Physical geography in Estonia: Bridging western and eastern schools of landscape synthesis

This paper is an overview of principal investigations in the complex physical geography of Estonia. The focus is on landscape and regional studies, rather than geomorphology or hydrology.Academic geography in Estonia developed in the context of geographic exploration. In the 19th century a leading role among Russian explorers was played by the Baltic Germans Krusenstern, Bellingshausen, Middendorff, Wrangel, and others. After Estonia gained independence in 1919, well-known geographers from Northern (Granö) and Central (Haltenberger) Europe helped to develop landscape studies, which, led by Tammekann, Markus, and Kant, reached a considerable level of excellence by the 1930s. Due to the mass flight of intellectuals to the West during the 1940s, geography in particular sustained heavy losses. A network of state institutes was established when Estonia became an SSR. Even though geography was not among them, some of the institutes did deal with such spatial issues as natural resources and nature protection. During the seventies there was a broadening of research frontiers in physical geography. Various directions were developed in landscape morphology, geochemistry, geophysics, and ecology, parallel to similar developments in the USSR. Today activities are dominated by international cooperation among specialists from the Baltic Sea countries. Investigations have strong interdisciplinary character.