Baltic German newspapers in Estonia

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The Baltic German newspapers in what is now Estonia (which until the end of the First World War included what was then northern Livonia and Estonia) played an important role in the political, social and cultural development of the region.

Key dates in the history of the German-language press are the year 1689 with the first German-language weekly newspaper to be published in Tallinn , and the year 1939, when the seven hundred year history of the Germans in Estonia ended with the resettlement of the Baltic Germans from Estonia , as propagated by Hitler .

Beginnings

The history of the Baltic German press began at the end of the 17th century. 1681 appeared in the Livonian the first newspaper of Riga Baltic in German language . Eight years later, the Revalsche Post newspaper (1689-1710) was published in the Estonian capital Tallinn (German Reval ) .

The German-language newspapers dominated the journalism of the time in the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire. The language of education in Estonia and Livonia was traditionally German, the language of the nobility and the bourgeoisie. The center of the Baltic press landscape was Riga , which from 1761 had the first regular press organ in the region with the weekly newspaper Rigische Werbung . The Rigische Politische Zeitung , later renamed the Rigasche Zeitung , was the most influential newspaper in the region in the first half of the 19th century. In 1844 the Rigasche Zeitung became the first daily newspaper in the Baltic region. The Düna-Zeitung (1887–1909) was influential for the entire Baltic region , as was the Baltic Monthly , which appeared in Riga from 1859 .

Tallinn

In 1772 the Revalische Weekly News (from 1798 Revalsche Weekly News ) was launched in Tallinn . They appeared until 1852.

From 1853, the Estonian Government Newspaper (Эстляндские губернские ведомост, from 1869 to 1917 Эстляндские губернские ведомости) appeared, which also brought official notices. It was published once from 1853 to 1858, twice a week from 1871 and three times a week from 1872 to 1885. From 1869 it was only published in Russian . Its counterpart was the Livonian Gouvernements-Zeitung , which appeared in Riga from 1852 to 1917 .

The Revalsche Zeitung (1860-1914) appeared from 1860 in Tallinn six times a week. It was headed by Friedrich Nikolai Russow until 1862 , then by Thomas Wilhelm Greiffenhagen . From 1871 to 1878 its editor-in-chief was the journalist Eugen August Heubel . In 1879 he founded a second German-language newspaper in Tallinn, the Revaler Beobachter , which existed until 1915. In 1882 the son of Johann Voldemar Jannsen , Harry Jannsen , founded the newspaper Die Heimath .

From 1851 to 1895 the archive for the history of Liv, Esth and Curland published by the Estonian Literary Society was published in Tallinn .

Tartu

In Tartu ( Dorpat ) the Dörptsche Politisch Gelehre Zeitung was published from 1789 to 1875 , later renamed the Dörptsche Zeitung . It was initially available twice a week, from 1852 it was published four times a week and was last published by Wilhelm Gläser until 1875 . The weekly newspaper Der Refraktor appeared briefly in 1836/37 .

Most influential in Tartu was the German-language weekly newspaper Das Inland, which appeared from 1836 to 1863 and had the subtitle “A weekly for Liv, Esth and Curland history, geography, statistics and literature”, on which many Estonians also collaborated.

In 1866, Carl Emil Johann Mattiesen founded the Neue Dörptsche Zeitung . When, at the end of the 19th century, under the sign of the Russification of Estonia and Livonia, Tartu was officially renamed Yuryev (Юрьев), it was called the Northern Livonian Newspaper (1897-1914).

From 1862 to 1864 Carl Schirren published the conservative Dorpater Tageblatt in Tartu . The influential weekly newspaper for business life was the Baltic Weekly for Agriculture, Industry and Trade , which appeared from 1863 to 1915 . In addition, numerous specialist journals appeared in Tartu, including on culture, linguistics, natural science, meteorology, medicine and theology.

Other cities

In addition to the centers of Tallinn and Tartu, there were also Baltic German newspapers in the provincial towns.

In 1811 Pärnu ( Pernau ) received its first weekly newspaper, the Pernausch Weekly News . It appeared until 1821.

As the successor to the Pernausch Wochenblatt , which was published from 1822 to 1869, the Pernausche Zeitung appeared from 1869 .

After an attempt to publish the Felliner Blätter in Viljandi ( Fellin ) in 1859 , the Felliner Anzeiger appeared from 1876 onwards . In Narva appeared 1862-1873 Narvaschen city leaves . The first Baltic German newspaper in Valga ( Walk ) was the Walksche Annoncenblatt in 1877/78 . The Walksche Anzeiger (1883–1906) and the Südlivländische Anzeiger (1907–1915) were published longer . After brief attempts to publish a newspaper in Võru ( Werro ) from 1875 and 1881 to 1884 , the Werrosche Anzeiger appeared from 1892 onwards . In Rakvere ( Wesenberg ) the Wesenberger Anzeiger appeared from 1880 to 1912 , in Haapsalu ( Hapsal ) from 1886 the Hapsaler Stadtblatt and in Paide ( Weißenstein ) from 1900 to 1912 the Weißensteiner Anzeiger (est. Paide Teataja ).

The first newspaper on the island of Saaremaa ( Ösel ) was the Arensburg Weekly or Intelligence Gazette , which appeared from 1785 to 1794. In Kuressaare ( Arensburg ) the advertising paper was published from 1865 to 1882 and the Arensburger Wochenblatt from 1877 to 1915 .

First World War and the interwar period

In 1915, during the First World War, the Baltic German newspapers were banned by the tsarist authorities. During the German occupation of Estonia from February to November 1918, some German Baltic newspapers appeared again. However, it was only with the independence of the Republic of Estonia and the freedom of the press in the country that the newspaper industry picked up again. In 1918/19 the Revaler Zeitung appeared (from November 1919 to 1930 under the name Revaler Bote ) and from 1917 to 1920 and again from 1925 the Dorpater Zeitung . From 1934 to 1939 the Deutsche Zeitung was the successor to the Dorpater Zeitung.

End of the German Baltic newspapers

With the resettlement of the Baltic Germans ordered by Hitler in 1939 shortly after the German-Soviet non-aggression pact with the division of the Baltic region between Germany and the Soviet Union , the Baltic German press in Estonia also disappeared.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hannes Oja: Eesti välismaine ajakirjandus (German: Estonian foreign press. ) In: Estonian World Review. November 14, 2001. Lecture by Hannes Oja on the topic discussion "Foreign press - where?" From Eesti.ca (Estonian), accessed January 25, 2019.
  2. ^ Livländische Gouvernements-Zeitung (Läti Riia: 1852–1917). In: Digiteeritud eesti ajalehed (German: Digitized Estonian Newspapers. ) Digitized editions on DEA.nlib.ee, accessed on January 25, 2019.
  3. ↑ Heinz von zur Mühlen (ed.). 1985. Baltic historical local dictionary , page 660. Cologne: Böhlau.
  4. ^ Paide Teataja , National Library of Estonia.