Estonians in South Australia

Geographic Origins

History of Immigration and Settlement

Estonian-born people were not shown separately in Australian census data until 1933, so it is difficult to trace early Estonian South Australians. It is known, however, that a small number of Estonians lived in South Australia before the Second World War. They were probably single young men. It is likely that they came to Australia as sailors on Baltic ships. In 1947 there were 18 Estonian South Australians.

Between 1939 and 1944, 65,000 Estonians fled the Soviet and Nazi occupations of their country. They escaped to Sweden or Germany, where they awaited resettlement in refugee camps. The first Estonian Displaced Persons (DPs) arrived in Australia in November 1947. Estonians continued to arrive until 1952. This wave of immigration brought 5,400 Estonians to Australia. Of these about 900 settled in South Australia.

Estonian DPs were employed under two-year Australian government contracts in unskilled or semiskilled occupations. Men worked as labourers for the Department of Engineering and Water Supply, at the Walter and Morris timber yard in Port Adelaide, in factories, on railways and at the Woomera Rocket Range. Women worked as domestics in South Australian hotels, hospitals and offices. When their contracts expired, Estonian South Australians began looking for work more suited to their qualifications and abilities. Many tradesmen and professionals returned to their former occupations.

Community Activities

Post-war Estonian arrivals met at Saint Stephen’s Lutheran Church Hall, Wakefield Street, Adelaide, from 1948, and community life was soon very active. A male choir, folk dance group and basketball team were started, and the basketball team developed into the sports club Estonia.

In December 1948 Lutheran Pastor Freund-Zinnbauer organised a Christmas outing to bring together the Estonian people of Adelaide. At this picnic in the Adelaide Hills a committee was formed to plan celebrations for the 31st anniversary of the 1918 declaration of Estonian independence on February 24.

Ninety-two people gathered to celebrate Independence Day on February 24, 1949, at the Arcadia cafe in King William Street, Adelaide. People made speeches, a soprano and a double male quartet sang, folk dancers performed and the crowd sang traditional Estonian songs.

On April 8, 1949, a group of 34 Estonians met at a church hall in Wellington Square, North Adelaide. They decided unanimously to establish an Estonian association. Mihkel Hennoste, Jaan Kirs, Bernhard Meos, Jerome Palm and Elfriede Sarg were elected to a committee charged with carrying out this ambition. 

The first general meeting of the South Australian Estonian Association of Adelaide was held in 1949. The Association initially met in the German hall in Flinders Street. It held musical evenings and social gatherings, and provided a haven for settlers who spoke little English and were coming to terms with an alienating new environment. Many found South Australia completely different from, and at odds with, the beloved country they had left behind.

In the summer of 1949-50 an Estonian School was established at Woodside Migrant Hostel. Some of the Estonian Displaced Persons in the camp had been school teachers and had text books with them. At this time the school had 12 children, ranging in age from six to 11 years. Estonian Scout and Guide groups were also established at this time. The Estonian School later held classes in the cellar of YMCA House in Grenfell Street, in rooms at the German Association, and at Saint Stephen’s Lutheran Church Hall.

A number of other Estonian clubs were founded or came to prominence in the 1950s. In 1950 the Estonian basketball team began playing in the South Australian Basketball Association’s A grade. In the same year an Estonian theatrical society was established. Its first production was performed at Stow Hall, Flinders Street, Adelaide, on December 27, 1950. The play was a classical Estonian comedy by E. Vilde. No one in the community owned a published copy of the script. It had been painstakingly written from memory by Mr V. Kuik while he was in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany. Other Estonian groups formed at this time include a mixed choir (1952); returned servicemen’s and students’ associations (1953); an academic association (1954); a ladies’ choir and a ladies’ auxiliary (1957).

In 1953 Estonian South Australians established a corporate body, Our Home Co-operative Society Limited, a not for profit cooperative, to build or purchase a community hall. In April 1957 the society bought an old house in Kent Town. This proved to be too small for the various activities of the community. At an auction in December of the same year the society bought larger premises, the former British Tube Mills Hall in Jeffcott Street, North Adelaide. The Our Home Co-operative Society Limited continues to provide a venue for the conduct of Estonian Society cultural activities at what is now called the Estonian Cultural Centre.

Additional groups sprang up over the years under the auspices of the Estonian Association. A pensioners’ group was established in 1964, and a chess club in 1970. In 1971 Virgats, messenger, began regular publication as the association’s monthly newsletter. Two years later an Estonian Golf Club was established. In 1981 Estonian South Australians began to regularly broadcast radio programs on 5EBI-FM.

The number of active members of the Adelaide Estonian community has been steadily decreasing over recent years as the older post-war migrants have passed away and their children have integrated into the wider Australian community. A few new immigrants have settled in Adelaide since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, but not in sufficient numbers to replace the falling number of active Association members. This has seen many of the above-mentioned clubs and groups fold over the past 30 years. However, the Adelaide Estonian Society still remains the association responsible for Estonian cultural activities and functions in South Australia. Sub groups at present under its auspices include Estonian language classes held fortnightly at Estonian Hall, a Family History Club; and an Estonian Movie Club.

Estonian House Social Club runs a bar that hosts casual social functions, and recently held a Eurovision night and an Octoberfest evening.

The Adelaide Estonian Folkloric Group ‘Vikerkaar’ Incorporated runs a folk dancing group (Vikerkaar) and the mixed choir (Hapukoor). These groups hold their practise on Sunday evenings and generally only perform at Estonian or Baltic functions unless specifically requested to perform at another function or venue.

