Located around the corner St. Nicholas' Church, the building at 18 Ruutli Street has a sign in Estonian and English. The English portion informs us:
"The ,,executioner's age" in the building lasted from 1746-1821, when the prison and the town executioner's dwelling were situated behind the wall on the right and in the Gothic gabled house on the left. Since 1431, the building had different dwellers during two centuries, from mason Oleff to nobleman von Paykull (whose grave slab is in Niguliste). On the right, there is the mint that until 1548 was a part of town's craft's courtyard.
After the closing down of the prison, G. Fr. Nolte established the guest house ,,Gastwirt" , later called ,,Nolte" in the buildings. The writer Eduard Vilde lived in the hotel between the years 1883-86.
The front hall with a kitchen in the fireplace of the Gothic gabled house has been excellently restored."
The reference "Niguliste" is the Estonian name for the nearby St. Nicholas' Church.
Wikipedia (
visit link) tells us about the writer:
"Eduard Vilde (4 March 1865 in Pudivere, Väike-Maarja Parish, Lääne-Viru County – 26 December 1933 in Tallinn) was an Estonian writer, a pioneer of critical realism in Estonian literature, and a diplomat. Author of classics such as The War in Mahtra and The Milkman from Mäeküla. He was one of the most revered figures in Estonian literature and is generally credited as being the country's first professional writer...
Vilde grew on the farm where his father worked. In 1883 he began working as a journalist. He spent a great deal of his life traveling abroad and he lived for some time in Berlin in the 1890s, where he was influenced by materialism and socialism. His writings were also guided by the realism and naturalism of the French writer Emile Zola (1840–1902). In addition to being a prolific writer, he was also an outspoken critic of Tsarist rule and of the German landowners. With the founding of the first Estonian republic in 1919, he served as an ambassador in Berlin for several years, and spent the last years of his life editing and revising an enormous volume of his collected works.
Works
Musta mantliga mees (1886)
Kuhu päike ei paista (1888)
Kõtistamise kõrred (1888)
Karikas kihvti (1893)
"Linda" aktsiad (1894)
Külmale maale (1896)
Raudsed käed (1898)
Mahtra sõda (1902)
Kui Anija mehed Tallinnas käisid (1903)
Prohvet Maltsvet (1905–1908)
Jutustused (1913)
Mäeküla piimamees (1916)
Tabamata ime (1912)
Pisuhänd (1913)
Side (1917)
Rahva sulased (unfinished, Looming 1934/1–3)
story Jobu
Minu esimesed triibulised"