If you love Tallinn as much as I do, you will be interested in visiting Glen Castle. But, before you get here forty minutes (perhaps even with transfers), you must definitely familiarize yourself with the history of this place and its creator. Here is how it was.
There lived in the vicinity of Revel in the 19th century a certain landowner, who came from an ancient family of Baltic Germans, his name was Nikolai von Glen. Baron von Glen was known among his contemporaries as a great original, because he was an active man, had an extraordinary imagination and, in addition, had the means to implement his ambitious projects. He considered himself an architect, and, probably, that is why he dreamed of creating a city more than anything else. Own city. A city that would compete with Revel himself! He exchanged his ancestral fertile lands for the swampy slope of Mount Mustamyagi, where he began to twist his new "family nest".
First of all, he initiated the creation of a holiday village near the Nymme railway station, reasonably judging that holidaymakers from the capital St. Petersburg would not be averse to acquiring a summer cottage in the suburbs of Revel. The active baron even helped the first summer residents-settlers with building materials and, of course, was engaged in the design of their future summer cottages.
Nikolai von Glen also did not forget about himself - first of all he built a castle, and then he took up the construction of the "Palm House" (greenhouse). As you may have guessed, Baron von Glen was a philanthropist, and while the neighbors were twisting their fingers to their temples, he played musical medleys based on Wagner's works for his workers (prisoners of the Tallinn prison) on the flute so that their work would be faster.
With the help of his brother, the famous St. Petersburg botanist Peter von Glen, Nikolai von Glen set up a beautiful orchard and a park on local sandy soil, hitherto considered "unpromising". In addition to the castle house, according to the design of von Glen, they built an eight-meter figure of a hero - the hero of the Estonian epic, as well as a dragon and an observation tower, from the height of which the landowner planned to look at the Finnish coast. He also planned to create an artificial waterfall that would take water from the nearest swamp.
Unfortunately, these grandiose plans only half came true: the "dragon"'s head fell off and a new one had to be urgently sculpted (the old one remained lying side by side), and the "dragon" itself looked more like a crocodile. The hero of the Estonian epic broke his legs, and he collapsed unfinished, it was necessary to urgently redo the "project" and add a third point of support in the form of a club in the hands of the hero.
When the sculpture was completed, the local people christened it the "Glenovsky Devil", which the author was very offended by and even provided the sculpture with an explanatory note: "I am not a devil, but the son of the hero Kalev, whoever calls me a devil is a fool himself! " "and" crocodile "have taken root among the people so far. The observation tower remained unfinished due to the flimsy foundation (now there is an observatory in it), the waterfall river completely disappeared into the ground.
As for the holiday village, this project turned out to be much more successful. Baron von Glen decided not to lose face here, consistently moving towards his dream - his "own" city, he founded several plants and factories in the village. Rumor has it that he dreamed of turning Nõ mme into a seaport and laid a five-kilometer clearing, planning to turn it into a canal connecting his offspring with the sea coast.
Unfortunately, the plants and factories went bankrupt shortly after their opening, and the construction of the canal must have been hampered by the fact that the inhabitants of the village decided to take power into their own hands by organizing the "Committee for the Improvement of Nõ mme", in which the founder and ideological inspirer of the town was assigned the modest role of "honorary chairman. " By the way, the dream of Baron von Glen came true, and Nymme finally received the status of a city in 1926, the eccentric baron did not live to see this event for only three years. In 1923, he fell off his horse while riding it at 82. At that time, he had already emigrated to Brazil.
In 1940, Nõ mme became part of Tallinn, but still has not lost its originality. Here, unlike the rest of the city, they hardly speak Russian, and the vast majority of the territory is occupied by private buildings. Despite the eccentricities, the inhabitants of Nõ mme respect and protect the memory of Nikolai von Glen in every possible way.
There is a street named after him, a theater named after him, and a shiny new monument to the founder of the town. The houses in Nõ mme are very beautiful and original, but I was embarrassed to click the shutter of the camera - because of each fence, the surprised and disapproving looks of the owners of "private property" looked at me. But if you ever come to Nõ mme - be sure to walk along the local puppet streets - you will get great aesthetic pleasure : ). I also recommend visiting the local market and a small museum of the history of the town, located right at the railway station.
Glen Castle today belongs to the Tallinn University of Technology. You can watch the "greenhouse" and "crocodile" with the "devil" for free.
