St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn

{{Infobox church

| name = St. Olaf's church

| fullname =

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| native_name = Oleviste kirik

| native_name_lang = Estonian

| image = St Olaf's church, Tallinn, July 2008.jpg

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| location = Tallinn

| country = Estonia

| denomination = Baptist

| previous denomination = Roman Catholic, Lutheran

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| website = [http://www.oleviste.ee/ Website of the Church]

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| founded date = 12th Century

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St. Olaf’s Church or St. Olav's Church ({{langx|et|Oleviste kirik}}) in Tallinn, Estonia, is believed to have been built in the 12th century and to have been the centre for old Tallinn's Scandinavian community before the Kingdom of Denmark conquered Tallinn (Reval) in 1219. Its dedication relates to King Olaf II of Norway (also known as Saint Olaf, 995–1030). The first known written records referring to the church date back to 1267. It was extensively rebuilt during the 14th century.

History

St. Olaf's was originally a Roman Catholic Church. However, during the Reformation it became part of the local Lutheran tradition. As a result of World War II, the church was left without active congregation, and the Soviet occupation regime handed the building over to local Baptists in 1950.[http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/eurasia&CISOPTR=4216&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 CONTENTdm Collection : Item Viewer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234912/http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Feurasia&CISOPTR=4216&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 |date=2013-12-02 }}[http://www.europe-cities.com/en/593/estonia/tallinn/attractions/religious-sites/ Guide to Tallinn. Religious sites in Tallinn, Estonia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203020743/http://www.europe-cities.com/en/593/estonia/tallinn/attractions/religious-sites/ |date=2013-12-03 }} The Baptist congregation continues to meet at St. Olaf's today.

From 1944 until 1991, the Soviet KGB used St. Olaf's Church's spire as a radio tower and surveillance point.{{cite journal |title=Estonian Paper on KGB Eavesdropping Facility |journal=Daily Report: Soviet Union |date=September 6, 1990 |page=80 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000004460238;view=1up;seq=9 |access-date=August 6, 2018 |publisher=Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS |location=Rosslyn, VA}}

Legend

There is a legend surrounding the construction of this building; The citizens of Tallinn wanted to build the tallest church in the world, but since there was a curse that ensured the death of anyone who finished its construction, no one was willing to do the work. Then a stranger appeared who asked for a large amount of money to do it. Since the city could not pay this sum, the foreigner proposed the following challenge: if they found out his name, he would forgive them the debt. For this, the Tallinners sent a spy to his house who heard Olev's name in a song his wife sang. They waited for the foreigner to finish the construction and when he was putting the cross on the tower they shouted to him from below, Olev the cross is crooked, he got scared and fell to the ground with a toad and a snake coming out of his mouth, which denoted the demonic possession of this man. This fact is reflected in a mural painting on one of the sides of the church.

Height

In 1590, the total height of the church tower was 115.35–125 m. The tower has been hit by lightning around 10 times, and the whole church has burned down three times throughout its known existence. According to one source it may have been the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625. After several reconstructions, its spire now stands 123.8 meters tall.{{cite journal|author=Ants Hein|journal=Imeline Ajalugu|year=2012|url=http://www.imelineajalugu.ee/article/2012/11/14/oleviste_korgus_on_muut|title=Oleviste pole kunagi olnud maailma kõrgeim ehitis|trans-title=St. Olaf's Church Never Was the World's Tallest Building|access-date=2014-05-03|archive-date=2013-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120171046/http://www.imelineajalugu.ee/article/2012/11/14/oleviste_korgus_on_muut|url-status=dead}}

Organ

The organ was built between 1840 and 1842 by a German organist Friedrich Hermann Lütkemüller and installed by Johann Eberhard Walcker and three other assistants from the Walcker organ building company. From Lütkemüller's autobiography from 1869:

“During the construction of the two large works for St. Petersburg 1838-1840 and for Reval 1840-1842, my training progressed more and more, so that during Walcker's eight-month absence I was able to be entrusted with the management completely independently. The intonation and tuning of the Reval organ was already my work. I went to Reval with three other assistants alongside Mr. Walcker to set up the organ for the St. Olai Church in Reval.”
“The organ in the Olai Church and an eight-legged work in the country were installed in four months. I also intoned another organ in Reval, which had been repaired by a local organ builder Tanton and to which we had brought various new registers and who allowed me to carry out the entire tuning because I could do it more confidently and better than he could..."

A renovation took place in 1914. The instrument has 76 registers, 3 manuals and a pedal. The actions are pneumatic.