The KGB Museum in Tallinn, Estonia where an hour spent is a real eye-opener on the KGB

Welcome to the world where an hour spent will make the two parallel worlds of the Soviet times understood and tangible!

In the 1970’s, my parents had been to Tallinn and I had a leaflet of a hotel Viru in Tallinn, amongst the tourist literature my mother always collected. So, when I visited Tallinn, I had to see this place where they had stayed. Little did I know the hotel housed a museum with a fascinating story !!

Intourist is the Russian state travel agency created in 1929. It became the manager of the best hotels of the post Czar era in the USSR and arranged trips to 145 cities. I had business dealings with it in the 1980’s when I was in the travel trade and we got many Russian inbound groups through them. It had a monopoly on all incoming tourists to Russia. Privatized in 1992 and from 2011, was majority owned by a British company until in November 2019, a Turkish company Anex Tours acquired the stake from the British Govt Receiver.  

Viru Hotel was amongst the top five hotels in the Soviet Union competing with the best hotels in Moscow, Kiev, Leningrad and Yalta. This was quite a challenge as the hotel management had to have great diplomatic skills and tact  to ensure that important decision makers, comrades, inspectors, coming from Intourist, executive committees of the Estonian SSR, City of Tallinn suppliers, the hotel trade union and party organisations like Komsomol and of course the KGB, were all kept happy. No small task when you are under supervision 24/7. 

Publicly, which mainly existed on paper, happy Soviet people lived in abundance and friendship under the wise leadership of the single party with no accidents or catastrophes in it, let alone sex. The real world was considerably more versatile and complicated in nature. 

During the Soviet era, it was rumoured that the KGB had a folder on every person and that the intelligence service operated in the Viru Hotel.  What was the Viru Hotel ?

In one of the main streets in Tallinn, in Viru Valjak or street, is the Hotel Viru. It has a unique KGB Museum on the 23rd floor, whose access is only by an official guided one hour tour for the visitors who are intrigued by the city's secret history and how the KGB functioned in the times of the Cold War in the 1950’s through 1980’s. It tells us a story about the operatives and what they were up to in their filing on everyone who had come in this hotel. In those times of KGB, the Hotel Viru was designated exclusively for foreign guests visiting the USSR. It is James Bond’s Russia brought alive !! 

First opened on 5 May 1972, the hotel building was the first high-rise building in Estonia and an inseparable part of the Tallinn cityscape. Nowadays the hotel is connected to the shopping centre Viru Keskus. 

But why was the hotel built in the first place?

Between 1944 – 1960’s, Estonia was visited by very few Finns (nearest neighbours other than Russia) and no foreigners. In 1964, the Finnish President Kekkonen visited the country, signed a friendship pact and ferry traffic began in earnest between Helsinki and Tallinn. By end 1967 over 15,000 Finns visited Tallinn. This now required a new infrastructure including a hotel. In a meeting between Central committee of the Estonian Communist Party, Council of Ministers of the Estonian SSR, and Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1964, the decision was taken to build the hotel on Viru Square. This square has had different names thru the ages – Russian Market, Stalin Square, Viru Square, Adolf Hitler Strasse etc. various Stalinist designs were never implemented due to funding issues.       

The Soviet Union gave the construction project of Viru hotel to a construction company Repo Oy from Savonlinna Finland in 1969 and construction of the hotel started in July 1969 with 400 Finnish labour on site. The building height was reached in 14 months. In 1970, the hotel was officially named hotel Viru. However, the construction company went bankrupt in the middle of the construction project in 1971, after a fire broke out on the top floors of the hotel in December 1970. Because of prestige reasons, the Finnish state had to find another construction company, and provide a state backing for the project. The new construction company Haka Oy finished the hotel in May 1972 before the due date Spring 1972. 

Believe it or not, as such events like fires did not happen in the Soviet Union, the fire was never recorded.  The hotel project aroused interest as other institutions like the Pribaltiiskaja in Leningrad with roughly the same space cost five times as much and the Intourist hotels in Latvia and Lithuania took six and eight years to complete. Over 7,000 people visited the site to study the construction techniques of the Finns. 

