The Tower Behind Wulfard

I am called the Tower Behind Wulfard. I was named after Wulfard Rosendal who lived in the area and was the tower chief in 1410.

Wulfard was a merchant and the former mayor of Turku. However, when he moved to Tallinn, he got into financial difficulties and debts. Rosendal pawned his home and became a dependent of the St. Bridget Convent. The name of Wulfard was quite soon crossed off the list of tower chiefs, probably because of his death.

My story is also a little sad. There is currently only one floor visible of me, but there was a time when I was probably four floors high! I lost my military importance after the completion of the Great Coastal Gate – the Fat Margaret – in 1529, and also due to the establishment of bastions soon after. Fat Margaret was a pre-gate cannon tower. New military defenses meant that I was left to fall apart. I too was marked as a derelict gunpowder tower after the great fire of 1757 on Peter’s day (29 June). The great fire was everywhere, even in the city palace of Peter I, erected 30 years earlier than I. In my vicinity, the fire raged and burned, as did the entire quarter. Thankfully there was no longer, gunpowder stored here, as otherwise there would be nothing left of me.

In 1870, I was demolished to the height of the wall. After that I was only used as the arched path through to the property of the mill master Wilhelm (the current Tolli 4). After the restorations that took place at the end of the 1980s, I am at the disposal of the Tallinn City Archives. All’s well that ends well.