Location: Hiiu County Map
Area: 989 km²
Ferry: from Rohukula, Triigi
Info: Hiiu 1, Kardla 462 2232
Hiiumaa (also Hiiu island) is the second largest
island in Estonia, the northernmost island of the Western Estonian
archipelago. Hiiumaa borders the Väinamere in the southeast, and the
open sea in the north and west. The island is separated from
Saaremaa by Soela strait and from Vorms by Hari gorge. To the
northwest of Hiiumaa lies the Hiiu low, which is dangerous for
shipping. In the eastern and southeastern part of the island there
are many flats and islets, the largest of which is Vohilaid.
Administratively, Hiiumaa together with the surrounding islands
belong to Hiiumaa municipality.
Hiiumaa began to emerge from
the Baltic Sea about 10,000 years ago. The Kõpu peninsula was the
first to emerge from the sea, the Tornimägi located there is the
highest point of the Western Estonian archipelago. Hiiumaa's
coastline is well articulated, which is why the island has many
peninsulas and open areas. The largest peninsulas of Hiiumaa are the
Tahkuna peninsula in the northern part of the island and the Kõpu
peninsula in the western part of the island. The most important bays
are Mardihansu, Kassari and Tareste bays.
The flora of
Hiiumaa is very diverse. On the island there are local people, which
are rare for the Baltic countries. Important bird migration routes
run across the island. Käina Bay is the most important nesting and
resting place for birds in Hiiumaa. About twenty reintroduced
European minks live on the island.
In the 14th century, a
Swedish settlement appeared in the northern part of Hiiumaa. In
1628, the first glass factory in Estonia was established in Hüti.
During the Northern War, the island passed from Sweden to the
Russian Empire. In 1829, the Kärdla fur factory was founded, which
was the most important industrial enterprise on the island until the
Second World War. Before the First World War, the advance position
of Peter the Great's sea fortress began to be built on the Tahkuna
Peninsula to protect the Gulf of Finland from invasion. When the
German occupation forces left in the fall of 1918, power on the
island passed to the Estonian state. In 1939, military bases of the
USSR began to be established in Hiiumaa in accordance with the base
agreement. As a result of the Second World War, Hiiumaa became part
of the USSR, where it remained until Estonia regained its
independence in 1991.
The name of the island is Dagö in Swedish and German, Dagø in Danish, all of which mean Island of the Day. It is a translation loan from the old Finnish name of the island, Päivansalo. In modern Finnish, the island is called Hiidenmaa ('land of the Hittites').
About 455 million years ago, a meteorite hit today's
northeastern Hiiumaa. As a result of the collision, a ring island was
formed, in the center of which was a lagoon measuring approximately 3.5
km². During the last ice age, the continental ice pressed down the
Hiiumaa area with its weight. At the end of the ice age, the melting
water of the glaciers flooded today's Hiiumaa area.
Hiiumaa began
to emerge from the Baltic Sea more than 10,000 years ago. The Kõpu
mountains were the first to rise above the sea level, which is also the
highest point of the Western Estonian islands. Today, the land surface
of the island rises by approx. 2.5 mm per year, which is the highest
figure in Estonia. Among others, Luigerahu, Künnislaid and Kassari have
grown together with Hiiumaa.
The bedrock consists of highly
folded crystalline rocks that are exposed at a depth of about 250
meters. The upper layer consists of sedimentary rocks. The limestone
upper layer rises above the sea level in some places, the upper layer
can be seen especially well around Vahtrepa, Aruküla and Sarve. The
surface cover is located on limestones of the upper order and consists
of loose sediments. On the alluvium of Ida-Hiiumaa, the surface cover is
only 30 centimeters, but on the Kõpu peninsula it can reach up to 80
meters. Three quarters of the island is sandy.
More than half of
the island's area is covered with forest and shrubs. About 7% is made up
of extensive swamps in the central part of the island. There are also
three Tihu lakes, the largest of which is Suurjärv. Therefore,
agricultural lands and settlements are less than 20% of the island's
area.
