Fredi Tomps shaped Estonia’s heritage landscape

Fredi Tomps, a leading figure in Estonia’s heritage conservation, died aged 98 on September 5, ERR reported, citing an obituary by Riin Alatalu published in Sirp. Tomps believed that neither life nor heritage conservation should shy away from problems or difficulties, and that solutions should be found while upholding principles.

Tomps was among the last people who remembered pre-war Estonia, including his childhood home in Virumaa and the city and castle of Narva. His later comparison with a devastated Estonia shaped his ability to recognise heritage and intervene to protect it.

He gained his first practical experience in heritage conservation in 1948, when he took part in workdays organised to protect the ruins of Niguliste while studying architecture in his first year at Tallinn Polytechnic Institute.

Curious and energetic, Tomps left his mark across Estonia. He helped establish the Estonian Open Air Museum, plan its grounds and bring in its first buildings, including the Sassi-Jaani farmstead, before the museum opened in 1964. He also contributed to preparations for Tallinn’s Old Town heritage conservation area in 1966 and was one of the main initiators of the protection of nine Estonian old towns in 1973. He also worked to establish the A. H. Tammsaare Museum at Vargamäe.

Tomps was particularly proud of helping establish Lahemaa National Park in 1971. He helped develop the principle that nature in a national park cannot be separated from heritage created by people. His own formulation, that nature and buildings should exist in harmony and that nature must be taken into account, remains relevant in Lahemaa, Alatalu wrote.

Under Tomps’s leadership, Lahemaa’s historical architecture began to be valued and restored. Alongside the Palmse, Sagadi, Vihula and Kolga manors, he considered the architectural heritage of villages and the preservation of Lahemaa’s characteristic building style important. Lahemaa also provided an impetus for the study and protection of Estonia’s manor heritage.

As recently as 2024, Tomps discussed the past and future of Lahemaa’s farm architecture at the Palmse manor and presented his memoirs in Sagadi. His more than half-century of work and intellectual energy can be seen in Lahemaa’s landscapes, villages and buildings, as well as in the attitudes of its people and in Estonia’s manor landscape.

In 1969, Tomps helped establish the National Inspectorate for the Protection of Architectural Monuments, known as VAMKI, which organised heritage conservation in Estonia until the Heritage Board was established in 1993. He had the courage to pursue his aims and approach even the highest officials, making VAMKI an institution whose views were respected and taken into account.

VAMKI and its sister organisations, the State Design Institute for Cultural Monuments and the Republican Restoration Administration, not only dealt with national memory and heritage values but also employed several Estonians who had been politically persecuted.

Heritage conservation efforts continued for Estonia’s churches throughout the occupation years. The Church of the Redeemer in Nõmme was restored in 2009 based on Tomps’s own project. He also gave important support to the revival of the Pirita Birgittine monastery, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. In recognition of that contribution, Tomps had the opportunity to meet Pope John Paul II personally at the Vatican.

Much of Tomps’s energy necessarily went into his work as an official, but he did not neglect his calling as an architect. In the 1980s, he prepared restoration projects for Rakvere Castle and Sagadi manor, and in the new millennium he prepared a restoration project for Saka manor.