You can get to the castle from the center of Tallinn by buses 33 and 23, go to the Nõ mme stop (this is the center of the town), then walk through the park, following the signs "Glehni loss" or asking the locals for directions.
There lived in the vicinity of Revel in the 19th century a certain landowner, who came from an ancient family of Baltic Germans, his name was Nikolai von Glen. Baron von Glen was known among his contemporaries as a great original, because he was an active man, had an extraordinary imagination and, in addition, had the means to implement his ambitious projects. He considered himself an architect, and, probably, that is why he dreamed of creating a city more than anything else. Own city. A city that would compete with Revel himself! He exchanged his ancestral fertile lands for the swampy slope of Mount Mustamyagi, where he began to twist his new "family nest".
First of all, he initiated the creation of a holiday village near the Nymme railway station, reasonably judging that holidaymakers from the capital St. Petersburg would not be averse to acquiring a summer cottage in the suburbs of Revel. The active baron even helped the first summer residents-settlers with building materials and, of course, was engaged in the design of their future summer cottages.
Nikolai von Glen also did not forget about himself - first of all he built a castle, and then he took up the construction of the "Palm House" (greenhouse). As you may have guessed, Baron von Glen was a philanthropist, and while the neighbors were twisting their fingers to their temples, he played musical medleys based on Wagner's works for his workers (prisoners of the Tallinn prison) on the flute so that their work would be faster.
With the help of his brother, the famous St. Petersburg botanist Peter von Glen, Nikolai von Glen set up a beautiful orchard and a park on local sandy soil, hitherto considered "unpromising". In addition to the castle house, according to the design of von Glen, they built an eight-meter figure of a hero - the hero of the Estonian epic, as well as a dragon and an observation tower, from the height of which the landowner planned to look at the Finnish coast. He also planned to create an artificial waterfall that would take water from the nearest swamp.
Unfortunately, these grandiose plans only half came true: the "dragon"'s head fell off and a new one had to be urgently sculpted (the old one remained lying side by side), and the "dragon" itself looked more like a crocodile. The hero of the Estonian epic broke his legs, and he collapsed unfinished, it was necessary to urgently redo the "project" and add a third point of support in the form of a club in the hands of the hero.
When the sculpture was completed, the local people christened it the "Glenovsky Devil", which the author was very offended by and even provided the sculpture with an explanatory note: "I am not a devil, but the son of the hero Kalev, whoever calls me a devil is a fool himself! " "and" crocodile "have taken root among the people so far. The observation tower remained unfinished due to the flimsy foundation (now there is an observatory in it), the waterfall river completely disappeared into the ground.
As for the holiday village, this project turned out to be much more successful. Baron von Glen decided not to lose face here, consistently moving towards his dream - his "own" city, he founded several plants and factories in the village. Rumor has it that he dreamed of turning Nõ mme into a seaport and laid a five-kilometer clearing, planning to turn it into a canal connecting his offspring with the sea coast.
Unfortunately, the plants and factories went bankrupt shortly after their opening, and the construction of the canal must have been hampered by the fact that the inhabitants of the village decided to take power into their own hands by organizing the "Committee for the Improvement of Nõ mme", in which the founder and ideological inspirer of the town was assigned the modest role of "honorary chairman. " By the way, the dream of Baron von Glen came true, and Nymme finally received the status of a city in 1926, the eccentric baron did not live to see this event for only three years. In 1923, he fell off his horse while riding it at 82. At that time, he had already emigrated to Brazil.
In 1940, Nõ mme became part of Tallinn, but still has not lost its originality. Here, unlike the rest of the city, they hardly speak Russian, and the vast majority of the territory is occupied by private buildings. Despite the eccentricities, the inhabitants of Nõ mme respect and protect the memory of Nikolai von Glen in every possible way.
There is a street named after him, a theater named after him, and a shiny new monument to the founder of the town. The houses in Nõ mme are very beautiful and original, but I was embarrassed to click the shutter of the camera - because of each fence, the surprised and disapproving looks of the owners of "private property" looked at me. But if you ever come to Nõ mme - be sure to walk along the local puppet streets - you will get great aesthetic pleasure : ). I also recommend visiting the local market and a small museum of the history of the town, located right at the railway station.
Glen Castle today belongs to the Tallinn University of Technology. You can watch the "greenhouse" and "crocodile" with the "devil" for free.
You can get to the castle from the center of Tallinn by buses 33 and 23, go to the Nõ mme stop (this is the center of the town), then walk through the park, following the signs "Glehni loss" or asking the locals for directions.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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