History

The Building

The Revaler Handels Bank built our magnificent building in the old town of Tallinn at Vene Street 9 in 1878. Designed by the architect Peter Schreiberg from St. Petersburg, it was originally a four storey house, the two topmost floors added later. When the Republik of Estonia was established in 1918, the building was used as the post and telegraph center. The building retained this function in Soviet period. In 2005, the wing of our building which had been destroyed in World War II was rebuilt.

Telegraphy

Telegraphy, the long-distance transmission of written messages without the physical transport of letters, was invented in the 19th century. At first ,signals were forwarded by sound (drums, bells, sirens) and light (fires, torches, semaphores). But in 1837, Samuel Morse and his telegraphic code of long and short signals,revolutionized the transmisson of electric impulses through wires.

The History of Tallinn

In 1154, Tallinn appeared on the Arab cartographer al-Idrisi's world map. In 1285, the city became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League, the mercantile and military alliance of German-dominated cities. Medieval Tallinn, with 8,000 residents and 66 towers of defense, sat at the trade-crossroads of Europe and Russia. Though it would be for hundreds of years, until February 24,1918, that Estonia would proclaim its independence.