The project paid off for the Finnish Government  because it resulted in a new construction project in Pääjärvi in the same year, and later new construction projects in Enso and Kostamus , both of which were in Karelia.  

During the Soviet era, the 23rd floor of the hotel housed a KGB radio centre, used to eavesdrop and spy on the hotel guests. 60 of the hotel rooms had concealed espionage devices, and even some of the tables in the restaurant had microphones. The KGB left the hotel in a hurry right before the independence of Estonia in August 1991, but the secret rooms were not found until 1994. As you will see there was a clear large notice that there was nothing beyond the sign!  The former radio centre is now a museum.

There were many myths of the activities of the KGB in Hotel Viru. The KGB had the whole hotel under its watchful eye. From its opening until 1991 when the operation disappeared overnight ! The hotel was monitored because of the foreigners and especially expatriate Estonians who visited it.

The KGB had 10 staffers in the hotel. Other indirect workers were trained also to keep an eye .... room service, waiters etc. the KGB operatives were faceless and it was best not to notice them. The KGB had two offices – in Room 307 and 315. They wiretapped telephones, collected and studied personnel files, inquired if parents had fought in the Great Patriotic war (1939-45), relatives living abroad, and also reports of all tour guides escorting foreigners. 

Hotel communication engineers were asked sometimes to replace a working phone with a similar unit but adapted to KGB needs for tapping. Later, as technology came in, the whole building’s phone network was wiretapped. 

Don’t forget that under Russian control, commodities were never easily available. Orange juice was imported from Russia. Potatoes, flour, meat and other items were rationed by Trade Board of the Executive Committee of Council of People’s Deputies of the City of Tallinn. Funding was assigned by Moscow according to allocation applications. No economic logic was followed.

The beauty of Viru in Tallinn was that it became an island – a foreign state – where foreign alcohol, cigarettes, was available along with access to foreigners. There was mainly group travel those days and most of them had their passports taken away by the hotel. 

The hotel

room rates were decided by Moscow and apparently remained a secret until the end of the 1980’s. Interestingly, the stereo sound technology was built by the hotel engineers themselves. The audio control bar looked like a space ship but it is also what gave the name to the Stereobar on the ground floor. 

Those days’ hotel colour schemes were never warm and friendly. But the tourists at least had the benefit of the Currency Bar in the 2^nd or 22^nd floor restaurants, cocktail bar etc. Locals could only visit these thru an acquaintance but they could go to the Stereobar or the 1^st floor cafe.

Our group was led by a stern faced, primly dressed in black, guide who spoke good English. She took us through every are of the museum – she showed us the official documentation / id’s of staff, publicity brochures, examples of crockery used at the time and the leaflets which were in the corridor publicising Viru Hotel’s various facilities. 

For all of the tourists, we were fascinated by the high level of local engineering genius used in fabricating various items for espionage.... the pinhole cameras, the small ladies purse with recording device, the phones with wire taps, and other equipment to record and spy on visitors. 

. 

A notable increase in KGB activities took place in 1975 when Helsinki hosted the Conference on Security and Disarmament. The hotline of the soviet leaders between Moscow and Helsinki was handled through the 23^rd floor communication hub at the Hotel. The second major event was the Yachting Regatta of the Moscow Olympics in 19680. Because of its shape, the sculpture of the mermaid installed in front of the hotel got the nickname “Sharp Ears”.

The doormen of the hotel had the primary task of helping the KGB. It seems they did not like to help guests and their job was to keep unwanted persons away from the hotel! Floor managers, standard practice in those days, also kept an eye on the movement of people and kept a logbook, as did the reception. Officially it was in the name of preserving order.

I distinctly recall that when I visited Russia in 1983 in Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev, I was unnerved by the sight of those elderly matrons who sat by the lifts / stairs keeping an eye 24/7 on all entering their floor. This was the practice in every hotel on each floor. In every museum, there was a security person in each room keeping her beady eye on you. 

