Österby village and harbour
Österby village and harbour
Österby harbour has always been the connection between Noarootsi and Haapsalu, as the distance by sea across the bay is about 3 km. The distance is covered by boat in the summer and via the ice in the winter. Österby is also the starting point of the Noarootsi-Haapsalu ice road.
Boats used to run regularly between Österby harbour and Haapsalu Vanasadam harbour until 1994. In the 1930s, the boat departed from both sides six times a day. During the Soviet era, a boat used to sail between Österby and Haapsalu three times a day, and since Noarootsi was part of the border zone at the time (i.e. only accessible with a permit), the border guards would check people’s documents before allowing them on board.
The seawall in Österby harbour was built from carved stone by the local farmers at the beginning of the 20th century to protect the landing sites from sea winds. The seawall was originally 265 m long, of which about 215 m survive today.
Österby is also one of the most popular beaches on the Noarootsi peninsula. The harbour was cleaned up with aid funding and now includes a lovely café. A boat bridge was installed at the end of the seawall in July 2013 and the harbour now has a berthing float.
The first bend on the road from Österby harbour towards the village leads to the post office – this was the home of the postmen, who were responsible for delivering both mail and people across Haapsalu Bay. The post was stored in a wooden barrel when crossing the sea so that if anything happened to the boat, it would still make it to the shore. The last well-known postman was Hans Westerblom, nicknamed Postman Ants.
The village of Österby, first mentioned in 1450, is a well-preserved row village with buildings on either side of a winding road that runs through the village. The impressive-looking cattle-sheds visible along the roadside have been built with brash collected from working the fields. At present, there are around thirty households in the village, including both those inhabited all year round and those used as summer houses.
The village of Österby features a distinctive wooden fire station, built in the 1930s and restored in 1998.
Postman Ants
Hans Westerblom, nicknamed Postman Ants (Post-Hans in Swedish), was born in 1875 in the village of Kudani in Noarootsi. He assumed the postal business in 1899 after the death of his brother Postman Mats, who previously held the same position.
At that time, only row boats were used to cross the bay and Hans inherited five such boats from Postman Mats. Anyone wishing to cross the bay paid “five kopeks per person” and rowed to town on their own. Anyone renting a boat had to supply their own thole pins. In 1901 Postman Ants bought a sailing boat called Salme and used it to transport post and people across the bay. The rowboat rental business was also still open. As time went on, he bought additional sailboats called Wram, Swalan, Norman, Jupiter and Hulda.
During the German occupation in 1918, Hans was put behind bars in Haapsalu by the local manor lords and parish priest. According to his own words, life in prison was not too bad. The prison warden was a native German who never said no to a drink, and so Hans had food and booze sent from home every day, turning his cell into an endless partyhouse. While the other prisoners had to go to work during the day, Hans was “immer krank” (always unwell).
During this time, the responsibility of delivering the post fell upon his sons, Robert and Alfred, who were only ten and nine years old respectively. Many were wary of their young age and thus reluctant to take the boat with them. Over time, their concerns diminished and by the time they were 15, no one hesitated getting into a boat. After Hans was released from prison, he was faced with poverty as Russian money had lost its value and he had not yet had time to earn new money.
In the early years of the Republic of Estonia, his finances suddenly improved when casks of distilled spirits hailing from Bordeaux washed up on the shores of Riguldi after the shipwreck of a steam boat. Hans sold the spirits and was back in business. With the surety of his brother Mathias, Hans was even able to procure a small loan. In 1925, the first engine was fitted to the Wiking. The following year, he bought the motorboat Ost, and in 1929, he bought a third boat. People preferred to travel by motorboat because it ran in almost any weather and was much faster than a sailing boat.
Unfortunately, in 1932, disaster struck the Westerblom family when their new postal boat Ost was set on fire in Österby harbour and burnt down to the waterline. Being skilled craftsmen, they managed to rebuild the boat. Previously, the almost 15-metre-long boat was only partially covered with a deck, but was fitted with a large roofed cabin after a major refit.
In 1932, the family owned three motorboats. Ost was used to transport people, Nord carried salted herring in spring, tourists in summer and apples in autumn, and Süd was always standing by on the berth, ready to take over as a back-up. Later on they added the boats Aavo and Fram to their fleet. The large and impressive Aavo, commissioned from Saaremaa, was nationalised by the Soviets and when the German troops started to move in, the boat caught fire on the way from Haapsalu to Hiiumaa and sank to the bottom. Ost, however, was successfully hidden from the communists. The easiest solution was to hide the boat under water. To do this, holes were drilled in the bottom of the boat and she was lowered to deep enough waters near Österby harbour. Once the communists had left the country, the boat was raised up, put back in order and Hans’ son Robert used it to escape to Sweden via Finland with his family and friends around Christmas 1943. Hans stayed at home in Österby with his wife Maria, but died from pneumonia in August 1945 after falling through the ice while launching a boat in the spring.
Jorma Friberg, Postimees, 1 June 2016