Tall Hermann

Tall Hermann is one of the most important symbols of Estonian national independence. The national flag is hoisted to the top of the tower every day at sunrise, accompanied by a musical signature. Throughout our complicated history, many foreign flags have also flown from the top of the tower. The blue-black--and-white national flag was first hoisted to the top of Tall Hermann in 1918. During the German occupation in the World War II it was replaced by the flag of the Third Reich and for the decades of the Soviet occupation by a red Soviet flag. The national flag was raised again on 24 February 1989, a time when Gorbachev’s reforms had opened the way for the process of restoring the independence. Nowadays the flags are made in a flag factory from a special weather proof fabric. They are regularly replaced and the used flags are numbered and archived. This usually happens about six times a year.

Tall Hermann is one of the original four towers of the Toompea Castle. Rising 83 metres above the sea level, it was the highest stone tower around the Baltic Sea in the Late Middle Ages. It functioned as a lookout and defence tower. The guards in the tower were able to enjoy some considerable comforts in the tower. Heating was provided through a hypocaust-type furnace in the lower chamber. When the furnace was hot, the chimney shaft was closed off and warm air rushed upwards via channels from the lower floors. The tower also had storage spaces, shooting chambers, spiral staircases and a dansker, a certain kind of toilet facility housed in a wall of a tower.