Vainupea is a coastal village in northern

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 ...

. Administratively, it is part of

Haljala Parish Haljala Parish () is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne-Viru County. It has a population of 4297 (2021) and an area of 549 km2. Populated places Small borough Haljala - Võsu Villages Aaspere - Aasu - Aasumetsa - Aaviku - ...

, a municipality of

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

, and includes the island of Vaindloo, the northernmost point of Estonia. , there were 48 people living in the village. From the 19th century until the start of

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 ...

, Vainupea was a popular summer destination for

Baltic Germans Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettlement in 1945 after the end of World War II, Baltic Germans have drastically decli ...

on holiday.

Etymology

Vainupea was first mentioned in writing as Wainopä in 1583, in reference to both the village and its

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

. The spelling changed over the years due to the general disappearance of Finnish and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

elements from Estonian place names. The village's name became Wainopæ in 1796, Wainopae in 1871, Wainope () in 1900, Wainopäh in 1913, Vainupää in 1932, and finally Vainupea in 1991. Vainupea is a combination of the words , meaning "between two villages" or "grassland border", and , meaning "headland".

History

The village recognises 1583, the year the name of the village was first mentioned in writing as Wainopä, as its founding year. Local historians believe that villagers from Vainupea likely participated in the looting of a

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n ship that had run aground on the rocks of northern

Uhtju Island Uhtju islands (Estonian: ''Uhtju saared'' Swedish: ''Utöarna'' ) is a group of islands belonging to the country of Estonia. The largest islands are Uhtju Island ( ''Hofti'' ) or North Uhtju (10.1 ha) and Sala Island or South Uhtju (6.2 ha). ...

after a severe storm in November 1696. Vainupea rand

The landlords of Vainupea began promoting the village as a summer holiday destination in the 19th century. A large summer resort was built along with dozens of summer houses. The village attracted wealthy businessmen from

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 ...

and

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

, particularly

. Visitors to Vainupea by the 1930s were almost exclusively Baltic Germans. This trend ended with the outbreak of

in 1939.

Geography

Vainupea is located on the northern coast of Estonia and covers an area of . It is part of

, a municipality of

, and is also within the boundaries of

Lahemaa National Park Lahemaa National Park is a park in northern Estonia, 70 kilometers east from the capital Tallinn. The Gulf of Finland is to the north of the park and the Tallinn-Narva highway (E20) to the south. Its area covers 747 km2 (including 274.9 ...

. The administrative boundaries of Vainupea include the island of Vaindloo, the northernmost point of Estonia, but the village is located entirely on the mainland and the island has no permanent population.

Demographics

, the village had a population of 48 people (32 men and 16 women). The population of the village and nearby communities was estimated to be 250 people.

Gallery

References

{{Haljala Parish Villages in Lääne-Viru County