Pyöräillen kohti kansalaisyhteiskuntaa

pyöräilyn ensivuosikymmenet Virossa

Kirjoittajat

• Mikko Kylliäinen

Abstrakti

Pedalling towards civil society: The first decades of cycling in Estonia

In today's Europe, there are many different cycling cultures. In France and Italy, cycling is considered competitive sports; in Denmark and the Netherlands, bicycle is an everyday means of transport. At the end of the 19th century, cycling cultures in different countries were quite similar, but still, there was not one cycling culture, but many cultures. In the 1880s, cycling was a sport of the rich and the nobility, but at the same time, bicycle was already used by the common people.
As neighbouring countries Finland and Estonia have a lot of similarities, but also many differences in their history. Both countries belonged to the Russian empire during the 19th century. Bicycle arrived at the same time at both countries, in spring 1869. At that time, the first useful version of bicycle spread rapidly all over Europe, and in the 1880s, cycling started to gain more popularity. Both countries adopted the European cycling culture: competitions were organized, bicycle clubs were founded, people made long bicycle tours.
Contrary to Finland, which was an autonomous Grand Duchy and had its own government, parliament and legislation, Estonians did not have such national organs of government. Instead, civil society was built in all kinds of clubs and societies, and the bicycle clubs were part of this development.