Christmas village 

The Christmas village will take place at the Estonian Open Air Museum on  December 13 and 14, from 11am to 4pm!

Christmas village “Christmas with the written word”

As the Christmas season is approaching, keep in mind that a book is still the best gift. But how can we describe the reverence for a biblical verse read aloud by the head of the family on Christmas Eve by the dim light of candles in the kiln room or the joy of a kid getting their first storybook as a gift 100 years ago? What role did schoolmasters play in spreading the written word?

 

Books, fiction and non-fiction alike, were appreciated as presents throughout history, but even a colourful greeting card brought joy. During the first Estonian Republic, Christmas tips for housewives were printed in the magazine Taluperenaine, and in the 1990, Anttila catalogues were all the rage. There were also times when some written works were banned.

  

This year’s Christmas Village of the Estonian Open Air Museums brings you living pictures of how literature shaped our people’s Christmas mood and contributed to the emergence of new traditions.

 

You can meet Santa and the Yule Goat in our Christmas village, who will gladly listen to children’s Christmas carols and verses. Horse riding or kick sled riding will be available depending on the weather. There will be choirs singing in Sutlepa chapel, and several stalls of Christmas goods can be found in front of Kolu inn.

 

Summer kitchen tent on Sassi-Jaani farm – Good tea from the Association of the Estonian Open Air Museum’s Friends

This is where you can find a pleasantly hot delicious beverage and take away some lines of wisdom from a good book.

 

Köstriaseme farm – Spiritual reading of rural people

The first books that found their way into homes of Estonians in the countryside were spiritual, and the long rest during Christmas meant there was time to study the written word. The owner of Köstriaseme farm is reading the Bible to the household. You can help him read Gothic type and have a discussion about the text with him. The farmer’s wife will be teaching visitors how to make simple straw Christmas decorations.

 

Kiln room on Pulga farm – Christmas on the farm

The hostess on Pulga farm has already set the festive table, and the only thing left is to make white pudding sausages. The children are playing old games and will be happy to teach them to you. The farmer has brought home a calendar for the upcoming year 1882. You can join the family and see what new knowledge it brings to the farm household.

 

Härjapea farm – ‘When father gave me books …’ (Jüri Parijõgi)

The owner of Härjapea farm has brought various books from the city to inspire everyone in the family. One of the kids wants to be a writer and the other is thinking about publishing a farm newspaper. The farmer’s wife has set her eyes on the pumpernickel recipe from the new cooking book. In the large living room, you can join in and make Christmas decorations by following the instructions from 1930s’ magazines.

 

Lau shop – Christmas goods and postcards

The shop is busier than usual before Christmas. While trade is bustling at the storefront, there is a postcard from faraway Argentina to adore in the living room. The shop owner welcomes kids who want to make a nice Christmas postcard and send it to their relatives.

 

Kolu inn – Christmas food and fun

Like any village inn, ours is the centre of village life. You can try traditional festive dishes in the main hall and stable room while several stalls of Christmas goods can be found in front of Kolu inn. You can also meet Santa and the Yule Goat nearby, who will gladly listen to children’s Christmas carols and verse and give a sweet treat in return.

 

Books in the apartments of the Kolkhoz building
1967 – Everything old is new again

The familiar smell of piparkook gingerbread cookies reminds the kolkhoz workers it’s that festive Christmas season again. Maila’s mom has given her daughter a cooking book she used as a young girl, so why not test an old piparkook recipe in this Soviet year.

1980 – Prized publications

Any good reading is very hard to get, but the family has managed to procure a coveted bestseller, Arthur Hailey’s ‘Airport’, in exchange for scrap paper. A friend of the hostess has taken a copy of Burda magazine with her, and the women are going to sew dresses for the Christmas celebration using its patterns. The father of the family is studying his new handbook ‘Stoves, ovens, fireplaces’: he intends to build the stove in the new house himself.

1993 – Shopping catalogues and tabloids

This was when people took more interest in the publications banned before than actual books. Yellow newspapers and magazines with their gossip features and paparazzi photos gained popularity. Shopping catalogues showed you the images of wonderful goods from the West, which often remained just a dream. The family in this apartment is browsing a Kodu-Anttila catalogue and reading the latest issues of gossip magazines.

2019 – Self-help from books

Handbooks have always provided hands-on tips about construction, gardening or cooking. In the new millennium, books have more and more focused on how to face life’s challenges and care for mental health. While the hostess is cooking Christmas dinner, the daughter is reading advice from a self-help book to her.

Basement – Book restoration

It is always our favourite books that are the first to show signs of wear and need first aid. Specialists from the museum will be giving advice on how to store books and do simple repairs. You can take a book that needs help with you and ask them how to restore it.

 

Kuie school – Christmas songs and the schoolmaster’s library

The year 1935 was declared the Book Year, so the school could buy some new books for the library, and the schoolmaster is introducing them to the members of the local education association who have gathered in the school building. Kids can listen to the reading of the Laste Rõõm [Children’s Joy] magazine and sing good old songs together.

 

Sepa farm – Christmas in secret

During the Soviet period, Christmas was banned as a religious festival, but some families still celebrated Christmas in secret. Candles were lit behind windows with additional blackout covers, and Christmas gifts were given. It is the year 1952, and the kolkhoz blacksmith’s family has found their old Bible although banned books generally remain well hidden.

 

Sutlepa chapel – Christmas concerts and sermon
13 December
At 11.00 Mixed choir of the Saaremaa Cultural Society of Tallinn
At 12.00 Vocal ensemble of Tallinn French Lyceum
At 13.00 Choir of Tallinn English College PTA (parents, teachers, alumni)

14 December
At 13.00 Chamber choir ‘Peeteli’
At 14.00 Nõmme Folklore School
At 15.00 Christmas sermon

Barn-shed building on Kolga farm – Meelis Kihulane’s school of traditional woodwork ‘Edev Eremiit’

The event is free to attend with a museum card, Tallinn Card, or an Estonian Open Air Museum annual pass!

HOW TO FIND US?

• By car: free parking at the parking lot at the main entrance of the museum or at the rear entrance parking lot (about 1 km from the main entrance in the direction of Kakumäe).

• By public transport: buses No. 21 and 21B will bring you to the main entrance of the museum (bus stop Rocca al Mare) or to the rear gate closer to the event location (bus stop Õismäe raba). Buses No. 41 and 41b will get you from the museum to the city centre.