15 November 2025 Estonian Public Broadcasting:
The Tehumardi Soviet propaganda monument has become Estonia’s first monumental heritage site to be artistically reinterpreted.
For three years, debate has surrounded the future of the 21-meter concrete sword-shaped monument erected in honor of the Red Army at the 1944 Tehumardi battlefield. Now, a solution approved by three parties — Saaremaa Municipality, the National Heritage Board and the Estonian Academy of Arts — has been implemented: the red star has been removed, the carved stone faces cleaned and the Soviet-era propaganda text replaced with an artistically designed alphabet.
The Tehumardi monument is the only former Soviet memorial left standing in Estonia’s public space, preserved due to its monumental scale, heritage status and cultural value.
“This process is quite unique in the Estonian context. Tehumardi was the only Soviet-era monument under protection that couldn’t be removed due to its sheer size and monumentality, so solutions had to be found on site,” said Jüri-Martin Lepp, art heritage adviser at the National Heritage Board.
In other words, a former propaganda symbol has now become a reinterpreted monumental heritage site with high artistic value.
“It can no longer be viewed as a propaganda object. Through the artist’s intervention, the message — as seen on the monument — has been scattered into letters,” Lepp said.
Interpretive panels have been installed to accompany the artistic redesign by the Estonian Academy of Arts, offering context for the seemingly nonsensical alphabet now carved into the monument.
“I’m very satisfied with the outcome,” said Saaremaa Deputy Mayor Liis Lepik. “We have an informational panel here that explains everything — from the Tehumardi night battle to the original memorial and now this reimagined version.”
The reinterpretation of the Tehumardi monument cost approximately €20,000.
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