received about 30,000 visitors per year, which is was the high-end of the island.