Exhibition of the post-bombing city of Pärnu on old photos.
September 22nd marked the 75th anniversary of events that in the final phase of the II World War changed the cityscape and life in Pärnu in an unprecedented way. In September 1944, German troops were exiting the continental Estonia while under pressure from the invading Red Army. Retreating from Pärnu the last units of the German army gradually set fire to the buildings that they used as bases, warehouses and counter-vaults. Late in the evening, the Soviet Air Force's air strike added fire. During the night, most of the medieval center of Pärnu, the market buildings and the railway station, the Endla theater building, a number of school houses and the old Nikolai Church in the heart of the city were destroyed. It took years to clean up the ruins, and it took decades to plan and build a new city center.