8. VISKOOSA


The story of Viskoosa is about someone having the right business idea at the wrong time in history. It is a tribute to the fact that even the best laid plans can be disrupted by outside events beyond anyone's control. The name "Viskoosa" is actually the name of a company. The town we are now in is called Korgessaare and was a very important manor and harbor. From this town, ships sailed to Sweden carrying cargo and passengers. It was one of the first important trade centers on Hiiumaa and has been serving as a port since medieval times. Later, it was purchased by the Ungern-Sternberg family. Because of its importance it was chosen as the place where a factory would be built. The factory was the idea of an international group of businessmen who wanted to produce artificial silk on this site. They obtained financing and from 1911-1914 built a huge factory here. It was intended to provide jobs for several hundred workers working in two shifts. The location was ideal. A harbor was close by, labor was cheap and there was an ample supply of wood and fresh water to supply the huge steam engine that was to generate power for the machinery in the factory.

The factory was completed on schedule and a few samples were produced. Everything looked good and the factory was readied for full production. Unfortunately, just as production was about to begin, World War One broke out and the factory had to be closed. At first, there were hopes of resuming production after the war but an accidental explosion destroyed part of the factory. Later, another part of the factory was blown up to keep material that could be used to make armaments from falling into enemy hands. This ruined all hopes of making the factory work again. The machinery was sold off and the building remained empty until the 1950's when a local Hiiumaa company started a meat and fish processing business here.

Some old factory buildings remain today as well as the pond that was to be the fresh water supply for the factory. The main building is located just to the south where the large smokestack is. The interesting-looking building constructed out of granite blocks used to be a vodka distillery but now houses one of the finest restaurants in Hiiumaa. All visitors are strongly recommended to dine at Viinaköök at least once. The interior is very nice and you have a chance to dine on some genuine Hiiumaa wild boar at a very reasonable price.

The beach is located in a huge grove of alder trees that were planted about a hundred years ago to keep the drifting coastal sands in place. It was one of the first large-scale nature conservation projects on Hiiumaa.

This is not because of neglect by the road engineers. The road has been this way for hundreds of years and nobody really knows the reason why. Now it has become a point of interest on Hiiumaa and the people want to keep it the way it is. One of the stories about why the road curves like this says that when they were making the trail, they used a horse-drawn sledge filled with stones. One day, the horses jumped suddenly and the man who was driving the sledge fell off. The horses took off through the forest, and the man didn't catch them until they had gone four kilometers. Then, rather than take the time to go back and remake the trail, they decided to leave it the way it was and continue on.