Trip Advisor rates the museum at # 44 out of 297 things to do in Tallinn but in my view for anyone wanting to really learn about the history of the Russians in the city at the time of the occupation, its Russian links are here, right in the KGB Museum; which should thus rank way up the scale. 

One cannot imagine the scrutiny under which everyday lives of locals and foreigners were lived. No one was above suspicion. Those of us who have lived in a free world should always be aware of what happens on the other side. We came down from our tour to the disco bar on the ground floor – from where we had originally begun. The guide exhorted us to come back in the evening to try out the bar and its music but I was leaving the next day for Finland, so I had no time. The trip was a real experience for me in seeing Communism and how they serial investigated every individual, trusting no one, and it flourished ...... and how this same system of policing  still exists in a variation in certain countries even today. 

Text and photographs copyright of the author. Data on the hotel’s origins and KGB are from the exhibition at the hotel. Material was collected by Mr S. Nupponen, an established Finnish economic journalist and writer acknowledged by the Hotel Museum. 

The writer of this blog gratefully acknowledges the importance of their work. 

No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com

Madison Wisconsin - voted amongst the top university towns in USA. A view of some buildings.

 

This is what you see all over Madison – a city intensely proud of its history, its university and its football team – The Badgers. We were delighted to be there on each of our many visits as it is a great university town - an excellent local transport system, some very good restaurants, good museums and entertainment and most important, an excellent university where my son and his girlfriend were doing their post grad work. So now, whilst he and his wife are true Wisconsin mom and dads, we are tag along grandparents.

     Here is a bit of standalone University data from the Univ. website – I am not comparing it with any other place, just quoting current official stats.  

• Location: Madison, Wisconsin
• Founded: 1848 (First class: February 1849)
• Campus: 936 acres main campus
• Budget: $3,185,300,000
• Research expenditure ranking (national) 2017: 6th
• Schools and colleges: 13
• Faculty and staff: 22,365
• Living alumni: 451,142
• 9,204 courses
• 232 undergraduate majors and certificates
•  31 average class size 
• 160+ graduate programs
• 9,200+ students
• 30% international students
• 2,165 master’s degrees awarded
• 852 PhDs awarded

Ofcourse when we were there for a few years until 2013, the stats were lower but that in no way, reduced the beauty of this town or the quality of education. 

Madison is surrounded by four lakes. Mendota and Monona are the most well known as they are near the University and central town area. One has to acknowledge that in America there is a greater appreciation of the natural parks, the forests and trails etc than in Asian countries. Hence, natural beauty in an environment like Madison with its university and enlightened citizens bring out the beauty of nature. They enjoy it as much as we did. 

 This data on the Capitol is from its website.

The Wisconsin State Capitol is located in the heart of downtown Madison on an isthmus formed by Lake Mendota to the north and Lake Monona to the south. Accenting the beauty of the Capitol building is the 13.5 acres of Capitol grounds on which it sits. During the summer, there are 15 flowerbeds on the grounds, containing over 25,000 annual plants. The grounds are also home to 154 trees, of which there are 30 different varieties.

Construction of the current Wisconsin Capitol began in 1906 and completed in 1917. Originally, the Capitol and its power plant cost $7.25 million to build. Today the building is insured for $200 million, not including the artwork and furnishings. The Wisconsin State Capitol is 284.4 feet high from the ground floor to the top of the statue on the dome - just three feet and one-half inch shorter than the Nation's Capitol in Washington D.C.

The exterior of the Capitol is constructed entirely of White Bethel Vermont granite which is similar to  marble in whiteness and general appearance. It is the hardest and most durable stone used in the construction of the Capitol building. The four wings of the Capitol face the four diagonal streets of the City of Madison. Each wing is 125 feet wide, 84 feet high and 187 feet long. The west wing houses the State Assembly. The east wing contains the Governor's Conference Room and the Supreme Court. The State Senate is in the south wing. The North Hearing Room and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Memorial Hearing Room are found in the north wing of the Capitol.                     

