History - Keila city

Summary of the history of Keila

The oldest traces of human habitation in Keila date back to the III-II millennium. About 1000 years ago, the village of Keila appeared on the right bank of the river. In 1219, Northern Estonia was conquered by the Danes, who chose Keila mountain as the location of the Vomentakŋ parish church in Revala county. In place of the original wooden church dedicated to the archangel Michael, it was built in the 1241th century. at the end - a stone church in the XIV century. The first written notice about Keila (Keikŋl) comes from the Danes, from the Danish assessment book of XNUMX.

Bowling timeline

About 1000 years ago, the village of Keila appeared on the right bank of the river.

1219

Conquest of the Danes

The Danes of Northern Estonia captured the village of Keila. The first written notice about Keila (Keikŋl) comes from the Danes, from the Danish assessment book of 1241. In the XV-XVI centuries, there was a settlement near the church with a few dozen houses and a hundred inhabitants. At the same time, the Livonian Order built an order castle on the river island (currently Jõepark), the ruins of which were opened by archaeological excavations in 1976.

1558-83

the Livonian war

The raid of the Livonian war, the town will suffer.

1601-1602

Famine and pestilence

As a result of a devastating famine and plague, Keila remained a quiet church village for three centuries.

1862

Erecting a monument to Martin Luther

The revival began in the second half of the last century. One of the first exciting cultural events was the erection of a more than six-meter tall Martin Luther monument near the church manor in 1862. The pillar was destroyed in 1949.

1885

The first song party

In 1885, the first song festival was organized in Keila, where 19 choirs participated and whose collective singing was led by Konstantin Türnpu from Klooga.

1867

Opening of the village school

In 1867, a village school was opened in the Väljaotsa farm near Keila, which marked the beginning of continuous school education.

1870

The Tallinn - Paldik railway line is opened

The development of Keila was turned around by the construction of the Tallinn-Paldiski railway in 1870, when merchants and entrepreneurs opened their businesses one after the other. In 1896, Baron von Uexküll, the owner of the manor at that time, started selling building plots from his land, then several buildings, today of heritage protection value, were built in the area of Jaama street.

1905

Haapsalu railway branch

In 905, the railway branch leading to Haapsalu was also completed. At that time there were about 65 houses in Keila.

1925 - 30

Municipality and primary school

Keila became a self-governing town in 1925, with a population of 950. In 1930, a new primary school building built as a memorial to the War of Independence was opened as a joint initiative of the town and municipality.

1938

Naming a city

On May 1, 1938, Keila was named a city based on the City Act; the former mayor Johann Tähe became the mayor. Keila was then a small, nice and quiet town, whose peace did not last long, because after the establishment of Soviet power, the June deportations and the Second World War, both the townspeople and the town itself suffered greatly.

1950-62

Keila district

In the years 1950-62, Keila was the center of the district of the same name and developed rapidly thereafter. The development was facilitated by the electric train connection with Tallinn established in 1958. At the same time, a small cooperative construction organization (now AS Harju KEK) started operating in Keila - one of the most important factors influencing the development of the city in the post-war period.

1989

Election of the city council

The first post-war city council was elected in 1989, Andres Pärt became the mayor. From September 4, 2012. is the mayor of Keila, Enno Fels. Keila is a member of the Union of Estonian Cities and Municipalities (originally a member of the Union of Cities since 1935).

KEILA CITY FLAG

The Keila flag was introduced after Keila was granted city rights in 1938, but the use of the flag was discontinued during the Soviet regime. After Estonia regained its independence, the flag was reintroduced on July 24, 1992.

On September 19, 1938, the Keila City Council discussed the issue of "Determination of City Coat of Arms and Flag Banners".
Excerpts from the minutes of the meeting:
The meeting was chaired by Johann Tähe. The star reported that "three Keila city flags and - and one Keila city flag kawand" have arrived from the Union of Cities. ... "The city flag is yellow, with a horizontal blue line across the middle of the flag. ... The city council found that the presented design of the flag, as well as the colors of the flag, are not acceptable to the city of Keila, because the city of Keila has nothing in common with the cornflower and the apple tree, and yellow is also not suitable for the flag color.
City councilor Arnold Väli proposes: adopt the emblem of the coat of arms of KL Keila Malewkonna as the coat of arms of Keila, removing the military features from it and making the flag color blue, with a horizontal white line across the flag in the middle. ….
They want to use blue as the color of the city flag, as a symbol of peace, which would be pierced by a white line as a symbol of justice and purity.

The Mayor of Harju found that the design of the flag and coat of arms received from the Keila city council was suitable in a notice sent to the President of the Republic for approval on October 6, 1938 through the Local Government Service of the Ministry of the Interior.
The flag of the city of Keila consists of two blue and one white stripes, with the white stripe lying horizontally between the blue stripes. The width of the blue stripes is 3/7 and the width of the white stripe is 1/7 of the width of the city flag. The ratio of width to length of the city flag is 7:11 and the normal size is 1050×1650 mm.

We feel proud of the city of Keila and express it by raising the flag of the city of Keila on suitable occasions!
It is appropriate to raise the flag of the city of Keila on important days for the city:
1.mai – The date of entry into force of the City Act of 1938. In the City Act, Keila was first named as a city;
Keila Town Day – Keila Päev traditionally takes place on the last Saturday of May;
December 6, when in 1990 the self-governing status of the city of Keila was confirmed and the city of Keila became a self-governing administrative unit;
On the day of important city-wide events, e.g. Yard Stories Day, when the city government calls to celebrate the holiday by raising the flag of the city of Keila.

§ 3 and § 4 of the Basic Regulation of the city of Keila