The 6 Best Things to Do in Kardla, Estonia

The centre of the Hiiumaa Museum. Popularly known as the Long House (the longest wooden house in Kardla, over 60 m), the building was constructed in the 1830s as the residence for the directors of the Hiiu-Kardla Cloth Factory. It has been home to several generations of Ungern-Sternbergs and Peltzers. During the Soviet period, the building was used by various agencies.The Long House includes workrooms and offices, depositories, a library, concert and exhibition halls. In addition to the story of the development of Kardla and the factory, a factory worker’s residence is on display. Various short-term Exhibitions are also organized year- round.

Behind the Hiiumaa Museum Long House there is a 3.3 hectare Beach Park. Once the location of a Swedish graveyard until Kardla baron Robert Eginhard von Ungern-Sternberg had a free-form park established instead. For a long time it was called the Baron’s garden. In the western side of the park on a small hill there is a cast iron cross, commemorating the Swedish graveyard. The main trees in the park are domestic. Foreign tree species include larches, white pine and several fir species. The most interesting tree – red beech tree – grows in the south-west side of the park. Altogether 34 species of trees and bushes have been counted in the park.

In 1830 brothers Konstantin and Eduard von Ungern-Sternberg brought the woollen textile factory from Suuremoisa over to Kardla. The factory that definitively influenced the development of Kardla and the whole of Hiiumaa grew very fast. In 1830 there were 210 employees, in 1880 already 770. With its 2000 citizens Kardla became a considerable centre of its time. In October 1941 the factory was destroyed but the houses of workers and the house of the baron (Long House) have survived. In 1982 a monument for the Kardla woollen textile factory was erected; the figure, placed on a granite base and cut hollow, symbolizes a loom.

The church of Kardla was dedicated to John the Baptist and was constructed in 1863. It is the third church in Kardla.The barons of Emmaste, Suuremoisa and Putkaste were the initiators of the idea to build the church and gave the baron of Kardla 2000 roubles for that purpose. The workers of the cloth factory made voluntary donations and a part of the money for the construction was taken from the workers wages.It is an architecturally harmonic, typical hall church with an “open” bell tower crowning the western facade (unique in Estonia).The architecture of the stylish and beautiful church in Kardla is simple and ascetic. This architectural monument is one of the most distinguished working-class churches.

There is a monument called Kivi-Juri in Hiiumaa that looks like a soldier’s head on a granite base, located at the crossroads of Heltermaa, Kaina and Korgessaare highways coming from Kardla. The authors of the monument are sculptor Endel Taniloo and architect Ulo Sirp. Kivi-Juri is the largest granite bust and it weighs altogether 46 tons, 36 tons of which is the base and 10 tons the head leaning on the base. The monument was opened in September 1966 to commemorate all soldiers.

The City Park takes up 5.2 ha. The first part of the park was established in the 1860s after the church was finished in a place called Kirikupollu (Church field). A more thorough tree planting took place in the beginning of the 20th century. The youngest part of the park was planted in the 1970s. Kardla song festival grounds are located in the City Park. The first song festival in Hiiumaa took place in 1867 in Leigri village in the yard of Murru pub. There is evidence of a children’s party in Lepakopil in Kardla already from 1874. In 1926 the first national song festival was held in Kardla. This was conducted by Tuudur Vettik, a composer, choral conductor and music teacher who later became one of the leaders of the Estonian national song festivals.