Kehra is a town in Anija Parish, Harju County, Estonia, most known for its pulp and paper mill.
The town is situated on the banks of the Jägala river, and has a station on the Tallinn-Narva railway.
As of January 1, 2021, the town had a population of 2635.
Pulp Mill
In the 1930’s, the Estonian state had plans to build a new modern pulp mill that could process pine. On September 28, 1936, Kehra was chosen as the location of the new pulp mill due to its proximity to the railway, a river, and the capital city. In addition to that, most of the land was already owned by the state. Eesti Metsa ja Tselluloosi Aktsiaühing was formed to operate the pulp mill. It was the largest company established during the first independence of Estonia. Construction of the pulp mill began in 1937 and ended in 1938. The opening event took place on August 25, 1938. It was attended by Konstantin Päts, Johan Laidoner, and Kaarel Eenpalu, among many other important officials. 11700 and 34400 tons of sulphate cellulose were manufactured in 1938 and 1939, respectively. The pulp mill had 464 workers in 1939. The pulp mill seriously polluted the Jägala River, killing most of fishes downstream from the mill.
The pulp mill’s chimney, dam and other parts were destroyed by the red army on August 21, 1941. The chimney was rebuilt during the German occupation in October 1942, and the mill started operating again in the summer of 1943. The Germans wanted to destroy the pulp mill in September 1944, before leaving Kehra, but did not succeed.
During the German occupation, a POW camp was established to restore the destroyed pulp mill. It was likely a subsidiary of the Tapa POW camp. According to Arthur Puksov, the director of the mill at the time, the prisoners were treated well. According to German records, around 100 prisoners died due to illnesses between 1941-1942, and 11 were shot on escape. The camp operated until September 18, 1944. Eight camp officials were convicted in 1945 and one in 1966.
After the war, the pulp mill produced electricity for Tallinn and heated buildings in Kehra. By 1955, the pulp mill had reached pre-war production level and started producing kraft paper. The mill started producing sewn paper sacks in 1957 and glued paper sacks in 1962. The pulp mill began treating its wastewater biologically in 1977, which significantly improved the condition of the Jägala River. In 1988, the mill produced 55 000 tons of cellulose, 48 500 tons of paper, 120 million paper bags, 450 tons of adhesive tape, and 400 tons of crêpe paper. The mill had 1065 workers, of whom 270 were Estonian.
After Estonia regained independence, the mill became known as Kehra Paber. The production halted on November 13, 1992, due to breakage in the recovery boiler. The company declared bankruptcy on March 1, 1993. Tolaram Group acquired the mill in June 1995 and the factory was renamed to Horizon Pulp & Paper Ltd. The mill started producing the well-known “Daisy” tissue paper on June 4, 1998. Lennart Meri visited Kehra on the same day. Tolaram Group became a 100% shareholder of the mill in 2008.
Economy
Some of the largest companies in Kehra include:
- Horizon Tselluloosi ja Paberi AS – manufacture of paper products
- Multimek Baltic OÜ – manufacture of fabricated metal products
- Narvo OÜ – manufacture of sawn timber
- Velko AV OÜ – infrastructure management
- Year AS – manufacture of designer clothes
- Kehra Pagar OÜ – manufacture of bakery products