The dome, completed in 1915, is the focal point of the Capitol building. It dominates the four wings and rises 162 feet above them. The Capitol dome is the largest dome by volume in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It is also the only granite dome in the United States. The dome consists of inner and outer structures. The inner dome (coffer dome) is visible from the Capitol rotunda. Three observation decks encircle the outer dome. The lowest observation deck is open for public viewing during the summer months. 

On top of the great granite dome stands the gilded bronze statue "Wisconsin" which symbolizes the state motto "Forward". "Wisconsin" has graced the top of the Capitol since 1914 and is 15’ 5” tall and weighs over 3 tons. In her left hand, "Wisconsin" holds a globe with an eagle perched on it and on top of her helmet is the state animal - the badger. 

The Rotunda - The first floor rotunda is the site of four beautiful monuments located at the foot of the grand staircases to the second floor. A replica of Wisconsin's State Constitution is displayed in the north. A bust of Robert M. LaFollette, founder of the Progressive Movement and former Wisconsin Governor and United States Senator is located in the east. A replica of the Liberty Bell is displayed in the south and in 1933, a memorial to Wisconsin veterans was erected in the west. Between the four arches in the rotunda are pendentives, which make the transition from the octagonal form of the rotunda to the circular form of the dome. The four pendentives of the rotunda are decorated with four panels of glass mosaic works designed by Kenyon Cox for a total cost of $20,000. Kenyon Cox, was an important American painter, draughtsman and art critic. He also painted murals for the Library of Congress and the Capitols of Iowa and Minnesota.

Cox's mosaic panels are twelve feet high and have an average length of 24 feet. Each mosaic consists of approximately 100,000 pieces of glass tile and represents Wisconsin's three branches of government (the legislative, the executive and the judicial) and liberty - the foundation of all power in a free country. "Legislation" is represented as a powerful older man with a long beard who holds a stylus in his right hand and is seated by a sphinx symbol of wisdom. A young man holding a leading staff in his right hand while his left hand rests upon a great sword represents "Government"- the executive power. "Justice" is represented by a young woman seated in a lion throne, who tests the scales in the balance to demonstrate the purely judicial function of weighing one cause against the other. "Liberty" is represented as a young woman wearing the traditional Phrygian cap of red, but is otherwise dressed in two shades of green, the color of youth and hope. Her right hand guards the ballot box while her left hand points upward.

During the winter holiday season, the Wisconsin State Capitol Holiday Tree graces the rotunda during the month of December. Typically a 44 ft Wisconsin grown Balsam Fir is selected as the holiday tree. Each year, the Capitol Holiday Tree is decorated with approximately 700 feet of gold garland, 2,400 multicolored lights and 1,400 handmade ornaments donated by Wisconsin citizens.

Dome Mural

“Resources of Wisconsin” features twelve women holding Wisconsin products such as lead, tobacco and wheat. The dome mural is 34 feet in diameter and was painted by Edwin Blashfield in 1912. It shows a female figure as "Wisconsin" - located centrally in the painting, enthroned upon clouds and wrapped up in the American flag.

Governor's Conference Room is located on the first floor of the east wing. The Governor uses this room for press conferences, bill signings, cabinet meetings and receptions. Designed in the Venetian Renaissance style and inspired by the beautiful small council chambers in the Doge's Palace in Venice. Of all the rooms in the State Capitol, the Governor's Conference Room is decorated with the most 22-carat gold leaf. The walls are cherry wood paneling. The floor is parquet of four woods teak, mahogany, quartersawn oak and primavera. The floor to ceiling fireplace is hand carved out of Italian marble. It is one of five fireplaces in the State Capitol and was last used in the 1930s. 

The ceiling paintings are symbolic and represent ideas such as Wisconsin's beauty, strength, patriotism, labor commerce, agriculture and horticulture. The wall murals are decorative paintings illustrating important people, places and events in Wisconsin's history.

 

A specific point of interest on the ceiling is the circular mural in the center of the ceiling, which represents "Wisconsin surrounded by her Attributes, Beauty, Strength, Patriotism, Labor, Commerce, Agriculture and Horticulture". The young woman in the center of the painting symbolizes the beauty of the State. Subjects of other ceiling panels include "Pioneering", "Charity", Invention", "Justice", "Religious Tolerance", and "Art" and two semi-lunettes above the clock symbolize "War" and "Peace".