Hiiumaa is located in the transition area from coniferous
forests to broad-leaved forests. The natural landscapes of Hiiumaa are
dominated by pine forests, marshy deciduous forests, mixed spruce and
juniper forests, beach meadows and dunes, bogs and low marshes. Valuable
are the alluvial areas of Hiiumaa, or alvars, where a thin layer of soil
covers the limestone plains. Locusts in Hiiumaa are rare in the entire
Baltic region.
Hiiumaa has a very diverse flora. About 1,000
species of plants grow on the island, more than 50 of which are
protected. Among others, the common yew, the beach thornbush and the
rare in Estonia common yew grow in the natural conditions of the island.
The largest game in Hiiumaa can be met with wild goats, deer, moose
and wild boar; the smallest ones are common raccoon, lynx and fox. In
the waters of the island, there are remarkable herds of ringed and gray
seals throughout the entire Baltic Sea. Important bird migration routes
run across Hiiumaa, the most important nesting and stopping place is
Käina Bay.
The administrator of Hiiumaa's protected areas is the
Environmental Board. There are 16 protected areas, 17 storage areas, 30
permanent habitats for protected species on the island. 4 parks, 21
native trees, 26 boulders, 3 landscape elements and 4 groups of native
trees are protected.
There are 7 nature reserves and 9 landscape
reserves in Hiiumaa: Tahkuna nature reserve, Pihla-Kaibaldi nature
reserve, Leigri nature reserve, Tihu nature reserve, Kõrgessaare nature
reserve, Paope nature reserve, Kõpu nature reserve, Kukka landscape
reserve, Luidja landscape reserve, Sepaste landscape reserve, Tilga
landscape reserve, Tareste landscape reserve, Sarve landscape reserve,
Vahtrepa landscape protection area and Käina bay - Kassari landscape
protection area.
There are 17 storage areas on the island: Hiiu
madala storage area, Hirmuste storage area, Kuri-Hellamaa storage area,
Kõpu-Vaessoo storage area, Kõrgessaare-Mudaste storage area, Luhastu
storage area, Paope loo storage area, Pihla-Kurisu storage area, Prassi
storage area, Pühalepa storage area, Suureranna storage area, Undama
swamp storage area, Vanajõe storage area, Vanamõisa bay storage area,
Viilup storage area, Vilivalla storage area and Väinamere storage area.
There are also 4 parks under protection: Kärdla city park, Kärdla
beach park, Suuremõisa manor park, Vaemla manor park.
There are
137 protected plant, mushroom and lichen species under protection in
Hiiumaa. The rarest mushroom in Hiiumaa is the taiga net leek (Ceriporia
tarda), whose only place of occurrence in the whole of Europe is on the
Kõpu peninsula. The rarest plant on the island is the pisilina, which
can only be found in two places in Estonia, in Hiiumaa. Among the moss
plants, the green giant copper, which is only found in Hiiumaa, deserves
attention. Of the animals, 15 species of insects are under protection.
Among other invertebrates, the apothecary snail and the vine snail are
under protection. The fish under protection are the hink, the bream and
the crayfish. Of the birds, the protected sea eagle and black stork are
worthy of attention, and of the mammals, the fur seal and the European
mink. About twenty European mink live on the island, which have been
reintroduced to the island with the help of the Tallinn Zoo.
The first parts of the Kõpu peninsula emerged from the sea
about 11,500 years ago. The oldest coal samples from the ancient
island of Kõpu are dated to around 5700 BC. The settlements on
the island were initially not used year-round, as the very small
island at that time did not offer enough living space. The
island was inhabited primarily in spring and winter, when it is
the best time to hunt otters and seals.
