Rakvere (German Vesenberg) is a city in the north of Estonia and the capital of Lääne-Virumaa, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland. In prehistoric times and the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Estonians named this city Tarbapea (Russian bull's head). According to an ancient Estonian legend, there was once a bull in the world that was the size of most of Estonia. And when he was caught, the head fell on Rakvere, and the body - in Tartu (Tarbatu).
First mentioned in the XIII century. Founded near the
feudal castle. In Russian chronicles - Rakovor, the German name is
Wesenberg (German Wesenberg).
In prehistoric times and at the
beginning of the Middle Ages, the Estonians called this city
Tarbapea (Bull's Head). According to an ancient Estonian legend,
there was once a bull that was the size of most of Estonia. And when
he was caught, the head fell on Rakvere, and the body - in Tartu
(Tarbatu).
7 km from the city on February 18, 1268, a battle
of Russian troops with the combined forces of German and Danish
crusaders took place (Rakovorskaya battle).
In 1347-1558 the
city was owned by the Livonian Order. During the Livonian War in
1558, it was occupied by Russian troops almost without a fight. The
Swedish siege of Wesenberg in 1574 ended in complete failure, but in
1581 the Swedes managed to capture the city. At the beginning of the
17th century, Wesenberg was briefly captured by the Commonwealth,
but Sweden re-established control over it after the Battle of
Wesenberg in 1603.
During the Northern War in 1703 it was
completely destroyed, in 1710 it was transferred to Russia.
In 1919-1940 and since 1991 - as part of independent Estonia. In
1950-1991 it was the center of Rakvere region.
In the late
1920s, an airfield was built on the northern outskirts of the city
by the Defense Forces of the Republic of Estonia. A separate Rakvere
division of the Air Force of the Republic of Estonia was based here.
During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the airfield was
used by Luftwaffe aviation and units of "air defense assistants". On
February 26, 1944, the airfield was struck by aviation from the
Leningrad Front, as a result of which the airfield was rendered
inoperative.
After the war, the airfield was rebuilt. In the
period from July 1945 to 1954, units of the 277th assault aviation
Krasnoselskaya Red Banner Orders of Suvorov and Kutuzov divisions
were based at the airfield on Il-2 and Il-10 aircraft. In 1954, the
regiments were relocated to the Pribylovo airfield (Leningrad
region), and the airfield was transferred to the 6th Rakvere Order
of the Red Star border detachment of the Baltic border district.
In 1983, the shooting of the feature film "Emergency Departure"
was carried out at the airport.
After the withdrawal of
Russian troops from Estonia, the airfield has not been used since
1993.
On July 15, 2007, a powerful tornado passed through the
city, destroying 110 houses and killing one person.