New and old religious communities in 20th-century Estonia, on the example of West Estonia

West Estonia has been the main centre of Christian religious movements in Estonia from at leastthe 18th century onwards. At the end ofthe 20th century, as before, religious life in West Estonia appears to be more active than elsewhere in Estonia. To explain the relative vitality ofreligious movements in West Estonia as compared to the rest ofthe country, I will first present an overview ofreligious movements in West Estonia from the 1740s to the end ofthe 1980s, also throwing some light on religious life elsewhere in Estonia and on the political events which have exercised considerable influence on Estonian religious life in the 20th century. Finally I will give a survey of religious communities in Estonia and especially in West Estonia since the end of the 1980s. After the occupation of Estonia by the anti-religion Soviet Union, the data on Estonian religious life are fragmentary. We also lack trustworthy statistics on Estonian religious movements and their adherents in the 1990s. Therefore I shall limit myself, in the final part of my paper, to the preliminary results of my research on West Estonian religious life

Religious movements and congregations in West Estonia from the mid-18th to the beginning of the 20th century : their influence on the Estonian and Estonian-Swedish popular culture

From the 16th century, Estonia has been a predominantly Lutheran country. Nevertheless, since the 1740s several religious movements have occurred in Estonia occasionally conflicting with the established Lutheran Church. More serious Christianisation among the Estonians began with the Moravian movement which spread widely in Estonia during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Moravian congregations stayed inside the Lutheran Church. The next influential religious movements in the 19th century were the movement of the Heaven-Travellers and shifting from the Lutheran to the Russian Orthodox Church. After the 1880s, various Protestant congregations sprang up in Estonia and developed into a considerable power alongside the Lutheran and Orthodox Churches. Throughout the period, discussed in this paper (from the 1740s to the beginning of the 20th century), the main centres of the new religious movements have been in the counties of West Estonia inhabited not only by the Estonians, but also by the community of the Estonian Swedes. The paper discusses the religious movements in West Estonia and the influence of these movements on the popular culture of the Estonians and the Estonian Swedes

Kristlike usuliikumiste mõju eestlaste ja eestirootslaste rahvakunstile ja kultuurile

In the 18th–19th century, several Protestant religious movements spread in Estonia. These movements were partly active within the so far predominant Lutheran Church, though mostly outside it, and were sometimes followed by members of the Orthodox Church. The most influential of the movements were the Brethren movement and that of ‘Heaven-goers’, and also the religious movements of awakening which spread mostly in the final quarter of the 19th century in western Estonia and which led to the establishment of the first Free Congregations in Estonia (Baptists, Irvingites, Free Believers’ congregations, Methodists). These religious movements have often contested several phenomena of folk culture of Estonians and Estonian Swedes, among these the phenomena of folk religion and folk art that some members of the movement have regarded as ‘pagan’ or sinful. As a result, fancier clothes, jewellery and musical instruments were destroyed in the heyday and the core areas of the movement (mostly in West Estonia); also, certain folk songs and dances of the agrarian community were abandoned and the narrative tradition underwent significant changes. The conflict with folk religion (with elements of prehistoric and Catholic beliefs) led to the destruction of prehistoric sacred sites and a dramatic change in the worldview of a part of the local peasantry. The 18th- to 19th-century Brethren movement was particularly successful in these activities. A characteristic feature of the Brethren congregation, the ‘Heaven-goers’, and other religious movements in the late 19th century was certain asceticism and requirement of high morals. The impact of these religious movements on folk culture, however, was limited only to the faithful and did not affect the entire village community. A more dramatic change in the beliefs and lifestyle of the people took place on the West-Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, in Lääne County in West Estonia and, most noticeably, in the parish inhabited by Estonian Swedes. Even so, the sometimes hostile attitudes of the mentioned religious movements towards folk culture give no reason to underrate their significance and positive influence for the Estonian and Estonian-Swedish agrarian population of the time

Kristlikud ja mittekristlikud usuühendused Eestis 1990. aastatel

There was a national reawakening in Estonia at the end of the 1980s. Most denominations that had remained active in Soviet Estonia revived. Increasing interest was felt for religion. Since the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, many new Christian and non-Christian denominations and religious movements began to spread, often introduced into Estonia by foreign missionaries. After the opening years of the 1990s, broader public began to lose interest in different churches, denominations and religious movements. However, most of the new religious communities still continue their activities in Estonia. Estonian religious organisations receive legal status after registration, and by the year 2000 more than 500 religious congregations had been entered in the church register. There are also many religious organisations and movements which have not been registered. This article gives a review of the latter, as well as the brief description of legal churches, congregations and organisations which have been active in Estonia during the 1990s