Paldiski
| Paldiski | |||
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| State : |
 Estonia
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| Circle : |
 Harju
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| Coordinates : | 59 ° 21 ' N , 24 ° 3' E | ||
| Height : | 18 m | ||
| Area : | 101.8 km² | ||
| Residents : | 4,154 (01/2008) | ||
| Population density : | 41 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Time zone : | EET (UTC + 2) | ||
| Telephone code : | (+372) 0674 | ||
| Postal code : | 76806 | ||
| Community type: | former municipality | ||
| Mayor : | Kaupo Kallas | ||
| Postal address : | Sadama 9 76806 Paldiski |
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| Website : | |||
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Paldiski , historically Rogervik ( Swedish Rågervik ) and Baltischport ( Russian Балтийский Порт / Baltijski Port ), is a port city in northwest Estonia in the Harju district . Since 2017 it has been the administrative headquarters of the newly formed rural community Lääne-Harju . Before that, Paldiski was an independent municipality.
geography
Paldiski is located around 50 km west of Tallinn on the Pakri peninsula . In front of the city are the Pakri Islands .
history
_Baltic_letters,_p1.165_BALTISPORT_(Pakri_Cliff,_Paldiski).jpg)
From the beginning until 1939
Paldiski was founded in the 17th century as the Swedish fishing village Rågervik. After Russia had conquered the Baltic States under Tsar Peter the Great , the foundation stone for a naval base was laid in Pakri Bay in 1718 , the construction of which continued until 1770. In 1761 the place was renamed by Tsarina Catherine II in Baltischport (Russian Валтийский Порт / Baltijski Port ), from which the Estonian name Paldiski later emerged, which became official in 1933. In 1783 the place was granted city rights. As an ice-free port, Baltijski Port was the "home port" of Reval (today: Tallinn) and Saint Petersburg for a long time , especially in winter. Therefore, the oldest railway line in Estonia, which was opened as the Baltic Railway (Балтийская железная дорога) in 1870 and connected Baltijski Port to St. Petersburg via Reval and Narva , was also brought here.
In the port city of Baltischport (Paldiski) on the Gulf of Finland, the German Emperor Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia met for talks on July 4, 1912.
During Estonia's first independence, Paldiski was a free port from 1922 to 1939 and a popular holiday destination, especially among artists.
Military base, exercise reactors
In 1939 the Soviet Union forced the establishment of a military base in Paldiski. The German occupation followed from 1941 to 1944. Thereafter, until 1989, Paldiski, together with the Pakri Islands, became an important military base and submarine port of the Soviet armed forces and since the 1960s a training center for the crews of nuclear-powered submarines . The entire military facility covered an area of 65 km².
In 1968 a 70 MW training reactor was put into operation, on which the operation of a submarine reactor was trained. In 1982 a second 90 MW reactor followed. As a so-called “ closed city ”, the city was virtually cut off from the civilian outside world, and the residents needed special permits to leave it. It was practically impossible for outsiders to get in.
Both training reactors were shut down for good in 1989. The removal of the spent fuel elements was completed in 1994. The nuclear fuel-free reactors were each enclosed in a " sarcophagus ". Due to an agreement between Estonia and Russia , responsibility for the site, including the radioactive waste and contaminated facilities that remained there , was transferred to Estonia on September 30, 1995. For this purpose the company ALARA was founded.
Due to its economic situation and a lack of know-how, Estonia was initially unable to solve the urgent tasks on its own. On the initiative of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute SSI , the Paldiski International Expert Reference Group (PIERG) was founded in 1994 to provide the necessary support for the elimination of ecological damage on an international basis.
Population development
During the Soviet era, around 16,000 members of the Soviet army lived in Paldiski. After the soldiers withdrew in the early 1990s, the number of inhabitants fell to around 4,000 today. Nevertheless, Russians still make up the majority of the population today .
| year | 1934 | 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2004 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 851 | 3387 | 6907 | 7311 | 7690 | 4224 | 4372 |
Buildings
In the vicinity of Paldiski is the former fortress Rogervik, in which the convicts of the Russian peasant uprisings of 1755–1756 and 1773–1775 were imprisoned. The most notable former inmates include Jemeljan Ivanovich Pugachev and Salavat Julajew .
From the time of the Soviet occupation between 1941 and 1944 and 1991, a large number of today unused military structures, which are distributed in and around Paldiski, date back to.
The Orthodox St. George's Church was built from 1784 to 1787. Due to the large number of Orthodox believers in Paldiski, the construction of a new and larger church is planned.
Economy and Infrastructure
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Today Paldiski is a base of the Estonian Navy, but also an important export port that remains ice-free even in winter. The south port of Paldiski has been part of the Tallinn port complex since 1993 . Mainly ro-ro freight, wood, fertilizer, scrap metal and peat are handled. There is regular freight traffic by sea to Great Britain , Germany , Poland , Sweden and Finland and by land (road and rail) to Russia and other CIS countries . According to HSH Nordbank, “Paldiski North Port” is “the largest private infrastructure project in the Baltic States”.
Paldiski is connected to the Estonian rail network and is served by the Tallinn S-Bahn . There are also bus connections to Tallinn, among others. The Estonian shipping company Tallink operates a ferry connection between Paldiski and Kapellskär in Sweden .
Currently produces a part by the Paldiski in emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol financed wind farm . The energy yield of the plant should be 56,000 MWh , which covers about one percent of the Estonian electricity consumption.
sons and daughters of the town
- Amandus Adamson , sculptor (born November 12, 1855 in Uuga Rätsepa near Paldiski, † June 26, 1929 in Paldiski)
- Aleksandr Olerski (1973–2011), football player, born in Paldiski
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/1912/
- ↑ Olerski, Aleksandr , national-football-teams.com
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