Hara (island)

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Hara
Hara island, 2008-05.jpg
Waters Gulf of Finland
Geographical location 59 ° 35 '  N , 25 ° 38'  E Coordinates: 59 ° 35 '  N , 25 ° 38'  E
Hara (island) (Estonia)
Hara (island)
length 480 mdep1
width 280 mdep1
surface 11 hadep1
Highest elevation 13  m
Residents uninhabited
main place Hara

Hara ( Estonian Hara saar ) is an Estonian island. It is located in the North Estonian Bay of Hara ( Hara laht ) between the Juminda and Pärispea peninsulas . It is separated from the land by a deep but narrow sound .

The size of the island is 0.11 km².

nature

Hara is partially wooded with coniferous and mixed forests .

history

In 1860 Voldemar Sörensen leased the island on which a fish processing facility was established. In the Sörensen factory, the famous salted and smoked "Tallinn sprats" were produced in cans in the 1870s. In 1912 this industry was bought by the Estonian-Russian industrialist Feodor Malahhov, whose company operated on the island until 1932. Fish was bought from nearby fishermen in the villages of Virve and Hara. The factory had 20 buildings on the island.

Before the Second World War , the island was permanently inhabited by several Estonian families. They lived mainly from fishing and fish smoking . There was a restaurant in the village. In 1909 a lighthouse was built on the island, which was looked after by Voldemar Lindström until 1939. The island was also a popular destination for the Tallinn city ​​population, who built some summer houses there.

The most beautiful sailing ship in Estonia, the four-masted schooner “Tormilind” ( petrel ) was built in 1922 in the bay. An Estonian postage stamp (5.5 Estonian crowns) from 1997 shows it as a bar canteen.

A wooden bridge connected Hara to the south with the mainland.

Hara Allveelavade Sadam

On the west coast of the bay there was a small port opposite the island. After 1945 it was converted into a base of the Soviet warship research and testing site (popularly known as the Hara submarine port) by taking advantage of the appropriate natural conditions (Hara Sound is a very deep bay). All residents had to leave Hara. Most of the island's buildings and lighthouse were destroyed. Together with the mainland port, the military town and the border protection system, everything was declared a restricted military area.

The ruins in the bay today were used to demagnetize warships and submarines. In the long passage, the magnetization was measured and, if necessary, demagnetized by passing several hours over the enormous coils in the bay. This made the hulls of ships and submarines unrecognizable to magnetic mines.

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