There are many beautiful and interesting wall paintings in the Governor's Conference Room. All of these wall murals depict important events in Wisconsin history, such as "The Landing of the First White Man, Jean Nicolet, in the State, then a French Territory, in 1634" (located on the left as you enter into the room) and "The Closing Scene of the Winnebago War in 1827" (located on the right as you enter into the room). The Winnebago War painting illustrates Red Bird, Chief of the tribe, surrendering to Major Whisler near what is now Portage. In the left corner of the east wall is "Wisconsin's First Capitol at Belmont" as it appeared in 1836. In the right corner of the east wall is "Wisconsin's Capitol" which occupied the site of the present Capitol prior to the 1904 fire. It is also interesting to note that signs of the Zodiac can be found in the Governor's Conference Room, in the narrow spaces at the entrance, under the clock.

The Supreme Court Room is located on the second floor of the east wing of the State Capitol. Upon entering, visitors will be impressed by its dignified beauty. Such a room is befitting for the Supreme Court for it is here, where the final interpretation of State law is made. Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justices and the Fourth District Court of Appeals use the Supreme Court Room for oral arguments. The Supreme Court meets in this room two to three times per month, from September through June. The remainder of the year, the justices work on written cases in their chambers, which are located behind the doors at the front of the room. 

This room has more marble than any other room in the Capitol building. It contains marble from all over the world - France, Germany, Italy, Maryland and Tennessee. The solid mahogany furniture and woodwork are original to the room.

Albert Herter’s murals illustrate historical events that influenced Wisconsin law. The mural above the door shows Caesar Augustus presiding over the trial of a soldier. The north wall painting shows the protested signing of the Magna Carta by England's King John in 1215. At that time, soldiers forced King John to sign the document. The mural in front of the room illustrates the 1787 signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia - an extremely important event of our nation's history. The fourth painting exemplifies Wisconsin Territorial Law by showing the trial of Chief Oshkosh of the Menominee tribe in 1830. Chief Oshkosh was accused of killing a Pawnee Indian and was brought to trial before federal judge James Duane Doty. It was the first time a jury was used in Wisconsin history. Although the jury found Chief Oshkosh guilty, Judge Doty ruled that the territorial law couldn't be applied because Chief Oshkosh had followed his people's legal system.

Located on an isthmus and land surrounding four lakes-Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa, the city is home to the University , the State Capitol, Henry Vilas Zoo, lakes and an extensive network of parks and bike trails. Over 40 buildings including the Dane County airport and the Monona Terrace earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications.  Madison is regularly named the greenest city in Wisconsin. Madison, which is named for US Founding Father James Madison, is home to eight national historic landmarks.

 We used to enjoy driving around the city – there were some special areas of great interest as local identity varies throughout Madison. Historically the north, east, and south sides were blur collar while the west side was white collar. Students dominate on the campus and to the east into downtown while to its south and in Shorewood Hills on its west, faculty have been a major presence since those areas were developed. The turning point in Madison's development was the university's 1954 decision to develop its experimental farm on the western edge of town; since then, the city has grown substantially along suburban lines. 

Here are some well known localities – courtesy Wikipedia.  
Monroe Street The Dudgeon-Monroe neighbourhood is adjacent to downtown Madison. It is located around Monroe Street, a commercial area which has local shops, coffee houses, dining and galleries. It is home to a jazz fest and Wingra Park where people can rent paddle boats and canoes at the boathouse on Lake Wingra.

Willy Street  The Marquette neighbourhood sits on the near east side of Madison. Willy (Williamson) Street contains locally owned shops, restaurants, and entertainment establishments, as well as art galleries and the Willy Street Co-op. The houses in the Marquette neighbourhood fall into two separate historic districts, Third Lake Ridge Historic District and Marquette Bungalow Historic District. The area is also the location of festivals like the Waterfront Festival (June), La Fete de Marquette (July), Orton Park Festival (August), and Willy Street Fair (September). The Willy Street is a hub for Madison's bohemian culture. Houses lining the street are often painted colourfully, and the area has several murals.