The Adelaide Estonian Sports Club Incorporated is a still registered club but only participates in the Baltic games each year where the club arranges for players for a men’s and women’s basketball team and a mixed volleyball team. 

The Estonian community still runs several functions each year and has joined with the other Baltic societies of Latvia and Lithuania to run some joint functions. These include an Estonian Independence Day function held on the 24 February or nearest Sunday; St John’s Day and Victory Day held on 24 June or nearest Sunday; a Christmas function, Baltic Games (Basketball and Volleyball) held on a Saturday in May; Baltic Commemoration of Deportations held at the Migration Museum on the nearest Saturday to 14 June, Baltic Way Freedom Concert held on the nearest Sunday to 23 August and the Baltic Market held in early December. 

June 13 to 14 is a solemn anniversary for all Baltic peoples. On these days in 1941 Soviet authorities deported 60,000 Baltic men, women and children from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They were taken to gulags, forced-labour camps, in Siberia and other Arctic regions of the Soviet Union. Further deportations took place between 1944 and 1954. In remembrance of these horrific events Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian South Australians gather annually for a commemorative church service at Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, Wakefield Street, Adelaide. To acknowledge the impact of the deportations, including the flight of the lucky from their homelands, the Baltic Council of South Australia unveiled the foundation memorial plaque on the Migration Museum’s Memorial Wall in 1992.

June 23 and 24 are also significant for Estonian South Australians. June 23, 1917, was the date of a decisive victory over German nobles who had occupied much of the country’s land since the sixteenth century. The defeat of these nobles was a decisive forerunner to the proclamation of Estonian independence. It has become symbolic of Estonia’s struggles and triumphs against oppression. Estonian South Australians mark this day with a concert and social gathering.

In the northern hemisphere June 24 is Midsummer’s Day, the longest day of the year and since pre-Christian times Estonians have celebrated Midsummer’s Day as the triumph of light, warmth and life. In pagan times Estonians built bonfires and made merry on this day. June 24 has also acquired a Christian significance, as the Feast Day of Saint John. On June 24 Estonian South Australians gather in Estonian Hall during an Adelaide winter to remind themselves of midsummer in Estonia. Kaera Jaan, John of Oats, is a popular dance at this festival. Kaera Jaan is usually danced by children in groups of four, two boys and two girls. A mock bonfire in the centre of the hall, made from cellophane and an electric light in a barrel, maintain a tradition that goes back centuries.

The Estonian Society also celebrates Easter, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Christmas is a particularly joyous occasion. The society holds an evening meal, usually finished off with community carol singing. The main festive food is verivorst, a boiled and baked pudding-sausage made from pork, herbs and barley. Verivorst is served with baked potatoes, sauerkraut, roast pork and cranberry sauce. Traditionally followed by dessert called Roosa Manna (Pink Semolina) it is a porridge type dish served with cold milk, the pink colouring comes from plum juice one of the ingredients.

Every two years an Estonian Festival is held in Australia and rotates between Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. The festival runs over five days between Christmas and New Year and celebrates Estonian culture and involves sports games and performances from the folkloric groups from each of the states as well as guest artists from Estonia that provide high levels of entertainment in song, dance, instrumental and theatrical fields.

The majority of Estonian South Australians belong to the Lutheran faith. The first Lutheran service for Baltic South Australians was conducted by Pastor Alfred Freund-Zinnbauer at a migrant camp in Port Adelaide on October 10, 1948. Services were then held at a hall in the suburb of York, now called Beverley, and at Woodside Migrant Hostel. In September 1949 services were held once a month at Saint Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Wakefield Street, Adelaide. This continued for some time until diminished numbers of the Estonian Lutheran Church congregation caused these services to cease. 

Estonian South Australians celebrated the first anniversary of Estonia’s declaration of independence from the Soviet Union with an exhibition at the Migration Museum in 1992. ‘Retaining Estonia’s Cultural Heritage’ included displays of Estonian jewellery, carvings, costume, embroidery and literature. The exhibition also included items such as hand-woven and embroidered rugs and family photographs which were among the few possessions of Estonian DPs as they awaited resettlement in refugee camps in Germany.

From 7 December 2003 to 19 February 2004 the Estonian Archives in Australia and Adelaide Estonian Society staged an exhibition called ‘Happily Australian but Estonian Too’ at the Migration Museum. The exhibition reflected on the development of the Estonian community from the early days of migration to the present day. 

Organisations and Media

• Adelaide Estonian Society Inc. 
• Baltic Council of South Australia
• 5EBI-FM Radio Programs

Statistics

The 1981 census recorded that there were 737 Estonian-born South Australians.

The 1986 census recorded 606 people, and 868 said that they were of Estonian descent.

According to the 1991 census there were 524 Estonian-born South Australians. 774 people said that their mothers were born in Estonia, and 865 that their fathers were.

In the 1996 national census figures there were 443 Estonian-born South Australians, about 15% of Australia’s Estonian born population.

The 2001 census recorded 342 Estonian-born South Australians, while 903 people said that they were of Estonian descent.

The 2006 census recorded 286 Estonian-born South Australians, while 921 people said that they were of Estonian descent.

The 2011 census recorded 203 Estonian-born South Australians, while 836 people said that they were of Estonian descent.

The 2016 census recorded 178 Estonian-born South Australians, while 877 people said that they were of Estonian descent.