Estonian landscape study: Contextual history

Abstract

The history of Estonian landscape research is limited to the twentieth century. The most significant milestone in this process was the appointment of J. G. Granö as Professor of Geography at the University of Tartu who introduced the German systematic and scientific notion of landscape (Landschaft). This has been a dominant trend ever since, but Estonian landscape study has had numerous undercurrents and exiting interactions with other disciplines from both the natural and social sciences, as well as the humanities. This is a first attempt to write a landscape research history with a broader perspective in mind, stressing the wide spectrum of landscape studies by researchers who may not consider themselves primarily as concerned with landscapes but have nevertheless contributed to the discipline and the understanding of landscapes in Estonia.