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Historical affiliations
pre-Christian Saare county pre–1227
Bishopric of Riga 1227–1228
Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek 1228–1343
rebellion 1343–1345
Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek 1345–1560
Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek (Danish-controlled) 1560–1572
Kingdom of Denmark 1572–1645
Kingdom of Sweden 1645–1704
Tsardom of Russia 1710–1721
Russian Empire 1721–1917
Russian Republic 1917
German occupation 1917–1918
Republic of Estonia 1918–1940
Soviet occupation 1940–1941
German occupation 1941–1944
Soviet occupation 1944–1991
Republic of Estonia 1991–onwards
The entire island of Saaremaa (Ösel or Oesel in historical context) was conquered by the German crusading order of Sword Brethren in 1227. The western and southern portions of Saaremaa then became part of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek in 1228, a vassal statelet of the Holy Roman Empire. The first documentation of the Prince-bishop's castle in Kuressaare (arx aquilae) has been found in Latin texts written in 1381 and 1422. Over time, a town, which became known as Arensburg or Kuressaare linn, grew and flourished around the fortress.
Johann von Münchhausen, Bishop of Ösel-Wiek since 1542, converted from Catholicism to Protestantism and sold his lands to King of Denmark in 1559, and returned to his native Germany soon after. King of Denmark sent his younger brother Prince Magnus to Kuressaare where he was elected bishop the following year. It was through his influence that the city obtained its German civic charter in 1563. The bishopric was finally secularised in 1572 and Kuressaare as well as the entire island of Saaremaa became part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
In 1645, Saaremaa passed from Denmark to the Kingdom of Sweden through the Treaty of Brömsebro. Queen of Sweden granted her favourite, Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, the title of Count of Arensburg. During the Great Northern War, the city suffered heavily from the plague, and eventually burnt to the ground by the invading troops of the Tsardom of Russia in 1710. Saaremaa was incorporated into the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire through the Treaty of Nystad in 1721.
During the 19th century Kuressaare became a popular seaside resort on the Baltic Sea coast. The first known tourist group visited Kuressaare already in 1840, and, since then, it has remained a popular summer destination and resort town to this day.
In the middle of the 19th century, Kuressaare became a spa town when large reserves of healing mud were discovered near the town. The first mud spa was built in 1840. Healing with mud baths has been tested on the west coast of Saaremaa since the mid-1820s. It was the "healthy mud" that became Kuressaare's main attraction. New sanatoriums and boarding houses were created, the order was considerably improved and the number of visitors continued to grow.
During World War I, in the autumn of1917, German land and naval forces invaded Saaremaa during Operation Albion and occupied the island until the end of the war in November 1918. Kuressaare was the administrative capital of the Saaremaa County of independent Estonia from 1918 to 1940. During that time, the resort's heyday continued. In addition to domestic visitors, there were also visitors from foreign countries: Latvia, Finland and Sweden.
Over 90 civilians were killed by the Soviet naval forces and NKVD in 1941 in Kuressaare in one of the largest mass executions during the Soviet occupation of Estonia.
During World War II, after the Soviet Union had invaded and annexed Estonia in the summer of 1940, hundreds of Saaremaa islanders were arrested, deported and executed by the Soviet regime. Over 90 civilians were killed by the Soviet naval forces and NKVD in 1941 in the Kuressaare castle.
The development of tourism stopped during World War II, and was very slow during the second Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1944-1991, when the entire Saaremaa was declared a closed border zone, which excluded all foreign tourism. Only strictly limited and controlled domestic tourism was allowed.
Today, Kuressaare is once again a resort town. New health facilities and hotels have been built, and historical monuments have been restored. Two thirds of the current visitors to the city are mainland Estonians, the remaining visitors are mainly from Finland, Sweden and Latvia.
Sights[edit]
The old town of Kuressaare mainly preserves historical buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries, but there are also older ones. In the old town there are, for example, St. Nicholas Church and Laurentius Church, a goods yard, an old mill (1899), a harbor yard (1663) and residential buildings. The baroque town hall and council house date from the 17th century, while the building of the Saaremaa Knighthood, located next to the Kuressaare town hall, dates from the 18th century. Among the oldest preserved buildings are also the parsonage building at Kauba tänav 5 and the Põlluvahi house at the corner of Kitsa and Kitzbergi streets. The wooden church building from 1912, which belongs to the Estonian Methodist Church, is also noteworthy.
Kuressaare bishop castle[edit]
The medieval episcopal Kuressaare Castle today houses the Saaremaa Regional Museum. The original wooden castle was constructed between 1338 and 1380, although other sources claim a fortress was built in Kuressaare as early as 1260. In 1968, architect Kalvi Aluve [et] began studies on Kuressaare Castle.
The square-shaped fortress consists of four building wings around the courtyard. On the northeast side are the gate and two towers: Pikk Hermann and Sturvolt. 17-18 are also important. The powerful earthen fortifications of the Kuressaare fortress around the medieval fortress core date from the 19th century. Kuressaare Castle is one of the best preserved in the Baltic States. It has been restored several times since the beginning of the 20th century. Since 2001, Kuressaare Castle Days have been organized every summer with knight tournaments, theatrical tours and processions, and other medieval attractions.
To the south-west of the castle is Tori Bay, where the port of Kuressaare is located.
Kuressaare Castle Park and the historicist-style Kuressaare Kursaal are the center of resort life. Both were founded in the second half of the 19th century.
At the beginning of Lossi Street, in the former fish market, there is a monument to those who fell in the Estonian War of Independence.
