Võru’s most revered sight is the F.R. Kreuzwald Memorial Museum, occupying the property where the author of Estonia’s national epic, Kalevipoeg (“Son of Kalev”), practised as a doctor from 1833 until his retirement in 1877.

A lifelong enthusiast for Estonian folklore, Kreuzwald was inspired by the example of Finnish contemporary Elias Lönnrot, who had created a Finnish national epic in the 1830s by bundling together traditional folk tales to form the Kalevala. Kreuzwald aimed to create an Estonian epic of similar scale: Kalevipoeg was the result.

Kalevipoeg

Published in serial form between 1857 and 1859, Kalevipoeg immediately made Kreuzwald’s reputation and has enjoyed a sacred position in Estonian culture ever since. It was initially believed that Kalevipoeg was a compilation of genuine folk tales – it only emerged later that Kreuzwald had made most of the story up based on common folk motifs, but this if anything enhanced its reputation as a work of creative power.

The museum