Tallinn restores historic cargo hoist at city archives

Tallinn’s Old Town has a working historic cargo hoist again, ERR reports. The 3.4-metre-diameter wheel was restored and made operational in the attic of the Tallinn City Archives building on Tolli Street.

The wheel is believed to be the only working historic winch in Tallinn. Similar lifting mechanisms were once found in almost every medieval house, said Juhan Kreem, a researcher at the city archives, because storage rooms were on the second and third floors.

The mechanism in the archives building is much later. The building stood in ruins in the 17th century and was repaired in the 18th century for use as a customs warehouse, when a lifting mechanism was needed again. Kreem said it was assembled from different parts, some of which may have come from a shipwreck or been left over at the harbour.

The surviving wheel dates from the 19th century and has a 34.5-metre lifting rope. Reconstruction work in 2025 improved access to the mechanism, allowing staff to explain how it works to visitors and hold demonstration lifts.