The transition to
agriculture took place in Hiiumaa at the end of the Neolithic
around 3000 BC. By the end of the Stone Age, the settlement had
spread all over Hiiumaa. In the Younger Bronze Age, the dead
began to be buried in stone coffin cemeteries, and the island
had developed a community that lived mainly on agriculture.
From the Iron Age, cremations and individual finds have been
found on the island of Hiiumaa, which indicate the continued
existence of settlement in the area. 11th-12th centuries have
been found on the island. century, which gives grounds for
believing that Hiiumaa was inhabited in the Late Iron Age and
that the island has been continuously inhabited.
At the
beginning of the Middle Ages, the island was very sparsely
populated, but the population remained. The island is first
mentioned in 1228, when the German king Heinrich VII
Hohenstaufen lent an empty island called Dageida to Bishop
Gottfried. In 1254, the bishop leased the northeastern part of
the island to the Livonian Order, the area around Käina remained
in the possession of the bishop of Saare-Lääne. The estates of
the Order formed the Pühälepa administration, which was
subordinate to the bailiff of Maasilinna. Pühalepa manor was
established as the center of the Ordu area, which was later
named Suuremõisa. At the turn of the century, the Gothic style
Pühalepa church was built, which became the Pühalepa parish
church. Käina became the center of the estates of the Bishop of
Saare-Lääne, where the church of the same name was built. The
office was probably located in Putkaste manor, which was later
leased.
In the 14th century, a coastal Swedish settlement
appeared around Reig, on the Tahkuna peninsula and in Kärdla.
Valipe fortified manor is mentioned at the beginning of the 16th
century. It is one of the few known medieval defense structures
in Hiiumaa.
Johannes V, the last bishop of Saare-Lääne,
sold his possessions to the Danish king Frederik II in 1559.
This means that the southern and western part of Hiiumaa came
under the Danish government. In 1560, Duke Magnus was elected
bishop of Saare-Lääne. In 1561, Gotthard Kettler, the last Land
Master of the Livonian Order, signed a surrender agreement with
Poland and liquidated the Livonian Order state. The areas of the
former Maasilinna fiefdom, including Ida-Hiiumaa, were without a
real owner until 1562. Maasilinna bailiff Heinrich
Lüdinghausen-Wulff refused to hand over the Maasilinna bailiff
in 1561, claiming that it was his personal possession. He tried
to sell Maasilinna to Denmark (Duke Magnus) and at the end of
1562 he was appointed deputy administrator of the Danish lands
in Saaremaa, Lääne and Kuramaa. He probably had no real power,
because Christoffer Valkendorf arrived in Saaremaa from Denmark
to replace the resigned Diedrich Behr. In 1564 Maasilinn went to
the Danes for good. As early as 1562, there are reports that the
island has been acquired by Denmark.
In 1563, Sweden
captured Haapsalu from Denmark in the Nordic 7-year war
(1563-1570) at the beginning of August, and in September the
whole of Hiiumaa (including Pühalepa parish, which belonged to
the bailiff of Maasilinn, and the island changed hands the next
time only during the Northern War. By 1568, Maasilinn fell into
the hands of the Swedes After the capture of Maasilinna, a truce
was concluded between the Danes and Swedes in Hiiumaa, on the
basis of which Maasilinn, Pöide parish and Muhu island remained
under the direct administration of the Swedes, while Pajumõisa
administration in northwestern Saaremaa was given to the Danes
in exchange for the Käina parish of Hiiumaa, which had been
bought for Duke Magnus but already conquered by the Swedes in
1563. . In 1570, Lüdinghausen-Wulff left Saaremaa. In June 1569,
Berent Tittefer became the ruler of Pühalepa manor and the
bailiff of Hiiumaa. Hiiumaa, which was ruled by the bailiff of
Hiiumaa, began to belong to the Swedish state under the Haapsalu
castle fiefdom.
