10 fun facts about Aksi Island in Estonia

Aksi Island is about 2.3 kilometres long and only 500 metres wide island near Prangli Island in Estonia. Grassland with a few juniper bushes and rocky shores dominate the island that has only few remains of old houses. We organise both private and group tours to Aksi Island. This summer already, everyone can join our group tours to Aksi! The island has rich history and much of it is preserved thanks to a photographer that once lived on the island.

1. The first inhabitants were sent to Aksi Island from Prangli on 18th century

According to folk tales, the men who were sent to Aksi Island did not manage to live there and soon moved back to Prangli Island. Permanent settlement started when a man called Aabram who was working in Prangli Island, married a local girl called Mari and rented Aksi Island from Haljava manor. The couple moved to the island in 1797. Aabram had many professions – he was a carpenter, a smith, a fisherman and a farmer. The work was never finished on the island as they needed to build new buildings, prepare the grassland for animals, build stone fences, go fishing and much more. During the autumn when Aabram and Mari moved to Aksi Island, in total five large boats were wrecked near Aksi Island. These gave enough building material for the couple.

During the time when family names were given in Estonia, the family living on Aksi Island was named Aksberg. Aabram and Mari had three sons, but only one of them grew up. He was called Jüri and Jüri had three children, each had their own farm built on Aksi. The third child of Jüri had ten children, so the Aksberg family grew so big that they did not fit on the island anymore. Some of them moved to Viimsi peninsula and others to the coastal villages of Jõelähtme.

2. The people of Aksi Island were talented in music

The Aksberg family was talented. A wind orchestra and a singing choir was active on the island. Many played the organ at home. The Aksbergs also made their own instruments like the organs and the harmoniums. Every farm had an organ, some brought from the mainland and some self-made. In the 19th century it was very rare to have an organ at home. According to the memories of the locals, the one who encouraged them to buy the organs was a Swedish officer David Wekman (Weckmann) who was living on Aksi Island. He might have been the one establishing the musical talent on the island as he played the organ himself and was known to teach kids.

In the memory book of the Aksberg family it says that Aleksander Aksberg had been on a trip to Finland on a sailing boat in 1894 with his brother Gustav. On the way there, the brothers entertained themselves by playing instruments – Gustav played the violin and Aleksander the harmonium. Suddenly they heard weird whistling and sniffing sounds. Upon investigation they found out that about a dozen seals were swimming behind the boat and howling along with the music. Once the music stopped, the seals dived into the water as fast as they had appeared. Exactly from the memories of the Aksberg family we realised that seals like music. We went to try it out and now we use this knowledge on our seal-watching tours around Malusi Islands.

3. The most unique object preserved on Aksi Island is a stone labyrinth called Türgilinn (Turkish town)

David Wekman built the labyrinth and wrote his initials D.W. together with the date 1849 using stones on Aksi Island. You can still see the labyrinth and the initials when visiting this Estonian island. The labyrinth serves as memorial for a person who is only found in folk tales. We don’t have any archives about David Wekman nor do we know where he is buried.

4.Two composers are from Aksi Island – the brothers August and Oskar Luusmann

August Luusmann is said to have been one of the liveliest people on Aksi Island. He had multiple talents as he created his own music and practised photography which he studied in Tallinn. Thanks to his photography we know a lot about the life in the islands of Aksi, Prangli and Naissaar. He liked to wonder about life and often wrote his thoughts down. Although many believe that he had a mental illness, he was an author of many great pieces. Estonian Music and Theatre Academy has 61 of his works in its archive.

August’s brother Oskar Luusmann is also from Aksi, but he moved to Tallinn and lived there with his family. There he conducted choirs and taught how to play the organ. We know that he also composed music and although there are hints about different choir songs as well as songs he wrote for the piano and the organ, the sheet music has been lost in history.

