The Tallinn Collector introduces you to the history of tourism in Tallinn during the Soviet Union. The images and related texts published in this blog come from authentic tourist guides released between 1930 and 1991. With collection of over 1000 images The Tallinn Collector is a tribute to the capital of Estonia – Tallinn.

His passion for Tallinn and its tourism history began to grow in 2005 when he moved to Tallinn from Stockholm. During his time there, he realized more and more that he had arrived in a city with many exciting faces, contrasts and a very rich cultural history. It became a hobby for him to collect old Tallinn guides from the Soviet era because he thought that they were purely great examples of important historical material and compared with today, you can see that much have changed in Tallinn.

The travel guides bring you back to Tallinn as it once looked or even more interesting, how the guides wanted Tallinn to look.

Even after his permanent return to Stockholm he still actively collect Tallinn tourist guides from the Soviet era. At their core, these guides manage to capture the exciting essence of tourist information from that time. It is captivating material with a lot of value, both aesthetically and educationally, and that is why he is eager to share it with you.

Purpose of The Tallinn Collector is to bring visitors back to the beautiful and vintage Tallinn that was hidden behind the many years of Soviet power and occupation. Here visitors can discover and experience the multiple sides of this rich historical material. What visitors see are original photographs with related texts taken from guides that beg the question when does marketing become propaganda.

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