A true European

Vilde in the Republic of Estonia, 1918-1933

Vilde and Linda Jürman returned home in 1917. The Estonian people received their popular writer warmly, treating him as a true European.

In 1918 Vilde worked for a short time as the dramaturge of the theatre Estonia but already the next year he accepted the offer to be the head of the Copenhagen Press Bureau. Soon, he became the ambassador of Estonia to Germany. However, it became clear pretty soon that the independently thinking writer was not suitable for office work. Before he left the diplomatic work in 1920, he managed to get the building in Berlin in which the Estonian embassy is housed today as well. Vilde remained in Germany until 1923, editing his collected works and recuperating in various health resorts. All that time he was in lively correspondence with his wife and his publisher

Vilde’s 60th birthday in 1925 was celebrated festively as a living classic deserved. Telegrams came from all parts of Estonia and from abroad. The Government gave the writer a house and 200 000 marks. They could not find a suitable house for two years and so Vilde finally put up with a six-room flat in Kadriorg. He moved into it with his wife and mother-in-law in November 1927. This was their first real home in Estonia.