State Street links the campus with the Capitol Square. It is lined with restaurants, espresso cafes, and shops. Only pedestrians, buses, emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles and bikes are allowed. it is home to much of the nightlife of the University of Wisconsin-Madison due to a number of bars and performance venues ranging from comedy clubs to multiple large theatres, including the historic Orpheum Theatre, that feature local ballets and Broadway touring casts.  State Street is also home to the annual Halloween party in Madison.

Park Street is located in south Madison and contains multiple official neighbourhoods, including the Burr Oaks Neighbourhood Association and Greenbush. It has been described as the "racially and economically diverse area of Madison". Park Street is home to ethnic restaurants and specialty grocery stores as well as retail. Residential areas to the sides of Park Street tend to have smaller houses or condos and a higher density of houses.

Madison has a Museum of Contemporary Art.

Like all modern art facilities, it has a host of activities for all age groups and all manner of events which allows it to raise funds for its maintenance and exhibits. There are interesting visual arts programmes. The Museum also offers gallery and artists talks and performances which enable the viewer to better understand the art on view! The Rooftop Cinema highlights experimental and art films and video under open skies. They hold a fun-filled weekend when you can shop till you drop from nearly 100 booths filled with art, gourmet food, and specialty gifts; wine and beverages, live music, dance performances and other attractions for the whole family. It’s all an experience aimed at community involvement with top level attractions but earning money is the primary focus to be able to survive and grow the Museum. A lot of creative thinking and detailing goes into such exercises and hence they have such excellent facilities.

Fun facts

Madison was ranked in 2017 as the top city in the United States for tech growth. In 2018, Madison was ranked in the top 10 cities for young entrepreneurs. Madison is the only Midwestern city to be listed in the top 20 cities for venture capital per capita. 

 Madison is home to one of the strongest local foods scenes in the country. The city is home to several James Beard Award winners, gastro pubs, and farm-to-table restaurants.

Local and regional foods unique to Madison include Blue moon flavoured ice cream, Brandy old fashioneds, and Bratwurst. Madison is also home to unique foods such as the large spring-rolls sold from the food carts on the Capital Square and State Street, particularly in warmer months. Other foods that are unique to the area are cheese curds either fried or dipped in ranch dressing and hot and spicy cheese bread made by some Madison bakeries and available at farmer's markets around the city. Cheese, cheese and more varieties of cheese are found here than anywhere I have seen.

On Saturday mornings in the summer, the best way to spend the morning is visit the Dane County Farmers' Market held around the Capitol Square, the largest producer-only farmers' market in the country. A smaller version of this market is held on Martin Luther King Boulevard on Wednesdays during the summer. In late fall, this market moves indoors, first as the Holiday Market at the Monona Terrace. Later it becomes the Late Winter Market at the Madison Senior Centre. This market attracts numerous vendors who sell fresh produce, meat, cheese, and other products.

 Some restaurants in Madison follow the general Wisconsin supper club practice of restaurants serving "Friday fish fry, Saturday prime rib special, Sunday chicken dinner special." The Great Taste of the Midwest craft beer festival, established in 1987 and the second-longest-running such event in North America, is held the second Saturday in August. The highly coveted tickets sell out within an hour of going on sale in May.

The International Students union is a great place to chill out by the lake side. It has various facilities for students but we spent many evenings by the lake side sitting, relaxing and having chilled beers. Some evenings there would be live music. The place is very popular with students so getting a table outdoors can be difficult. 

 

 Madison – a beautiful town hugely different from many American towns. We shall return to visit it again even though I am sure that in the last decade, it must have changed; with the Covid virus raging across the Americas, it will be a different experience and one does not know when it will actually happen. It was an ideal University town for a person to earn his PhD degree and for us to visit over the years. Many many happy memories never to be forgotten. 

Text, unless otherwise stated, and all photographs copyright of the author. The author  gratefully acknowledges information from public websites on the Wisconsin State Capitol, University and its buildings. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com