Keila

Keila (German: Kegel) is a town and an urban municipality in Harju County in north-western Estonia, 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Tallinn. Keila is also the location of administrative buildings of the surrounding Keila Parish, a rural municipality separate from the town itself.

This article is about the town in Estonia. For other uses, see Keila (disambiguation).
Keila
Town
Keila church
Keila church
Flag of Keila
Flag
Coat of arms of Keila
Coat of arms
Keila is located in Estonia
Keila
Keila
Location in Estonia
Coordinates: 59°18′31″N 24°25′21″E
Country Estonia
County Harju County
Government
 • MayorEnno Fels
Area
 • Total11.25 km2 (4.34 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total10,499[1]
 • Rank15th
Ethnicity
 • Estonians84.9%
 • Russians11%
 • other3.9%
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
ISO 3166 codeEE-296
Websitewww.keila.ee

History
Train station

The oldest traces of human settlement in Keila trace back 2000 to 3000 years BC. Around 1000 years ago the village of Keila was established along the Keila river. In 1219 the Danish conquered Northern-Estonia and chose Keila as the site on which the Vomentakæ parochial Revala county church was to be built. The first church was a small wooden structure dedicated primarily to St. Michael which was replaced with a stone church at the end of the 13th century.[2] Subsequently, the first written mention of Keila (Keikŋl) comes from Danish evaluation book writings in 1241.[2]

In the 15th–16th century, a settlement comprising some tens of buildings and a hundred people formed around the church.[2] At the same time the Livonian Order built a small fort south-east of the church on jõesaare (Known today as Jõepark). Ruins of the fort were first excavated in 1976 with continued finds up to 2007.[2]

During the Livonian War of 1558–1583 the settlement, including the church (Later restored in 1596), was destroyed.[2][3] Further hampered by the plague and starvation in 1601–1602 the population decline reduced the community to a small church village. This was to be the case for three centuries. An upturn began in the second half of the 20th century. One of the first notable cultural events was the erection of a statue of Martin Luther in 1862 near the kirikumõis (Church manor). However the statue was completely destroyed in 1949. In 1885 the first song festival was held in Keila. The festival was composed of 19 choirs and supervised by Konstantin Türnpu from Klooga. In 1867 the first school was opened in Väljaotsa farm celebrating the start of education in Keila.[2]

The development of Keila took a turn with the establishment of the Tallinn-Paldiski railway in 1870.[2]

Keila officially became a town on 1 May 1938.

After the railway to Keila was built, the place became known—as a pun—as Kegelbahn (German for "bowling alley"). Keila has a station on the Elron rail line.

Military base

During Soviet times a military base, known as the "Tankipolk", was built on the outskirts of the town for the housing of soldiers and tanks. The base was demolished a few years after the Soviet army left the country. Years later a residential district was built on the site of the base. The woodland areas around it have also been cleaned up and turned into paved, and partially lit, paths. During winter the area acts as a skiing track with many hills and paths. The paths range from 3 to 7 kilometres (1.9 to 4.3 miles) in length. The largest of the hills is known as "Tankimägi" or "Tank Hill".

As of 2009 no more than a few building foundations remain of the base.

Nature

The city is situated largely on a big hill known as Keila hill and on the valley of Keila River. On the westernmost side of Keila there is Niitvälja Bog.

454 million year old limestone, which can be seen outcropping in the city, is known as Keila stage. This name was given by Carl Friedrich Schmidt to distinguish layer of limestone, that is located between Jõhvi and Vasalemma stage.

Education
Elementary school
Graffiti in Keila
Cultivated Pinus nigra in Keila
Cultural Centre
Former Luther monument demolished in 1949

There are several schools in Keila.

and three kindergartens.

Population

According to the 2011 Census, the population was 10,014.[4]

According to the 2009 Census, the population was 9,873.[4]

According to the 2000 Census, the population was 9,388. 82.8% were Estonians, 12.1% Russians, 1.8% Ukrainians, 0.9% Finns, 0.7% Belarusians, 0.2% Lithuanians, 0.1% Poles, 0.1% Tatars, 0.1% Germans and 0.1% Latvians. According to the 1 July 2011 Census, the population was 10030.

