A flag that fell from the sky
The origin legend of the Dannebrog, among the oldest flags still in use.
Meemareti — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan — CC BY 2.0 · Taivo Pungas — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Taivo Pungas — CC BY-SA 4.0
A small garden on the slope below Toompea hill, hemmed in by the city wall and its towers, and tied to a founding legend of Danish history. The story runs that the Danish king Valdemar II was besieging Tallinn in 1219 and his army was close to defeat when a red flag with a white cross fell from the sky, lifted his soldiers' spirits and turned the battle. That flag is the Dannebrog, Denmark's present flag, and among the oldest national flags in continuous use in the world. The story is legend rather than record, but it explains something real: Tallinn was a Danish city for more than a century, and the old Russian name for it, Reval, and the name Tallinn itself — from Taani linn, the Danes' town — both date from that period. The garden today holds three bronze statues of hooded monks in black robes, made in the last decade and now among the most photographed things in Tallinn. Practical points: free and always open. It lies on the climbing route between the lower town and Toompea, so you pass it on any walk between them. The slope is steep and the steps uneven.
The origin legend of the Dannebrog, among the oldest flags still in use.
Three hooded statues now among the most photographed things in the city.
Tallinn was a Danish city for more than a hundred years.
Below Toompea hill, old town
Not as historical record. Its earliest written version dates to the fourteenth century, more than a hundred years after the battle, and it was most likely constructed later to explain the origin of a flag whose origin was unknown. But the siege itself is real, Danish rule over Tallinn is real, and its trace survives in the city's name.
From the garden the narrow Lühike jalg stairway climbs, and it is the shorter route. The other, Pikk jalg, is wider and less steep and starts from Pikk street. Go up one and down the other to see both sides — they are minutes apart.
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