5. Aksi Island was well known thanks to its famous boats and talented boat builders

The boats were crucial for the islanders and the Aksbergs knew the art of boat building well. The first settler Aabram Aksberg was skilled and taught his son Jüri. About a century later, Jüri’s grandson Aleksander Aksberg opened a boat workshop on the island. He built new kinds of boats, which a man from Finland started to like. One of the boats was traded in exchange for an engine from Finland. Soon, more engines were bought and the first motorboat in Estonia was built on Aksi Island. The motorboat production started. Whoever had a problem with their boat, they could always find help from Aksi’s boat builders.

The fast and streamlined boats built by the Aksbergs were well known in Northern Estonia at the beginning of the 20th century. The Aksbergs later contributed to the boat building in Sweden. The plastic boats built by Endel Aksberg became very popular in Sweden in 1970s.

6.There were 10 people on the island in the 19th century, 20 people a century later, but most of them left during the WWII

After the WWII, most of the Aksberg family left to Sweden and from there to the US and Canada. Only some of the elderly remained on the island. In 1945 nine people lived in the five households of Aksi. In 1952 it was announced that the inhabitants of many smaller islands in Estonia had to relocate. As the orders came in the middle of the winter, when it was not easy to relocate, the inhabitants of Aksi remained on the island for another year. Finally, they were relocated in 1953.

Interesting fact: the boats were taken away from the inhabitants of Aksi already in 1952, which made it impossible for the islanders to get anywhere. The border guard told them to make a fire in case of an emergency so that someone from Prangli Island could come to help. Despite that, the people in Aksi tried to fight against the orders to move but were still forced to resettle.

7. Smuggling on Aksi Island

During the Crimean War, the British navy organised a blockade on the Baltic Sea to cut the important trade routes to Russia. The navy ships came close to the island of Naissaar and did not allow the cargo ships to pass to Tallinn or leave the city either. Soon there was a shortage of goods in many cities in Estonia. People were especially missing salt. However, many coastal regions found a way to make profit of the situation – they smuggled in goods from Finland. Salt, citrus fruits, pineapples and much more was brought using smaller sailboats which managed to get through the blockade. The inhabitants of Aksi also participated in this. A hiding place for salt can still be found on the island.

8. Aksi Island belonged to the family of Girard de Soucantons since 1847, but it was soon sold

Aksi was a tiny, separated island which did not have much land suitable for farming. This did not bring much profit for the landlords. That made the landlord Edmund de Girard Soucanton put Aksi on sale. The first out of five households was sold in 1901 and the last one in 1920.

9. It was difficult to go to school from Aksi, but still the locals were good at writing and reading

The children from Aksi Island went to school which was located on Prangli Island. However, it was not always possible to go. While Prangli Island had a school with 4 grades, Aksi Island had a home school with 6 grades. Despite everything, the inhabitants of Aksi knew how to read and write already at the beginning of the 19th century. They also participated in plays, sang in choirs and played instruments with children from Prangli and Rammu islands.

10. Helmut Aksberg visited Prangli and Aksi islands in 2013 after being away for 70 years

Helmut Aksber is the great-great-grandson of Aabram, the first settler of Aksi Island. He escaped the Soviet occupation in 1944 by going to Finland from Aksi by a motorboat and from there to Sweden. In 2013, the CEO of Prangli Travel managed to create a contact with the Aksbergs and visit Helmut Aksberg in Stockholm to record his knowledge about boat building. A bit later, with the help of Prangli Travel, Helmut Aksberg visited Prangli as well as Aksi Island where he had escaped almost 70 years ago.

Nowadays, some of the land on Aksi Island is owned by Jaanus who keeps Scottish highland cattle and sheep there, which help to maintain the grasslands. A new wooden house and a barn have been built and the ruins of the old boat workshop have been restored and made into a house thanks to him. Wish to see Aksi Island in Estonia with your own eyes, hear more fascinating stories and try to walk through the stone labyrinth yourself? Join our nature tours to Estonian islands and discover Aksi, Keri or Prangli islands!

Sources: Our tour guides, book “Aksi – mereriik Tallinna külje all”, aksi.ee.