Demographics
Ethnic composition 1922-2021
Ethnicity 1922[5] 1934[6] 1941[7] 1959[8] 1970[9] 1979[10] 1989[10] 2000[11] 2011[12] 2021[13]
amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount % amount %
Estonians 772 97.8 939 96.9 1057 98.8 2583 85.2 4621 82.9 5573 77.5 7094 70.4 7773 82.8 8291 84.9 8935 85.1
Russians 8 1.01 14 1.44 11 1.03 - - 673 12.1 1191 16.6 2177 21.6 1133 12.1 1078 11.0 1025 9.76
Ukrainians - - 0 0.00 - - - - 79 1.42 116 1.61 299 2.97 166 1.77 139 1.42 264 2.51
Belarusians - - - - - - - - 40 0.72 60 0.83 111 1.10 64 0.68 53 0.54 58 0.55
Finns - - 0 0.00 0 0.00 - - 88 1.58 105 1.46 115 1.14 84 0.89 56 0.57 40 0.38
Jews 0 0.00 1 0.10 0 0.00 - - 6 0.11 5 0.07 13 0.13 1 0.01 1 0.01 0 0.00
Latvians - - 5 0.52 0 0.00 - - 15 0.27 11 0.15 16 0.16 7 0.07 5 0.05 8 0.08
Germans 4 0.51 8 0.83 - - - - - - 18 0.25 23 0.23 7 0.07 10 0.10 12 0.11
Tatars - - 0 0.00 - - - - - - 31 0.43 43 0.43 8 0.09 7 0.07 5 0.05
Poles - - 2 0.21 0 0.00 - - - - 8 0.11 14 0.14 10 0.11 8 0.08 9 0.09
Lithuanians - - 0 0.00 0 0.00 - - 20 0.36 23 0.32 24 0.24 23 0.24 24 0.25 18 0.17
unknown 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 30 0.32 6 0.06 28 0.27
other 5 0.63 0 0.00 2 0.19 449 14.8 32 0.57 53 0.74 143 1.42 82 0.87 85 0.87 95 0.90
Total 789 100 969 100 1070 100 3032 100 5574 100 7194 100 10072 100 9388 100 9763 100 10499 99.98

Religion in Keila Parish (2021)

  Unaffiliated (77.2%)
  Lutheran (10.3%)
  Orthodox (8.4%)
  Baptism (1.4%)
  Catholic (1.2%)
  Others Christians & non Christian Religion (1.0%)

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Estonia

Twin towns — sister cities

Keila is twinned with:[14]

Notable residents

See also

References
  1. "Elanike arv - Eesti Linnade ja Valdade Liit".
  2. "Official Keila website (Estonian)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  3. "History of Keila St. Michael's church (English)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  4. "Official Keila website (Estonian)". Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  5. 1922 a. üldrahvalugemise andmed. Vihk VI. Harju maakond ja Tallinna linn (tabelid). Eesti riikline statistika (in Estonian and French). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1924. pp. 16–17. hdl:10062/4447.
  6. Rahvastiku koostis ja korteriolud. 1.III 1934 rahvaloenduse andmed. Vihk II (in Estonian). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1935. pp. 47–53. hdl:10062/4439.
  7. Eesti Statistika : kuukiri 1942-03/04 (in German and Estonian). Tallinn: Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo. 1942. pp. 66–67.
  8. Katus, Kalev; Puur, Allan; Põldma, Asta (2004). Rahvastiku ühtlusarvutatud sündmus- ja loendusstatistika: Harjumaa 1965-1990. Sari C. Tallinn: Eesti Kõrgkoolidevaheline Demouuringute Keskus. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-9985-820-77-3.
  9. Население районов, городов и поселков городского типа Эстонской ССР : по данным Всесоюзной переписи населения на 15 января 1970 года (in Russian). Tallinn: Eesti NSV Statistika Keskvalitsus. 1972. p. 79.
  10. Eesti Vabariigi maakondade, linnade ja alevite rahvastik: 1989. a. rahvaloenduse andmed: statistikakogumik. 1. osa: Rahvaarv rahvuse, perekonnaseisu, hariduse ja elatusallikate järgi (in Estonian). Tallinn: Statistikaamet. 1990. pp. 28, 33. ISBN 978-9949-71-932-7.
  11. "RL222: RAHVASTIK ELUKOHA JA RAHVUSE JÄRGI". Estonian Statistical Database (in Estonian).
  12. "RL0429: RAHVASTIK RAHVUSE, SOO, VANUSERÜHMA JA ELUKOHA JÄRGI, 31. DETSEMBER 2011". Estonian Statistical Database (in Estonian).
  13. "RL21429: RAHVASTIK RAHVUSE, SOO, VANUSERÜHMA JA ELUKOHA (HALDUSÜKSUS) JÄRGI, 31. DETSEMBER 2021". Estonian Statistical Database (in Estonian).
  14. "Sõpruslinnad - Keila Linnavalitsus" (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
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