In 1624, Jakob de la Gardie got possession of three quarters of the
island for outstanding services to the Swedish state. In the same year,
Kõrgessaare manor was built together with Kõrgessaare port, through
which a regular ship connection with Stockholm began. In 1627, the
parish of Reigi in Northwest Hiiumaa was separated from the parish of
Pühalepa. Based on De la Gardie's possessions, the Haapsalu county was
created in 1628, which also included Hiiumaa. In the same year, the
first glass factory in Estonia was established under the leadership of
Hütile de la Gardie.
Hiiumaa was a private estate for almost the
entire 17th century. In 1684–1691, the island was reduced to manors,
during which the island was nationalized.
As a result of the
Northern War, Hiiumaa became part of the Russian Tsarist state in 1710.
After the war, the island belonged to Haapsalu and Lääne kreis of
Estonia.
In 1712, the island's state land was leased. In 1755,
three quarters of Hiiumaa was returned to the Stenbocks as an
inheritance from the De la Gardies. 1755–1772 Suuremõisa manor was built
under the leadership of Ebba Margaretha Stenbock. The Stenbocks began to
increase the burdens of the free Swedish peasants living around Reig.
This provoked fierce resistance among the latter, which ended with the
deportation of over a thousand Hiero Swedes to Ukraine in 1781 by order
of Catherine II.
In 1781, Otto Reinhold Ludwig von
Ungern-Sternberg acquired the Kõrgessaare manor, and already at the end
of the 18th century, almost all of Hiiumaa belonged to the
Ungern-Sternbergs. In 1829, under the leadership of the
Ungern-Sternbergs, a calving factory was founded in Suuremõisa, which
was moved to Kärdla the very next year. A worker's settlement developed
next to the Kärdla slaughter factory, which became the city of Kärdla.
In 1866, Emmaste parish was formed in the southern area of Käina
parish. Emmaste Church was completed in 1867.
The actual purchase
of farms affected Hiiumaa in the last decades of the 19th century. Manor
lease farms were preserved until the establishment of the Republic of
Estonia.
In 1912, the advance position of Peter the Great's sea
fortress began to be built in Hiiumaa. Defense facilities located on the
Tahkuna peninsula in the south and Hanko in the north were supposed to
prevent entry into the Gulf of Finland. Beach batteries were established
in Tahkuna, Sõru, Hirmuse and Lehtma. A narrow-gauge railway was built
between Lehtma and Tahkuna.
The tsarist army left Hiiumaa at the beginning of the First World
War. From October 1917 to November 1918, the island was under German
occupation. Since Germany had switched to the new calendar long before
that, the calendar reform was also carried out in Hiiumaa and Saaremaa
already in the fall of 1917.
Hiiumaa was part of Läänemaa in the
independent Republic of Estonia. About 16,000 people lived on the
island. The only large-scale industrial enterprise was the Kärdla
calving factory with about 400 employees. Sailing was an important
source of income.
In 1920, Kärdla was transformed into a town and
in 1938 into a third-class city.
According to the base agreement
concluded on September 28, 1939, coastal defense fortifications were
built in Hiiumaa, especially on the Tahkuna peninsula. On October 19,
1939, the first Red Army soldiers arrived on the island. After the
communist coup of 1940, the former self-governing state apparatus was
replaced by people loyal to the new government, large farms were
liquidated, free market economy was banned, and means of large-scale
production were nationalized. Hiiumaa's open sea beach was closed and
access to the sea was prohibited. In June 1941, more than 200 people
were deported from Hiiumaa.
The operation of German forces to
capture Siegfried Island began on October 12, 1941 with a sea landing
from Saaremaa across the Soela Strait. The island fell completely into
the hands of the Germans on October 21. Before retreating, the
anti-fascists burned down the Kärdla hide factory.
In the summer
and late autumn of 1944, hundreds of Germans fled to Sweden on fishing
boats in fear of new mass deportations. On October 2, the Red Army
attacked Hiiumaa. On the night of October 3, the Germans evacuated all
units and all equipment to Saaremaa. By October 3, the island had been
captured. After the capture of the island, the whole island was declared
a border zone of the USSR with restricted freedom of movement, and the
construction of beach fortifications, which had started before the war,
was continued.
