Osmussaar

Osmussaar

Osmussaar, Odensholm in Swedish, is located in the Baltic Sea, 7 kilometres off the northwest coast. The island is 5 kilometres long and about 1.5 kilometres wide. The Estonian Swedes themselves called the island Holmen while the people living on Osmussaar often used the name Backan.

The island has not undergone extensive archaeological exploration, but archaeologists have found signs of a Viking stopover at the chapel. It makes sense, since the island is located along the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. Written sources first mention Osmussaar in the 13th century, but Swedes living on the island are first mentioned in 1430.

There was only one village and it was located at the very centre of the island. The number of farms varied between 5 and 10 over the centuries. There were seven families living on the island from the 18th century until 1940: Brus, Stavas, Niggors, Erkers, Marks, Nybondas and Greis.

The surrounding fields and meadows were shared by the whole village, but divided into stringed fields – each farm had its own strip. Farming was mainly done by women. Locals cultivated barley and potatoes, but the main income came from fish sold on the mainland. The islanders also hunted long-tailed ducks and seals. Pilotage services for ships bound for Haapsalu, Tallinn or Riga also meant extra income. For this reason, each farm had a raised ladder overlooking the sea. The island had a lifeboat, and the islanders were exempt from military service. Looting of grounded  and/or wrecked ships also provided some income.

Osmussaar belonged to under Uuemõisa manor. As the island was remote and it was not possible to go to the manor for mandatory work, the islanders limited themselves to paying rent. The rent remained unchanged from the 17th century – 5 barrels of salt and the same amount of fresh fish per year.

In 1902, Osmussaar was sold to von Schutz by Hunnius, the lord of Uuemõisa manor. In 1907, it was resold. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a demand for the people of Osmussaar to buy out their land, but they refused to do so, insisting on the privileges granted by Queen Christina of Sweden, which specified a compulsory annuity of fish.

About a hundred or so people lived on Osmusaar. There were 130 residents before World War II. As a result of the 1939 Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty, the residents of the island were forced to leave the island in June 1940. Two weddings were held on the island the day before their departure on 12 June. The residents of Osmussaar were resettled on Vormsi, but because of the poor farmland there, they tried to migrate to Riguldi, which was also a more familiar place for the islanders. The Russians built military bases on Osmussaar. During the German occupation, the islanders were allowed to return to their home island. They found that their village had been destroyed. In 1943-1944, the Swedes of Osmussaare who had not been mobilised into the Soviet army relocated to Sweden.

During the Soviet era, there was a small border guard unit on the island and lighthouse keepers lived with their families near the lighthouse. In 1993 the soldiers left the island and it remained uninhabited for ten years.

As the land on the island did not belong to the residents there before World War II, they had no right to reclaim it. Today, Osmussaar belongs to the state and the island has been a protected area since 1994. 

Permanent residents returned to the island at the start of the 2000s, with one family living there year round.

Island of Odin

The Swedish name Odensholm is associated with the Norse god Odin. In Viking mythology, Odin was the king of the gods and the god of death, wisdom, divination, sorcery and poetry. Norse myths describe him as a mighty warrior and the Vikings considered Odin to be one of the most important warriors, even compared to other gods. He commanded the fortunes of war and decided who would fall in battle.

According to one legend, Odin was buried on Osmussaar and the islanders knew of a specific boulder dubbed Odin’s tomb. The boulder was destroyed by the Russian occupiers who built fortifications on the island during World War II.

Another legend has it that Odin emptied his boot of the sand that had gathered there in Põõsaspea and that this sand formed into the island of Osmussaar.

Osmussaar chapel

Osmussaar chapel, of which only the tower and the foundation walls remain, was built of limestone and stood some distance from the village. The first wooden chapel on the island was probably built in the 16th century. On 3 September 1766, a limestone chapel was consecrated on the same site.  

The chapel was small, measuring just 12×7 metres. It had a 10-metre-high tower that could be seen from the sea. It had simple furnishings, with seven rows of pews – one for each family living on the island. In total, the chapel seated about 80 people. A wooden figure of Martin Luther reading the Bible, a figurehead taken off a British ship that was cast aground near the island in 1852, was placed on the gate of the chapel.

The chapel was surrounded by a cemetery with a stone wall, where each family had its own row of graves.

Osmussaar chapel belonged to the parish of Noarootsi. Towards the middle of the 17th century, a prästhålde or arrangement  was established whereby a priest visited the island once a year, on the last Sunday in July. This occasion was used to baptise any children who had been born and to bless the graves of those who had departed in the meantime. It was also when the islanders could receive communion.  A local preacher conducted the services at other times.

The Soviet army turned the chapel into an ammunition depot. The chapel was hit in a shootout during the German invasion in the autumn of 1941. The nave and the choir walls were later demolished and the stones were likely used to build military structures. Only the stone part of the tower and the west wall of the nave remained standing.

Russian soldiers also plundered the cemetery. The stone fence of the chapel was taken apart and crushed to be used as concrete filling. The cemetery took a hit during the 1941 bombing. Grave markers were dumped and the graves have probably been looted. No intact grave markers have survived to date. However, the descendants of the residents of Osmussaar placed a memorial stone in the cemetery for each of the seven families who lived on the island.

