On February 25, 2026, Valga Museum Friends Society held a remembrance evening at the museum, where Enno Tanilas, pastor of the EELC Karula St Mary congregation, spoke on the topic Elias Lönnrot visiting Southern Estonia in 1844.
Elias Lönnrot (1802-1884), the Finnish folklorist, philologist, physician, and botanist, was the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala. In 1844, Lönnrot spent half a year in Estonia, during which he travelled on foot across our land, covering a total of about 800 kilometers. While in Southern Estonia, he visited in Võru our Kalevipoeg author Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald and the surrounding parishes. He also reached the lands of Karula in modern Valga County, visiting Hargla and Sangaste.
Enno Tanilas's overview of this historical event was very well received by the audience, which numbered over twenty-five people.
Eduard Ole - South-Estonian landscape
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