Why visit Estonia?

“The incredible Estonians” was one working title for this project; another, “Living at the edge of free Europe”. How have 1.2 million Estonians survived and thrived, living in 4.5 million hectares of flat, largely forested or cultivated land, despite centuries of foreign invasions?

Answers to this question I have sought, mindful of those who stayed in Estonia through the 1944-1991 Soviet occupation, while our grandma and father and so many others fled into exile, to far-flung parts of the world. Many others were deported to Siberia, and some returned, a namesake relative among them.

One clue lies in the Finno-Ugrian heritage of the Estonian people; this combines an idiosyncratic language with a deep connection to nature and place.

Perhaps, there is something in chopping wood for the sauna, picking berries and mushrooms, mid-year gardening and bottling produce, relaxing at the summer house, and hunkering down over the winter that has forged an enduring people from millennia-old roots.

Melancholy is certainly part of the Estonian character (along with a northern European drinking culture), yet most Estonians display a remarkable can-do attitude, unleashing a digital technology revolution, renewed vigour to urban life, and, crucially, enthusiasm for the Western enlightenment and democracy as  powerful antidotes to socialism and dictatorship.

Estonia today is at a crossroads, and this is also true for many western countries. A declining population puts strain on hospitals and schools. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has spelled unease, even with Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Travelling around Estonia and reading a lot since offers optimism. Traditional song and dance festivals, a flourishing literature, the annual Tartu ski marathon, state-funded nature conservation, the restoring of old farmsteads, excellent museums and information displays – all this and more show a nation’s keenness to not forget a darker past, to hold onto an age-old identity, and to future-proof Estonia.     

Cycling through Estonia in 2023 we were reminded again and again of the fallen in war, our grandfather and a brother-in-law of his among them - we ask ourselves; surely, their sacrifice was not in vain.

The Estonian diaspora can also play our part, by visiting Estonia, acquiring the nationality, taking on some of the language and culture, and enjoying the best of Estonian cuisine. That also goes for anyone interested in how a tough little country has survived and thrived over the millennia since the ice receded and the Baltic sea formed. There could be something in Estonia and Estonians of value to the rest of the world, to anyone open to receiving it.