Names
Vesse (Vesse)
Vesse (or Wesse), one of the leaders of the Jüriöö ülestõus (St. George’s Night Uprising) against the German invaders, beginning 23rd April 1343. Vesse was from Saaremaa where the uprising lasted about two years, and was relieved of his life in 1344. Street named after a children’s novel about the hero as seen through his son’s eyes, by Aadu Hint (born Adolf Edmund Hint, 1910-1989, brother of Johannes Hint, see Silikaltsiidi): Vesse Poeg (Vesse’s Son).
Vete (Veed)
Waters, singular: vesi:vee. What the waters are is not clear. Possibly local marshy land, or related to the ponds created by Glehni N.v., or to the swimming-pools built in the 1920s (now the Nõmme Spordikeskus (sports center)? Vesi ahjus olema, lit. to have water in the oven, to be on your uppers, to be hard up. Parallel to Padu.
Via Baltica (Via Baltica)
Lit. the Baltic Way, or E67, a 1505-km highway originally running from Tallinn to Warsaw, now from Prague to Helsinki, not to be confused with the Baltic Way / Chain (‘way’ in Lithuanian [kelias] and Latvian [ceļš], ‘chain’ in Estonian [kett]), the demonstration of 1989-08-23 when some 2 million people from the above 3 countries formed a 690-km human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius on the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, leading to their independence. August 23rd is now Black Ribbon Day, or European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.
