Estonia, House of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads

Estonia, House of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads

The first information about the Brotherhood of Blackheads dates from the year 1399. Only young, unmarried merchants could become members of this association. When they got married, they could only intercede for joining the Brotherhood. Foreign merchants temporarily residing in Tallinn could join the guild. The Brotherhood received its name in honor of Saint Mauritius. His image can be seen on the arms of this association. Although it is not known why the young merchants called their brotherhood in honor of a black saint. This guild operated only on the territory of Estonia and Latvia, in other countries it was practically not known. Chernogolovtsy were rich and influential. In addition to trade, members of the brotherhood were patrons of art. And they managed to maintain this status for quite a long time.

In 1597, the famous sculptor and architect Arent Passer reconstructed the Gothic building, redeemed by the order for his needs, which has survived to our days and is called the house of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads. The architect managed to give the house expressive features characteristic of the Renaissance The main element of the front of the building is the design of the central entrance. The arch is decorated with masks of lions. In addition, on the stone slabs, located here on both sides of the main entrance, is carved a coat of arms of the brotherhood, which is a shield with the image of the head of Saint Mauritius.

House of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads

The architect decorated the building of the brotherhood with all sorts of reliefs and sculptures. Among them you can see the emblems of the guest houses of some cities of the Hanseatic League, the images of Sigismund and Queen Anne of Austria, the reliefs symbolizing peace and justice, as well as the depiction of Christ.

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The appearance of the house of the Brotherhood of Blackheads, and especially its facade, is the best example of Renaissance architecture among the buildings of Tallinn. The facade of the building, created in the late 16th century, has retained its original appearance to this day. It was renewed only in 1982-85. Polish restoration company PKZ (architect T. Mixon, interior A. Maasik). However, the internal premises, which suffered a lot of restructuring and redevelopment, are of great historical value.

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