Ruhnu ( sv, Runö; german: Runö; lv, Roņu sala) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main c ...

in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

. It is administratively part of

Saare County Saare County ( et, Saare maakond or ''Saaremaa''; la, Oesel; german: Ösel; sv, Ösel) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It consists of Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, and several smaller islands near it, most notably Muhu, Ruhnu, A ...

but is geographically closer to the Latvian mainland. At , it has currently fewer than 100, mostly ethnic Estonian, permanent inhabitants. Ruhnu Parish has the smallest population of Estonia's 79

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. Before 1944, it was for centuries populated by ethnic Swedes and traditional Swedish law was used.

History

The first archaeological artifacts of human activity in Ruhnu, assumed to be related to seasonal

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

hunting, date back to around 5000 BC. The time of arrival of the first ancient

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

ns in Ruhnu and the beginning of a permanent Swedish-speaking settlement is not known. It probably did not precede the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around th ...

at the beginning of the 13th century, when the indigenous peoples of all the lands surrounding the Gulf of Riga were converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and subjugated to the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. The first documented record of the island of Ruhnu, and of its Swedish population, is a 1341 letter sent by the Bishop of Courland which confirmed the islanders' right to reside and manage their property in accordance with Swedish law. Ruhnu was controlled by the Kingdom of Sweden (1621–1708, formally until 1721) and after that by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

until

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when it was occupied by Imperial

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

armed forces (1915–1918). Under the tsarist Russian rule in the 18th–19th century the island had ''de facto'' independence in most affairs, though designated as crown land. The island's

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

clergyman served as ''gutsverwalter'' (estate custodian) in matters of state. In the middle of the 19th century, a majority of the islanders sought to leave Lutheranism and join the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

, and formal steps in this direction took place in 1866 with papers exchanged with the Orthodox dean of

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the isla ...

in anticipation of Orthodox

chrismation Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as conf ...

. But the planned conversion did not proceed. After World War I, despite some local initiatives to rejoin Sweden, and territorial claims by Latvia, the islanders agreed to become part of newly independent Estonia in 1919 (possibly due to the existence of a Swedish minority in Estonia). According to a census taken in 1934, Ruhnu had a population of 282: 277 ethnic Swedes and 5 ethnic Estonians. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Ruhnu, along with the rest of Estonia, was first occupied by Soviet Union (1940–1941) and then

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

(1941–1944). In November 1943, the first group of about 75 islanders relocated to Sweden. In August 1944, shortly before the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

reoccupied Estonia, the remaining population of the island, except for two families, fled by ship to Sweden. The islanders in Sweden established an association, ''Runöbornas förening'', to preserve the history and culture of Ruhnu's original population. During the period of Soviet occupation after 1944, the island was repopulated by Estonian civilians and also hosted a unit of the

Soviet Air Defence Forces The Soviet Air Defence Forces (russian: войска ПВО, ''voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'', ''voyska PVO'', ''V-PVO'', lit. ''Anti-Air Defence Troops''; and formerly ''protivovozdushnaya oborona strany'', ''PVO strany'', lit. ''Anti-Air De ...

. The property of the former islanders was declared property of the state and a collective farm was established. In 1965 the first Ruhnu- Kihnu Games were held, this cultural and sports festival attracting attention throughout Estonia. Following a severe storm in 1969 and the closure of the local fishery collective in 1970, the population declined from 222 to only 58.

Life on Ruhnu today

After Estonia regained independence in 1991, buildings, land, and other property on Ruhnu Island were returned to those with ownership claims that went back to before to the Soviet occupation of Estonia, or to their descendants. In case of Ruhnu, those descendants were mostly resident in Sweden. Most of them did not return to Ruhnu, but they still occasionally visit the land of their ancestors. Ruhnu is served by the

Ruhnu Airfield Ruhnu Airfield is an airfield on Ruhnu island in Estonia. The airfield is situated to the south of the island, southeast of Kuressaare, near the village of Ringsu. It is owned by the same company as Kuressaare Airport, located 70km further no ...

which has scheduled flights from

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...

and

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

from October to April. Passenger ferries operate from May to October from Pärnu, Roomassaare and Munalaid. The island has a quadripod tower lighthouse, which stands on the highest point of the island, Haubjerre hill. It was prefabricated in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and shipped to Ruhnu for assembly in 1877. The structure was designed by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

. The Ruhnu wooden church, built in 1644, is one of the oldest wood constructed buildings in Estonia. The church's baroque-style tower was finished in 1755. The stone

church next to the wooden one was built in 1912 and is currently where services are held. Limo beach is one of the island's most popular and accessible beaches for tourists. Ruhnu tuletorni ülevaataja elamu

Geologically the island is the higher part of a submarine drumlin-like ridge. Ruhnu is home to a rare native breed of

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

called the Estonian Ruhnu ( et, eesti maalammas). The breed numbers approximately 33 individuals and are used primarily for wool. A herd of fifty highland cattle were introduced to Ruhnu in 2013, in an attempt to restore the semi-natural coastal

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

s in the southwestern part of the island.ERR News: ''Highland cattle imported to remote island''
/ref> In the spring of 2006, a

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

arrived on Ruhnu via an ice floe across the

from the mainland of Latvia, some away. The bear's journey and resettlement on the island became a highly publicized media sensation in both the Estonian and Latvian press, as Ruhnu has been devoid of any large carnivores for many centuries. The bear continued to evade capture for months and environment ministry officials reported that tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive bear outnumbered permanent residents.Carnivore Conservation: ''Elusive bear wanders Ruhnu Island and makes its population double''. Friday, June 2, 2006
/ref> The bear is believed by authorities to have since returned to Latvia.BBC News: ''Latvia bears giant chocolate gift.'' April 6, 2007
/ref>

References

External links

Ruhnu

DMOZ Ruhnu
- A list of English sites about Ruhnu.
Ruhnu marina.

Diamond Sky OÜ
- Airline providing services from Ruhnu Airfield {{Authority control Estonian islands in the Baltic Municipalities of Estonia Villages in Saare County Kreis Ösel Landforms of Saare County

History

Life on Ruhnu today

Further reading

See also

References

External links