Mõigu cemetery ( or ''Kirchhof von Moik'', ) was a large

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 ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

, located in the

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 ...

suburb of

Mõigu Mõigu is a subdistrict of the district of Kesklinn (Town Center) in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located on the northeastern side of Lake Ülemiste. It has a population of 377 (). Mõigu's former German name until 1918 was ''Moik'', a ...

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

. It served as the primary burial ground for the usually wealthy and

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

citizens of the

Toompea Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...

parish of Tallinn. Containing numerous graves, it stood for over 170 years from 1774 to shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when it was completely flattened and destroyed by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupation authorities governing the country at that time.Rein Taagepera, ''Estonia: Return to Independence'', Westview Press 1993, , p. 189 Its origins and destruction are very similar to that of the

Kopli cemetery The Kopli cemetery ( or ; ) was Estonia's largest Lutheran Baltic German cemetery, located in the suburb of Kopli in Tallinn. It contained thousands of graves of prominent citizens of Tallinn and stood from 1774 to shortly after World War II, wh ...

(also in Tallinn).

Origins 1771–1774

Between 1771 and 1772,

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, empress of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, issued an

edict An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu ...

which

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

d that, from that point on, any person who died (regardless of their social standing or class origins), no longer had the right to be buried within church

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

s or adjacent

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

s. New cemeteries had to be built across the entire Russian empire, and from then on they all had to be located ''outside'' city limits. One of the main motivations behind these measures was overcrowding in church crypts and graveyards. However the true deciding factor which led to the new laws being enforced on such a mass scale across the entire Russian empire was to avoid further outbreaks of highly contagious diseases, especially the

black plague The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

which had led to the Plague Riot in Moscow in 1771. Against this background the cemetery at Mõigu was founded in 1774 on the outskirts of Tallinn on an area that was owned and administered by the Toompea cathedral of Tallinn. It served as a burial ground for over 170 years for Baltic Germans who lived and died in the

parish of Tallinn between 1774 and 1944.

Destruction by Soviet authorities after 1945

Around 1950–1951 the cemetery was entirely flattened by Soviet occupation authorities.

Gravestones A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

were used to build walls along the ports and sidewalks in other parts of the city and no trace of the cemetery was left standing. The Soviet forces, in a coordinated effort to remove all traces of the past, non-ethnic Russian inhabitants of Tallinn also destroyed two other 16th and 18th century cemeteries in the city, in the suburbs of

Kopli Kopli (Estonian for ''"Paddock"'') is a subdistrict of the district of Põhja-Tallinn (Northern Tallinn) in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located on the Kopli Peninsula and is bordered by parts of the Tallinn Bay, the Kopli Bay to the ...

and

Kalamaja Kalamaja (Estonian for ''Fish House''; ) is a subdistrict of the district of Põhja-Tallinn (Northern Tallinn) in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is located just northwest of the historical town centre, on the coast of the Tallinn Bay. Kala ...

which belonged to the ethnic Estonian and

communities. In contrast the Russian Orthodox Cemetery, also established in the 18th century, south of the old town of Tallinn, was left standing.

Current status

The only surviving evidence of those who were interred there consists of the parish registers of burials and some old detailed maps of the area in the Tallinn city archives. The area of the former cemetery today lies abandoned, however Estonian authorities are planning a conservation of the area.

Sources

* Adolf Richters. ''Baltische Verkehrs- und Adreßbücher'', Band 3-Estland, Riga 1913 * Schmidt, Christoph. Bergengruens Tod von Reval aus historischer Sicht. ''

Journal of Baltic Studies The Journal of Baltic Studies, the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS), is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary academic journal founded in 1970 and published quarterly by Routledge. It is dedicated to t ...

'', 29:4 (1998), 315–325 * ''Tallinna Kalmistud'', Karl Laane, Tallinn, 2002,

External links

Image of an 1860 map showing the district of Moigu and the area of the cemeteryPhotos of the present day remains of the cemetery after 55 years after the destruction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moigu Cemetery Baltic-German culture History of Tallinn Demolished buildings and structures in Estonia Former cemeteries German cemeteries Lutheran cemeteries in Estonia 1774 establishments in Europe 1951 disestablishments Cemeteries in Tallinn 18th-century establishments in Estonia Cemeteries established in the 1770s

Origins 1771–1774

Destruction by Soviet authorities after 1945

Current status

See also

Sources

External links