In 1994, a new bell tower was consecrated at the chapel, built by former islanders.

In 2007, conservation work began on the chapel ruins under the initiative of the Odensholms byalag (Osmussaare Village Association), which represents the former residents of Osmussaare and their descendants in Sweden. The work was completed in 2012.

Where to go and what to do in Osmussaare

In the romantic small town of Haapsalu and small villages, hospitable people await you, surprising you with their sincerity and interest in history and culture. The guests who stayed here are remembered again and again with great respect.
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Osmussaar Lighthouse

Osmussaar is unique for its interesting nature and history. The island was first inhabited by the Estonian Swedes; after the WWII, Osmussaar became a restricted border zone with a Soviet military base.
The island is 4.8 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres wide. Its highest spot is 8 metres high. Osmussaar probably rose from the sea 3,000 years ago. The landscape is characteristic for its limestone shore, breccia boulders, vast shingle mould areas, and juniper shrubland. 
At the northwestern tip of the island on the cliff coast, a reinforced concrete lighthouse, built in 1954, can be found. The lighthouse has been open for visitors since 2019.

Osmussaar

Osmussaar, or Odensholm in Swedish, is mentioned in written sources as early as the 13th century. Its name is associated with the Viking god Oden.

There are several legends linking the name of the island to the Viking god. The first is said to have been named after a boulder called Oden, which was even thought to be the tomb of Oden.

According to another tradition, Oden Spithamn (Spithamn) emptied sand from his shoe when he stepped out of the heath.
Only the wind knows what is the most accurate legend of Osmus, or the island of the coastal Swedes.

According to old writings, the island’s permanent inhabitants were also Swedes, first mentioned in 1436. In 1436, the islanders were first mentioned as inhabitants.

At the beginning of the 16th century, there were probably five farms on the island, the inhabitants of which, according to tradition, came from the Stockholm archipelago. However, as a result of various epidemics, the island has been devastated several times, and as a result of these, new settlers have come to the island from several directions. The 1710-1711 period was particularly hard on the locals. The plague of 1717-1111 killed more than 60 people on the island. Only five of them survived, and their descendants still live in Sweden.

Before the Second World War, the island was inhabited by coastal Swedes, most of whom fled to Sweden to escape the war. The descendants of the former Osmus islanders are no longer on the island, but they do visit at least once a summer. Many of them are still keen to be involved in planning the future of the island by undertaking various joint projects – for example, in the early 1990s, the islanders installed memorial stones for the island’s families, fenced off a cemetery and built a small bell tower.

During the Second World War, the island was militarised, the locals were forced to leave and coastal defence batteries were established. Throughout the occupation, the island was a no-go zone for civilians, as was most of the Estonian coastline, and it is estimated that around 800 men were stationed on the island.

Osmussaar was captured by the Soviet army in 1941. and during the German occupation, in 1942. In the spring of 1941, the remaining Osmus islanders were allowed to return to the island. Much had changed during that time – the Oden stone was gone and most of the buildings were in ruins, including the chapel and the bell tower.

The concrete for the defences was also used for the island’s rock gardens, limestone buildings and other boulders. After the war, only a border guard unit was stationed on the island, and it was not until the 1990s that the former islanders were able to live there. It was only in the early 1990s that they were able to visit the island again.

The last representatives of the Soviet military left the island in 1993. After which environmental studies were carried out on the island and fortunately no major environmental threat was found. However, a large number of dangerous munitions were found on the island at the time, most of which were demined. Nevertheless, a variety of explosive devices, both safe and dangerous, can still be found on the island today.

In 1996, a landscape protection area was established on Osmussaari to preserve the living and non-living nature there, and the land was not returned to the former Osmussaari residents. Today, the entire island belongs to the Estonian state and is controlled by the Ministry of the Environment, and to a lesser extent by the Ministry of the Interior. The island was repopulated in 2001, when a family moved to the island and started raising sheep.

In addition to the sheep that roam freely on the island, Scottish mountain sheep can be seen here and there, all actively involved in the upkeep of the island’s heritage landscapes.

Osmus Island is wooded, rather scrubby, which is why you will find a lot of junipers here. In terms of plants, the island is quite species-rich, with rarities such as Danish sea lettuce, bittercress and rockcress, but the fauna is sparse, with only foxes, beavers, marsh frogs, water voles, bats and minnows.

Osmussaar is part of the European Union’s network of protected areas. The island’s birdlife, flora, cliff fields and the large stones from the Neugrund meteorite crater, known as the Neugrund breccia, deserve special protection.

Osmussaar is located about 7 km from Dirham harbour in the Osmussaar Scenic Reserve.

Vaatamisväärsustest on saarel 1766. aastal ehitatud kivikabeli varemed, 1954. aastal ehitatud tuletorn (1765.a. ehitatud tuletorn purustati 1941.a.), pankrannik ja rannavallid.

In May 2019, the lighthouse was opened to guests.

Escape to the Isle of Osmus