Over the centuries, the heart of Tartu has repeatedly crumbled to dust and been reborn again and again. Before the new rebirth from a park to a cultural centre, it is a good time to take a look at the past. The current park area has fulfilled different roles in its previous life – from a wasteland behind the city wall to the commercial centre of the city and from a field of ruins to a park.
The area, which is now known as Tartu Central Park, is located in a significant place in terms of the development of the city. In the middle and early modern times, there were city fortifications and a suburb here, at the beginning of the 19th century a military school was planned here, and in 1816 the construction of Tartu Kaubahoov began.
This building, which originally provided space for Russian merchants, was one of the symbolic buildings of Tartu during the first period of independence, matching with its columns the image of Emajõe’s Athens. At the same time, the shops in Kaubahoovi also became a breeding ground for Estonian businessmen, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the clothing business of Märt Jänes (1869–1933). On July 10, 1941, the Red Army started massive artillery fire on the objects on the right bank of Tartu. Incendiary shells were used and extensive fires broke out in the city. The shopping mall was hit on July 20. After the Second World War, a cinema-hotel and the city’s central square were planned in the same area, but the park area, originally intended as a temporary one, remained. In the second decade of the 21st century, planning for the Südalinna cultural centre began in the same area.
The exhibition “Reincarnation of Downtown. Life Before the Cultural Centre” is part of the main program of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024.
The opening event of the exhibition will take place on April 12 at 4 p.m. on the square on the Poe Street side of the central park.
Curator: Leele Välja
Authors: Eero Heinloo, Ragnar Nurk, Epi Tohvri, Kristi Musteikis, Mart Hiob
Consultant: Arvi Haak
Project manager: Mirjam Savisto
Language editor: Mariliis Sild
Translator: Martin Jaigma
Designer: Merilin Metsamaa
Execution: EcoPrint
