Maiasmokk (, literally 'sweet lip') is a historical

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, the capital of Estonia. In its current form it dates back to 1864, making it the oldest operational café in Estonia. The premises also contain a museum about the history and uses of

marzipan Marzipan is a confectionery, confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into Confectionery, sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and ...

. It is currently owned by the Kalev company.

Location and description

Café

The official website of the Maiasmokk says that the café "offers you fresh pastries, pies and cakes made at the cafe as well as delicious handmade candies." It also has hot coffee offered in a variety of forms. The café has two floors. The coffee-house is located at the intersection of Pikk and Pühavaimu streets, in the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

of Tallinn. It lies diagonally opposite the Church of the Holy Ghost, and the Great Guild (housing parts of the

Estonian History Museum Estonian History Museum () is a museum about the history of Estonia in Tallinn. It was initially established by the pharmacist Johann Burchart, who ran the town hall pharmacy known as the Raeapteek. Inaugurated in 1987, it picks up where its cou ...

). The interior of the café has remained unchanged for almost a century.

Museum

Apart from the café, the premises also contain a room with an exhibition about the history and uses of

. The Kalev Marzipan Museum Room has around 200 marzipan figures, made from molds over 100 years old, and features marzipan painting and lectures. A marzipan artist, who does the marzipan painting, is always located in the museum.

History

Maiasmokk is said to be the oldest cafe which is still operational in Estonia. The history of the coffee-house goes back to August 11 1806, when sugar baker Lorenz Cavietzel obtained the right to the land on which the present building stands. It was the first sugar bakery was established here, but it was not until 1864 that the presently visible café was constructed. In 1864, the property was bought and redeveloped by the

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

confectioner Georg Stude, and a café has operated in the premises since then. During the late 19th century, the coffee-house became renowned for its

production, and clients buying marzipan included the

Russian Imperial family The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russia. Ni ...

. At the beginning of the 20th century, prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the café received several valuable awards. In 1941, the company became nationalised, but the café continued to operate during the Soviet occupation of Estonia. In 1997, after Estonia had re-gained its independence, the café was registered as a private enterprise. A majority of the shares were bought by Kalev in 2004, and it is today (2015) a part of the Kalev company. In 2006 the Estonian Post Office created a postage stamp to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the cafe. In 2010, Kalev also bought the house in which the café is located.

References

{{Coord, 59, 26, 17.40, N, 24, 44, 43.71, E, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Coffeehouses and cafés Estonian cuisine Tourist attractions in Tallinn Marzipan Restaurants in Tallinn Tallinn Old Town