The Second World War did not bring great
destruction to Hiiumaa, apart from the Kärdla Kalevivabrik, the building
of the Käina church was also destroyed. However, the population of the
island decreased by almost 15% in the form of those who fell, those who
fled to the west and those who were deported.
In 1946, Hiiu county was separated from Läänemaa. In 1950, Hiiu
county was changed to Hiiumaa district. In 1952, the Estonian SSR was
divided into three regions. Hiiumaa was part of the Pärnu region.
Oblasts were abolished in 1953.
In 1947, forced collectivization
began on the island, which intensified after the March 1949
deportations. At least 286 people were deported from Hiiumaa. In 1949,
there were 82 collective farms on the island, of which six remained due
to mergers by the mid-1980s. Cattle and pig breeding became the most
important economic branch. There was one fisherman's collective farm on
the island - Hiiu Kalur, which employed about 1,400 people.
In
the early 1960s, electricity was installed in almost all homes in
Hiiumaa.
In 1989, the Hiiumaa District Council of People's
Deputies elections were held for the first time with several candidates.
The elected deputies decided to create Hiiu County from January 1, 1990.
After the departure of the Russian military units and the border guard, the island was initially not opened. Until the end of 1993, a guest card issued on the island was required to enter the island. Asphalting of the Hiiumaa Ring Road was completed in 2000.
Hiiumaa Island is famous for items that are found off its shores as much as it is famous for its natural and historic sites. During World War II several ships were sunk in the Baltic Sea just off the coast. Many divers come here to explore German and Soviet vessels. Below is the list of ships that were discovered here.
23 June 1941- A day after Operation Barbarossa started with the invasion of Nazi Germany of Soviet Union a Soviet destroyer Gnevny was sunk after it hit the German sea mines placed by the German Navy or Kriegsmarine. Twenty Soviet sailors died, 23 others including the captain of the ship M.T. Ustinov were badly injured, but survived the accident. Its wreck is situated 16 miles north of Tahkuna lighthouse.
25 June 1941- Soviet minesweeper T- 208 Shkiv sunk after it hit a German sea mine.
T- 208 Hkiv in 1939 on the left, and a sonogram of a wreck off the coast today.
27 June 1941- Two German motor torpedo boats S43 and S106 were destroyed by presumably Soviet sea mines.
1 July 1941- Soviet submarine M-81 was sunk off the North coast of an island after it hit a German sea mine. Later large parts of the machine were recovered. Three people survived the ordeal. Below is the picture of one of the pieces from the wreck site. Two of the survivors are standing next to it.
7 July 1941- Soviet minesweeper T- 216 sunk after hitting a sea mine near Tahkuna lighthouse.
30 July 1941- Soviet minesweeper T- 201 Zarjad sunk after hitting a sea mine. It sunk of the Western coast as it was passing Ristna lighthouse.
10 August 1941- German submarine U- 144 sank North of Hiiumaa Island after it was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine SC- 307. All 28 men aboard the vessel including its commanders Friedrich von Hippel and Gert von Mittelstaedt were killed. Map
Hiiumaa Museum was opened in 1967 in Kassari. Since 1998, the main
building of the state museum has been located in Pikas Maja in Kärdla.
The museum focuses more broadly on preserving the identity, culture and
spiritual heritage of Hiiu county. The long building houses the museum's
storage, the library and the offices of the museum staff. The exposition
of the former director's house of the Kärdla wool factory focuses
primarily on the history of the wool factory and the city of Kärdla. The
Hiiumaa Museum has three branches: the Mihkl Farm Museum, the Rudolf
Tobias House Museum and the Kassari Exhibition House. In the Mihkli farm
museum in the village of Malvaste on the Tahkuna peninsula, the
traditional farm architecture of North Hiiumaa is exhibited with
consumer goods. The Rudolf Tobias House Museum is located in Selja
village near Käina. The exhibition focuses on the composer's life and
work. In the Kassari exposition house, the history of Hiiumaa from the
Stone Age to the 1990s is exhibited in the Kassari manor house.
