The Raeapteek (; ) is a pharmacy in the center of

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 ...

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 ...

. Opposite the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, at 11 Raekoja plats, it is one of the oldest continuously running

pharmacies Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

in Europe, having always been in business in the same house since the early 15th century. It is also the oldest commercial enterprise and the oldest medical establishment in Tallinn. The first known image of the Town-Hall Pharmacy is an oil painting by Gustav Adolph Oldekop, showing Tallinn's Town Hall Square in 1800. The first photos of the building date from 1889.

History

Historians have not been able to determine when exactly the pharmacy opened, but the oldest records available show that the Raeapteek was already on its third owner in 1422. Some scholars consider the opening year to be 1415. In a town council's notebook, there is an entry by a chemist named Nuclawes who stated that the owners of the pharmacy are 10 honourable men, the majority of whom are

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

. Other documents dated after 1422 refer that the first chemist here was Johann Molner and that medicines were already being sold at the pharmacy in the second half of the 15th century.

The Burchart (Burchard) family: 1582–1911

The Burchart (Burchard) family are those most closely associated with the pharmacy's history, having run the business for over 10 generations, spanning over 325 years from around 1582 to 1911. Between 1579 and 1581, a Hungarian immigrant named

Johann Burchart Johannes Burchart I (1546–1616), born János Both Bélaváry de Szikava (), was a pharmacist and druggist and the first of a line of doctors and pharmacists who owned the Raeapteek in Reval (Tallinn, Estonia), from 1582 to 1911. He also owned ...

Both Belavary de Sykava, moved to

from his hometown of

Pressburg Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(present day

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

) and obtained a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

from the city council to run the business of the pharmacy. He was to be the first in a long

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

of pharmacists that were to run the Raeapteek. He also started the family tradition of giving the firstborn son the name "Johann" who was always expected to carry on the family business. This tradition was carried on for eight further generations, until the late 19th century with the birth of the tenth firstborn son in 1843 called Johann X Burchart. The Burcharts were well-educated and often were not only pharmacists but also

doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

. They played a significant role in the life of the town. In 1688, Johann Burchart the IV finally was able to purchase the pharmacy from the city council for 600

thaler A thaler or taler ( ; , previously spelled ) is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A ''thaler'' size silver coin has a diameter o ...

s. In 1690, the Burchart dynasty and Town-Hall Apothecary's rights and obligations were confirmed with a privilege written by the ruling king

Charles XI of Sweden Charles XI or Carl (; ) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of History of Sweden, Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721). He was the only son of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden ...

. In 1710, Johann Burchart V started his career while Tallinn was being ravaged by 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. ...

. When Tallinn capitulated to the Russian army in the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, he was one of the first to provide the Russian army with medicines. In 1716, he became the town doctor and the doctor of the garrison and the naval hospital. The fame of the Burchart family became so great that in 1725 even the Russian Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

supposedly called for Johann Burchart V to attend to him on his deathbed, but he died before Burchart reached St. Petersburg. In 1802, Johann Burchart VIII established a private museum of local life and curiosities, calling it "Mon faible". Several items from his collection are now displayed in 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 ...

. In 1802, he organized the first art exhibition in Tallinn. From 1880 to 1885 the first

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

speaking pharmacist with a degree from

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

Oskar Mildebrath Oskar Fridrich Woldemar Mildebrath (March 2, 1849 – January 9, 1900) was a pharmacist in the Russian Empire who founded one of the oldest rural pharmacies in the country that stayed in business continuously at the same place, in the same build ...

was hired by the Pharmacy. The last two Burcharts were men of ill health, who could not supervise the pharmacy and leased it out to others again. The Burcharts rule over the pharmacy came to an end in the 1890s with the death of the last male heir of the named Johann X Burchart. The sisters of Johann X sold the property in 1911 to C.R. Lehbert, ending the family-run business which had lasted for ten generations.

1944–1991

During the second

occupation of Baltic States The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...

, the pharmacy was nationalized.

1991 to present

After 1990, the entire pharmacy underwent extensive refurbishment, as the building had been neglected for almost 50 years. This refurbishment lasted over 10 years until 2003. Presently the main part of the pharmacy is located on the first floor and sells most modern

medicines Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

, including

aspirin Aspirin () is the genericized trademark for acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation, and as an antithrombotic. Specific inflammatory conditions that aspirin is ...

, and even supplies

condoms A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condoms, also called male condoms, and internal (female) ...

. There is an antiques shop on the first floor and in 1999 a garlic restaurant called "Balthasar" was opened on the second floor. Raeapteek sign

Features

Near the modern pharmacy on the first floor there is a small museum displaying old medical instruments, historical chemist tools and other curiosities. Set in the wall, the museum also contains a large stone

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the Burchart family, dating from 1635. It shows a

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

with a

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

and underneath a

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

between lilies. On the second floor, there is a pillar on which a stonemason has carved the date 1663 together with Burchart's coat of arms.

Products sold throughout history

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

times patients could buy mummy juice (powder made of oversea mummies mixed with liquid), burnt hedgehogs powder, burnt bees, bat powder, snakeskin potion and unicorn horn powder for treatments. Also, available were earthworms,

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

's nests and various herbs and spirits, distilled at the spot. Food was also sold such as candies, cookies, preserves and marzipan and jellied peel. Spicy cookies called "morsells" were a specialty. One could even find a glass of Klaret (a locally sugared and spiced Rhine-wine wine). Later, the pharmacy acquired the privilege to import around 400 liters of French

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

tax-free on an annual basis. The pharmacy also sold paper, ink, sealing-wax, dyes, gunpowder, pellets, spices, candles and torches. When tobacco was brought to Europe and eventually to Estonia, the pharmacy was the first to sell it.

Sources

* Seuberlich, Erich: Liv- und Estlands älteste Apotheken. Beiträge zu deren Geschichte gesammelt und bearbeitet von Erich Seuberlich. Riga, Druck von F.W. Häcker 1912
Website of the restaurant "Balthasar" on the second floor. Includes a short history of the pharmacy

History of the Pharmacy

R. Sõukand, A. Raal: Data on medicinal plants in Estonian folk medicine: collection, formation and overview of previous researches
* Miljan, Toivo, 2004: Historical Dictionary of Estonia.
limited preview

Website of the pharmacy

References

{{coord, 59, 26, 16.1, N, 24, 44, 45.64, E, region:EE-37_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Tallinn History of Tallinn Pharmacies of Estonia History of pharmacy 15th-century establishments in Estonia Kesklinn, Tallinn Tourist attractions in Tallinn Tallinn Old Town