The House of the Blackheads in Tallinn is a historical building that was once used by the Guild of St. Olaf (Oleviste gild), which united artisans considered to be of the lower class: butchers, tanners, gravediggers, and others. Mostly, these were ethnic Estonians, while in other professions, Germans dominated. The Guild used this house on Pikk Street for meetings as early as the 14th century. The building was significantly rebuilt in the 15th century. By the end of the 17th century, the St. Olaf's Guild ceased to exist, merging with the Canute Guild. In 1919, the Blackheads Brotherhood, located nearby, bought the house and connected the two buildings. As a result of numerous reconstructions, the facade of the building transformed from a medieval look into the fashionable Art Nouveau style of the time.

The Guild also had a military function, as their cavalry squad, serving until the age of fifty, was part of the city's militia. They gathered in their "headquarters" in the evenings, talked business, and drank beer. Twice a year, they accepted new members into the brotherhood. In 1671, six new members collectively presented a rather unusual gift - a silver cup. It had a secret: it had a double bottom, the upper one held by the pressure of poured wine, but as soon as the cup was tilted to drink it, a figure of a boy located under the upper bottom would flip the false bottom and all the wine would drain into a secret chamber, leaving the drinker with nothing.

In the late 16th century, Reval (as Tallinn was then known) was preparing to welcome King Sigismund III Vasa of Sweden and Poland. For the monarch's visit, the facade of the building was reconstructed from the Gothic style into the fashionable Renaissance style of the time, decorated with bas-reliefs depicting Jesus, and between the windows appeared knights. The inscriptions under them read: "Helf Godt Allezeid" (God always helps) and "Godt is mein hilf" (God is my helper). The house's door is also attractive with the head of St. Maurice and typical rose-shaped nails for those days.

Admiral Ferdinand Bellingshausen, the discoverer of Antarctica, was born in a German family on the now Estonian island of Saaremaa, was brought up in the naval cadet corps in St. Petersburg, and from 1833 to 1838 he lived in this house, serving as the commander of the fleet division. Unfortunately, during the restoration of the building in the early 1990s, his memorial plaque was removed and never reinstalled.

Photo By PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0