Thanks! — FOG

So it’s open! I mean the museum at the Fat Margaret, the Estonian Maritime Museum’s new premises, where the Tallinn cog now is, our cog, the shipwreck we’ve been working on for the past two and a half years. Simply amazing! This means that this trip was for celebration for us FOG guys. Two days of enjoying the mood of getting something done. We celebrated fantastic festivities with our Maritime museum colleagues - it was truly awesome occasion.

How often one gets to open a museum with a rare type of early 14th century shipwreck, a cog, the carrier of the legendary Hanseatic League, the master traders of medieval Baltic Sea? Never, except now. She’s also a very well preserved one, very rarely shipwrecks come like this. And very seldom any shipwreck project blossoms as fast as this one. Only in 2015 was she unearthed and now she’s there, on display, in a very good condition.

Our part started in late 2017, after which we came here regularly to do whatever was necessary to make exhibiting this huge artefact possible, and here we are now, at the opening, taking it all in. Beautiful lights on the shipwreck, starscape on top of everything on the ceiling, a living one, moving as real stars would, over this very location, as if there were no clouds or lights distracting, nice music, different in every floor, generous drinks, good fingerfood, all this in the exhibition spaces, which is kind of rare and absolutely great.

Speeches were good as well, the minister of culture seemed to be truly proud and happy because of another great maritime museum in Tallinn, as he should be of course, because this is indeed something no other city possesses.

The Estonian Maritime Museum’s great staff at the opening. Photo: Eero Ehanti

What’s there to say at this point? Not much. Pictures speak for themselves. Thanks, however, are in place.

Numerous people had a role in all this. Fundamentally the whole cog-project and the wonderful remake of the Fat Margaret Maritime museum, was a brainchild of Urmas Dresen, the visionary director of the Estonian Maritime Museum, who not so long ago enabled the spectacular Lennusadam Maritime museum. Now he imagined this thing, placing a shipwreck in the courtyard of the Fat Margaret, a very tight spot to put it mildly, in a very tight schedule. In the middle of the night, after the opening ceremonies, he asked me “did you believe that we can make this happen”?, to which I answered: “Of course, because you were on it!”. Then I of course thanked him for the possibility of being involved in something so unique. Thanks, Urmas!

But not him alone. Once we were lucky enough to become involved in the conservation bit of all this, our closest partner at the Maritime Museum was Priit, the enthusiastic and brilliant archaeologist. Couldn’t thank him enough. Priit’s colleague Liisa was there as well. Huge thanks to her as well. Of course, we’re very much indebted to Karen, the project manager of the whole exhibition project, a brilliant one, and great company indeed, for all occasions.

We must also thank Gerly, who was behind much of the organizing so vital for such a complicated project. Maie walked us through some complicated paperwork, for which we’re thankful. Thanks also to Hene-Riin, Teele, Iris, Enn and all the others at the Maritime Museum, not to mention the good people at Maru Café, who so kindly catered us during those long working days.

What else? Is this signing out? Probably not, some finishing works to be done on the cog surely, and who knows what’s next for us, the FOG guys!

Fat Margareta, a day before the opening. Photo: Eero Ehanti