1890, 1920-1923

All Roads Lead to Berlin

Exaggerating a bit, we may say that all Vilde’s roads took him to Berlin that was often the starting point of his spiritual and ideological journeys but, more often than not, also his physical starting point to farther Western and South-Eastern European countries.

“With 40 roubles in my wallet I went to Berlin in 1890. I did not expect to become a great writer there – I only wished to live in this million town, see everything and taste its worldly flavour, just to relax in the waves of the life’s ocean for once.” Vilde was strongly influenced by the western literature and the social-democratic politics. In 1891 Vilde married Antonie Gronau in Berlin but the marriage lasted only for a couple of years. When Vilde visited the Paris World Exhibition and Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century, he also stopped in Berlin on the way.The journey from Estonia to Berlin by rail took three days at that time. Having later on visited several other countries, Vilde readily admitted that Berlin as a town was nothing special – no architecture to write home about and so clean it felt dull. While in Berlin Vilde always did some shopping, as suits and ties were considerably cheaper there than in Russia. Whenever he could, he went to the theatre and attended political meetings. Berlin was obviously the place where Vilde learned about women’s liberation and became a supporter of it.

In 1919 Vilde lived in Berlin a bit longer. He was the first diplomatic representative of the Republic of Estonia to Germany. Life in Germany was complicated, the economy of the state was paralysed, prices were high, the exchange rate of the German mark low and it was next to impossible to rent a flat. In letters to his wife Vilde complained about the shortage of food products; asking for milk, sugar, butter and fat from home. Due to differences of opinion Vilde gave up his work at the embassy but remained in Berlin. He edited his former work and had lively correspondence with his wife Linda Vilde. He returned to Estonia only in 1923.