"One look at this beautiful, Renaissance-style guild hall with its bright red, green and gold door is enough to explain why it's a regular feature on every Tallinn postcard stand.
This was the historic home of the Brotherhood of Black Heads, a Medieval guild made up of young, single merchants and foreigners. The guild's patron saint was the Moorish St. Mauritius - a profile of his head is pictured on the Brotherhood's coat of arms. The Brotherhood itself, which arose sometime around 1399, was active only in Estonia and Latvia, and never took hold in the rest of Europe.
A 14th-century residential building probably occupied this site when the Black Heads bought up the property in the early 1500s. They immediately installed a new hall with an archless ceiling, but the serious rebuilding got underway in 1597 when the Dutch Renaissance façade, with its profusion of ornaments and carved decorations, was added. The eye-catching front door dates to 1640.
Inside you can see a two-naved, vaulted hall, which bought from the neighbouring St. Olav's Guild and dates to the 15th century. The site is frequently used for concerts and other gala occasions, and naturally any event held here will take on a timeless quality." (
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The historical marker on the façade of the building, to the left of the front door reads, first in Estonian, then in English, as follows:
1399 rajatud Tallinna Mustpeade vennaskond rentis 1517 Pikk 26 maja ning laskis sellele 1531-32 juurde ehitada suure pidusaali, mille aknaorvades on tänini säilinud renessanslikke ornamendimaalinguid.
1597 uuendas fassaadi ehitusmeister+kiviraidur Arent Passer. Raidkividekoor esitab püha Mauritiusega vennaskonna vapi kõorval ka maaisandate kuningas Sigismund III ja Teraseõu Londonis, Peetriõu Novorodis, Ittasõitjate maja Brügges ja Saksa sild Bergenisö neist kõrgemal on Mustpead rüütliturniiril, Justitia (Oiglus) ja Pax (Rahu) ning Kristus Kõigevalitseja. Ruumid Mustpeade majas ja Olevi gildis on moderniseeritud 1908-22.
The Tallinn Brotherhood of Black Heads, established in 1399, leased the Pikk street building in 1517 and added a big festive hall to it in 1531-32, the initial ornament paintings of which can still be seen in the windows.
In 1597, the façade was renovated by the builder-stonecutter Arent Passer. In addition to the coat of arms of the brotherhood that bears the picture of St. Mauritius, the stone décor also represents the portraits of the landlords King Sigismund III and Queen Anna; the coat of arms of Tallinn's partner factories in the Hanseatic League the Steelyard in London, Peterscourt in Novgorod, the Oosterlinghuis in Brugges and Tyskebryggen in Bergen; above these, Black Heads on a tournament, Justitia (Justice), Pax (Peace) and Christ Almighty can be seen. The rooms in the House of Black Heads and Olev's Guild were modernized between 1908-1922.
"The Brotherhood of Blackheads was an association of local unmarried merchants, ship owners, and foreigners that was active in Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) from the mid 14th century till 1940. The Brotherhood of Blackheads was founded as a military organization, however, the non-military aspects of the association gradually became more pronounced until the Brotherhood became a predominantly social organization after the end of the Great Northern War.
The Brotherhood of Blackheads was divided into local autonomous organizations that owned the so-called Blackhead Houses in more than 20 towns in Estonia and Latvia, including Tallinn, Riga, Tartu, and Pärnu. In the 17th century, a brotherhood of Blackheads was also established in Wismar, Germany. The House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads in Tallinn is the only one that has survived intact into the 21st century. The Brotherhood was renting the property at 24-26 Pikk Street, Tallinn, already in 1406. In 1531, the Blackheads acquired the building from the town councilor Johann Viant and rebuilt it in the Renaissance style of the period. It remained in the possession of the Blackheads until the summer of 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Estonia." (
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