In 1979, the Soera Talumuuseum was established near Palade, which shows
visitors a typical 19th-century Hiiumaa farm complex with consumer
goods. The Vaemla Wool Factory has been operating on the island since
1992, which is both a museum and a working wool factory. Yarn is made
from sheep's wool on machines that are more than a hundred years old. In
1999, the Sõru Museum was established in Emmaste municipality, which
focuses on exhibiting Hiiumaa's beach life and seafaring. In 2007, the
Hiiumaa Military Museum was established in the Tahkuna village on the
Tahkuna peninsula. The museum presents Hiiumaa's defense facilities,
weaponry and equipment from both world wars.
The first library was founded in Hiiumaa in 1871, when a library was
built next to the Kärdla municipal school. Before 1918, libraries
operated in Kärdla, Emmaste, Reigi and Suuremõisa. During the Republic,
libraries were founded primarily at societies. Libraries were also
created in Käina and Hellamae, among others. In 1946, there were 13
village libraries on the island, this number remained more or less
stable throughout the Soviet period.
Today, there are seven
public libraries in Hiiumaa: Käina, Emmaste, Kõrgessaare, Paladel,
Hellamaa, Suuremõisa and Kärdla. The Kärdla library is a county library
that supervises the work of other libraries on the island. In addition
to public libraries, almost all schools on the island have their own
library.
Since 1998, the Kärdla Puppet Theater has been operating on the
island, playing mainly for kindergartens and school children. Since
1999, the entertainment theater has been organizing the annual puppet
festival "Suur sirmik".
Traveling plays visit the island
throughout the year and local recreational theaters operate.
Films were shown in Hiiumaa in 1913. Then the island's first cinema
was opened on the grounds of the Kärdla manor, which was both Estonia's
first factory cinema and local country cinema.
Today, films are
shown in the Kärdla cultural center, which is located next to the city's
Central Square. Until the end of 2014, there was no equipment for
showing digital films in Hiiumaa. Therefore, new films often arrived on
the island with a considerable time lag. At the end of 2014, a new
digital cinema system was installed in the Kärdla Cultural Center, which
can also show 3D films. Under the leadership of Hiiumaa Kino, the
arrival of films to the island has become much faster than before.
Various traditional music festivals are organized in Hiiumaa. Since 1991, the "Kõpu sunset music" series has been held at the foot of the Kõpu lighthouse. Two chamber music festivals are organized on the island: since 1999 Hiiumaa Chamber Music Days and since 2006 "Hiiumaa Homecoming". "Hiiu folk" has been held since 2005 and "Sõru jazz" since 2008. You can listen to classical music since 2011 at the Pühalepa Music Festival in Pühalepa Church
In Hiiumaa, the non-profit organization Hiiumaa Spordiliit, which
brings together sports clubs, is the county umbrella organization of
sports clubs operating in the county. The sports union includes 28
sports clubs operating on the island. The board of the sports
association has five members and its work is managed by Anton Kaljula.
At the club level, football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis,
indoor hockey, pétanque, athletics, swimming, sailing, equestrian
sports, motor sports, orienteering, checkers, chess, bridge, shooting
sports, biathlon, hiking, aerobics and modeling are represented in
Hiiumaa.
