New Restrictions Entering Into Force in Estonia

On August 9, restrictions came into force in Estonia regarding the number of participants at major events to stop the spread of COVID-19.

 

At indoor events exceeding 50 participants and outdoor events exceeding 100 participants, organizers must ensure that virus certificates are checked.

 

You must have proof of vaccination or having recovered from COVID-19 or a negative test result.

 

This does not apply to young people under the age of 18. Masks must now be worn on all public transit vehicles.

 

 

Author, Nobel Prize Nominee Jaan Kaplinski Dies

Renowned Estonian poet, translator, philosopher and cultural spokesperson Jaan Kaplinski has died at the age of eighty.

 

He had been diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a few years prior.

 

In 2016, Kaplinski was named the Laureate of the European Literature Prize  and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

 

He was a major figure in the Estonian cultural scene and society for the past 50 years, outspoken on local and global issues.

 

Born on January 22, 1941 in Tartu to an Estonian mother and a Polish-Jewish father, Kaplinski wrote poetry in English, Finnish and Russian, as well as his native Estonian.

 

He translated various works from many languages into Estonian, including Tao Te Ching, reflecting his deep interest in Eastern philosophies.

 

Kaplinski was a member of the Riigikogu from 1992 to 1995. He also has an asteroid named after him, main-belt asteroid 29528 Kaplinski.

 

 

Church Safe on Saaremaa Island Yields Rare Bible

Church officials, with the help of locksmiths, were finally able to open a Czarist-era safe that had been unopened in Kuressaare's Laurentiuse Church for more than half a century.

 

One of the four keys necessary to open the safe was finally uncovered, but the safe had also been painted and glued shut.

 

Alongside the many valued documents inside was a rare, 1000-page, leather-bound Bible printed in Germany in 1768.

 

The Bible is thought to have been a gift to the church on the occasion of its reopening in 1836.