A memory of Tõnu Veldre
In the summer of 1980, the writer Julian Semyonov, author of the stories about the famous Russian spy Stirlitz, “17 Moments of Spring,” rested in the officers’ quarters of the Sõrve border guard post. During the Soviet era, writers were given creative missions. It is natural that the author of war and spy novels chose the tip of the military Sõrve peninsula for his vacation. Unfortunately, it is not known whether any books were written about the Sõrve period. Apparently, the writer used his vacation time to engage in creativity. Local residents remembered him for cooking porridge for himself in a soldier’s cauldron over a fire.
Related objects
Sõrve Military Museum
This military museum, which opened in 2004 as a history room, is situated in the buildings of the former Soviet naval outpost in the village of Sääre on the tip of Sõrve Peninsula on the island of Saaremaa. Sõrve lighthouse, one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island, can be seen one kilometre from the museum.
The coastline of Saaremaa was once peppered with outposts, each manned by 20 naval infantry and officers throughout the Cold War. Their goal was to monitor marine traffic in the Irbe Strait, since the coast of Saaremaa was the maritime border of the Soviet Union. The military exhibition is displayed in barracks built in 1955 and is divided into rooms. It provides an overview of the events of World War I and II in Sõrve, of the Soviet era and of current NATO military equipment. Older items have been collected from locals and from the nearby battle sites. In addition to the military-themed exhibition, other buildings in the complex now house maritime- and history-themed displays and Sõrve Nature Museum, entry to which is free with your military museum ticket.