In larger settlements, you can comfortably practice
sports at the existing sports facilities. A full-sized football,
basketball and tennis court, an athletics stadium and a sports hall are
located in Emmaste. In Käina there are a small football, basketball and
beach volleyball court, a tennis court, an athletics stadium, a sports
hall with a gym, a go-kart track and the island's only swimming pool. In
Kärdla, there are full-sized football, basketball, beach volleyball and
tennis courts, an athletics field, a skate park and a sports hall with a
gym, a sports hall for volleyball enthusiasts, an artificial grass
football field (1/4 of the normal size) and a cage covered with
artificial grass in the outdoor area of the Hiiu Valla Kindergarten. A
basketball and volleyball court, an athletics stadium and a sports hall
are located in Kõrgessaari. A basketball and beach volleyball court, an
athletics stadium and a sports hall with a gym are located on the
grounds. Suuremõisa houses a football and basketball stadium for
amateurs and a sports hall with a gym. In addition, near Kärdla, there
is an indoor and outdoor equestrian arena at Linnumäe, an outdoor
equestrian arena at Soo-Oru Tallis, a motocross track in Nurste, and ski
trails in Leemet. Pühalepa's health trails.
Every year
championships in various sports are organized on the island. In the
spring, the Kärdla town run and the Kassari run are traditionally held.
In the month of June, the midsummer race takes place and the beach
volley cup series, which lasts all summer, begins. Riding days take
place at the beginning of August. In the fall, the six-month "Patriotic
Fitness" series, based on tests by the Defense Forces and NATO soldiers,
will begin. Orientation Thursdays are held throughout the year.
In 1949, the newspaper Svojesode Hiiumaa was founded on the island.
From 1989, the paper was called Hiiumaa. The newspaper was published
three times a week. Hiiumaa ceased publication in 2004, when the
publisher of Hiiu Lehe, OÜ Saaremaa Raadio, bought the name and
responsibilities of the paper.
In the years 1995-1999, the Hiiu
Teataja was published once a week, which brought together as sections
the newspapers of the island's municipalities that had been published
independently until now: Emmaste Valla Teataja, Kõrgessaare Valla
Teataja, Käina Kuller, Kohvilähker and Pühalepa Teataja.
Hiiu
Leht was founded in 1997, which is currently the only newspaper
published on the island. The newspaper is published twice a week:
Tuesday and Friday. OÜ Saaremaa Raadio, the owner of Hiiu Lehe, acquired
the obligations of Hiiumaa newspaper. The editor-in-chief of the
newspaper is Harda Roosna.
In addition, Hiiumaa Teataja, the
voice of the municipality, is published, the editor-in-chief of which is
Liina Siniveer. There are news portals on the Internet www.hiiumaa.ee.
In the years 2010–2012, Hiiu Week was published once a week.
The shipping connection with the mainland is via the port of
Heltermaa and the port of Sõru with Saaremaa. The most well-known
navigation facilities are Kõpu, Tahkuna and Ristna lighthouses.
There is a flight connection to Tallinn from Kärdla airport.
In
winter, if the ice conditions are suitable, an ice road of about 25 km
can be created between Hiiumaa and the mainland.
The first means
of transport between Hiiumaa and the continent was a sailing boat. It
carried mail and people.
At the end of the 19th century, the
Heltermaa-Haapsalu line was opened, where passengers were transported by
the steamboat Progress, bought by the Hiiumaa landowners' ship
association. Soon after, a new steamship was purchased from Sweden, also
named Progress. The new ship also started to pick up passengers from
other ships on the Heltermaa-Haapsalu route.
In 1910, the
steamship was replaced by the passenger and cargo steamer Grenen
belonging to Hiiu-Kärdla Kalevivabrik. Grenen traveled on the routes
Heltermaa-Haapsalu and Kärdla-Tallinn.
During the First World
War, shipping traffic was taken over by the state. Later, the state
leased shipping to the Balti Päästeselts company. The Baltic Rescue
Society opened the Tallinn-Heltermaa-Kuivastu-Virtsu-Laimjala-Kuressaare
line with the steamship Grenen. The steamer Endla passed through Hiiumaa
on the route Tallinn-Kärdla-Kuressaare-Pärnu.
In 1930, the ship
owner Gustav Sergo opened the Gustav Hiiumaa line with a small steamer
bought from Denmark.