Tapa is a town in Tapa Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. Located at the junction of the country’s Tallinn–Narva (west–east) and Tallinn–Tartu–Valga (north–south) railway lines, it is an important centre of transit for freight (mainly Russian oil and timber) as well as rail passengers (mostly Estonian commuters). A home to soldiers since the 1930s, Tapa also plays an important role in training young men and women in the Estonian Defense Forces. The Valgejõgi River passes Tapa on its northeastern side.
Tapa developed as a village probably in the 13th–14th centuries. It was first mentioned in 1482, and the Tapa knight manor (Taps) in 1629.[2] Tapa was officially recognized as a town in 1926. In October 2005, the town merged with the municipalities of Lehtse Parish, Saksi Parish, and Jäneda Parish to form Tapa Parish.
Tapa Museum was opened on 10 June 2004. The museum, in a 1934, two-storey house, collects and exhibits objects, including photos and documents, related to the history and culture of Tapa. All of the objects in the museum reflect the soul of Tapa’s citizens, past and present. Temporary exhibits celebrate notable days in Tapa’s history and feature hobbies of the town’s residents. The permanent collection presents Tapa as a railway, military, and sausage town.
Religion and Culture
Throughout Tapa’s history, in between the depot and the military base, civic and religious institutions have flourished. At services on 2 December 2007, the first Sunday of Advent, the congregation of the St. Jacob’s Lutheran Church, celebrated its 75th anniversary.
A temporary house of prayer was dedicated in Tapa on 19 June 1921 by the first bishop of the EELK Jaak Kukk. It was named after the apostle John. St. Jacob’s was dedicated on 27 November 1932, the first Sunday of Advent. Either August Tauk or Anatoli Podchekayev is the architect of the neo-historical stone church. The altarpiece, called the “Joyous Christ” or “Come to me”, was painted by Russian icon artist Olga Obolyaninova. The church was renovated from 1953–55 and from 1972–74.
On 10 June 2007, the Baptist church in Tapa celebrated its 75th anniversary. The church was established on 12 June 1932, and Philip Gildemann was its first pastor. In 1940, with Gottfried Palias as pastor (1933–45), services moved to Tapa’s Methodist church building. In 1980, with Dimitri Lipping as pastor (1976–92), it acquired the building at Kooli street 1 for Sunday school and other youth programs. In November 2003, it changed its name to the Tapa Living Faith Church (Tapa Elava Usu Kogudus). It holds Sunday services, with simultaneous translation into Russian, in Tapa’s Methodist church at Kesk street 11.Kalevipoeg statue in front of St. Jacob’s Church.
At 75, Tapa’s Baptist church had 40 members: 58 percent were between the ages of 21 and 74 and 68 percent were female. There were 50 participants in its Sunday school and more than 100 youth in its summer camp. Its other pastors were Evald Aer (1945–56), Paldor Teekel (1956–60), Eduard Kaur (1961), Erich Sõmer (1962–67), Heino Kivisild and Arli Tammo (1968–1975), and Toomas Kivisild (from 1993). The church belongs to the Union of Free Evangelical and Baptist Churches of Estonia (Eesti Evangeeliumi Kristlaste ja Baptistide Koguduste Liit).
On 17 March 2007, Tapa Music School (Tapa Muusikakool) celebrated its 50th anniversary with a concert by its students and its graduates. Like many Estonian towns, Tapa has a music school that is second only to the local elementary and high school in educating children and preparing them for successful lives as teenagers and young adults. The music school opened in the fall of 1957. Peeter Kald was the school’s director from 1979 until 2007, when his son Ilmar was named director.
The town is also the site of a sausage festival.
