100 stories from the hiking route

1929 – Järva-Madise memorial for the Estonian War of Independence is established

Information

Topic

Wars and occupations

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 59.116511

Longitude: 25.65554167

L-EST 97

x: 6554264.2
y: 594817.9

Location

Ähijärve-Aegviidu Hiking route

The Järva-Madise memorial for the War of Independence is made out of the so-called memorial stone located in Seidla village in Albu rural municipality.
The memorial stone, or the Seidla boulder was placed under protection in 1937. Even though it is forbidden to break glacial boulders that have been placed under conservation, pieces from the Seidla memorial stone have been removed for the A. H. Tammsaare memorial (opened in 1936) in Järva-Madise and the mother tongue memorial (opened in 1994) in Kadrina, as well as for the Järva-Madise memorial for the War of Independence. Therefore, only a third of the original Seidla boulder remains.
The author of the idea to capture the memory of the men from Järva-Madise rural municipality who perished in the First World War and the War of Independence came from the head of Seidla School Ferdinand Tammus, a former officer during the War of Independence and head of the Albu unit of the Defence League. The Veeber brothers cut the stone according to the designs of sculptor Voldemar Mellik.
The memorial was ceremoniously opened in the Järva-Madise churchyard on Victory Day in 1929. In May 1950, the memorial was demolished and larger pieces were pushed into the pond in front of the parsonage. In the summer of 1988, the remains were lifted out under the initiative of the local congregation, new steps and bronze details were made and the remains of the memorial were restored. The Järva-Madise memorial was reopened on Victory Day in 1989.