Complex Expedition "Hogland"

 No doubts, you know where St. Petersburg is located. And where Kronstadt is too. And if you move further along the map to the north-west? . Yes, the Gulf of Finland, and further? .

Here are some tips for you: «Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks», the Treaty of Nystad, the Battle of Hogland, the painting by Aivazovsky «Lefort’s Death», the Crimean War, the Struve Arc, the Popov’s Hill, the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn, Admiral Svyatov… Any ideas?

Do not worry. All this list-puzzle at first also did not add up in one picture even for the participants of the complex expedition «Gogland» of the Russian Geographical Society. Separately, everything is well known, but what does actually unite these facts, names, events? 

Since the summer of 2013, the team of the «Hogland» of the Russian Geographical Society collects and connects the chronicles of a relatively small area, which even now, in the age of satellite maps and unlimited information opportunities, can be called a «white spot», which is located, by the way, not in the wilds of the Amazon, but almost in the heart of Europe. This «white spot», though, is not on the map, but in our education, in our knowledge of our native country.

The name of this place is the Outer Islands of the Gulf of Finland.

There are many of them, but only 14 are called the Outer Islands of the Gulf of Finland.

Large and small, covered with age-old pines or smooth basalt, sandy, rocky, gently — they are very different, and sometimes it is hard to believe that they are created by nature in one corner of the planet, very close to each other. And some of them are so diverse themselves that, walking along them, you can go from «Bryansk swamps» to «Curonian dunes» in five minutes, near which you can see «Norwegian fjords» covered with «alpine meadows».

But the islands are remarkable not only for their pristine nature. They have an incredibly interesting, rich, but very little known story, full of secrets and mysteries. And this story really goes back to the very depths of the centuries and is a very important part of the history not only of Russia, but of the entire continent.

However, what really makes unique these Outer Islands is the fact, that being located only a few hours from St. Petersburg by water, almost no one knows anything about this place. Even St. Petersburgers (with rare exceptions) do not know in what way «runs» wedge of the islands for almost two dozen kilometers to the Gulf of Finland behind the forts of Kronstadt after the state border.

And it is this wedge that is well known to all of us from school as «window to Europe», which «cut» Peter the Great.

So it turned out that everyone, who is asked what this «window» is, answers St. Petersburg. But looking closer again at the map of the Gulf of Finland it is possible to see a narrow bottleneck at the exit to the Baltic. It is literally covered with islands. And if they did not belong to Russia, the effect of the creation of St. Petersburg as a major commercial port and naval base would be highly questionable.

This is only a part of the unique history of the Outer islands.

There is still a continuing discussion about the historical belonging of the outer islands of the Gulf of Finland. Someone claims that they were originally Swedish, others are sure that they are Finnish. In fact, until the beginning of the fourteenth century, these islands were not needed by anyone. It was not easy there to be engaged in agriculture: most of islands were covered with stones and had fresh water problems, as the climate in the Baltic is quite harsh. Additionally, islands are far from the mainland (according to medieval standards). The islands were noticed only when the confrontation for dominance in the region between the Novgorodians and the Swedes reached the highest level (by the way, their first clash was dated 1124, when the Swedes decided to annex Ladoga). If we look again at the map and take into account the interests of the Danes and the Teutonic Order, which were active there then, it is easy to understand that the islands became at that time an important strategic bridgehead.

In 1323 the Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the Treaty of Oreshek was signed between the Novgorod Republic and Sweden, the first settlement of universal and perpetual peace in the history of our state. And thus appear the islands (not in the text itself, but as areas «cut» by the Swedes). So standing on the way to the exit, Hogland, Sommers, Rodsher, Tyuters and Seskar received their first official «master».

And here comes the trace of the Finns. It was them who, being subjects of Sweden since 1104 and traditionally fishing here, were proclaimed as the «indigenous» population of the islands.

There is also one interesting fact in the «report» to the Tallinn magistrate, from which it is seen how merchants went to Retusaari (Kronstadt) in 1395, lost their way and landed on the island of Ceskar, where they «traded with local Russians.» Historians believe that it was about our Orthodox Izhora, who occupied part of the land of the modern Leningrad region. The story can be also about the Slavs who started settling to the North-West in the Viking Age (IX–XI centuries), to establish trade with Europe and settle down, creating «sources of Russian statehood» — Veliky Novgorod and Ladoga settlement, and could possibly spread after the territory of Ladoga.

The fact that on the islands people lived before the Swedes-Finns is confirmed by archaeologists. There is a burial ground of the Iron Age on Moshchny Island, which had been used for at least 200 years. There were many valuable findings, for example, on Hogland island — cups for rituals, embankments, seidy, on South Virgin (Länsi-Viiri) — mounds and labyrinths. On Big Tyuters (Bolshoi Tyuters) there are burial grounds of the Bronze Age. And this is only what has already been revealed.

In addition to the Swedes, Finns and «conditionally Russians» also lived Livonyans (now they are Estonians and Lithuanians) on the islands. At least, on Hogland, without any doubt. There is a record about this made by the famous diplomat-historian-physicist Adam Olearius in 1635, whose ship was wrecked near the Hogland bay of Syurkyul. By the way, the huge Gottorp globe given to Tsar Peter, which now is kept in the St. Petersburg Kunstkammer, was designed by Olearius. It is the first and once the world’s largest globe-planetarium with a diameter of 3.1 m.

As for Russia, some islands became part of this country under Peter I. The Swedish campaign in the Baltic, the Northern War, ended with their defeat and signing the Treaty of Nystad. In 1721 the islands (together with Estlandia, part of Karelia, Livonia (Estonia and Latvia) and Ingermanlandia (now this is a part of the Leningrad region) came into the possession of the Russian kingdom.

But the Swedes did not stop. The next Russian-Swedish war began and ended in 1743 with signing the Treaty of Åbo in favor of Russia, which then took back the most important island of the archipelago — Hogland. Then the Swedes unsuccessfully tried to take revenge in 1788-1790: the very famous battle of Hogland took place.

Finally, in 1809, the Treaty of Fredrikshamn put an end to the more than six-century Russian-Swedish dispute over «who owns what» in the Baltic. The Swedes were deprived of Finland, it became the part of the Russian Empire.

Inhabitants of the islands, the ethnic Finns, who had been Russian subjects by that time for almost 100 years old, were «attributed» to our new «province»: the Grand Duchy of Finland. By the way, all the «worlds» that were mentioned were barely touched: they retained the right to their own religion and traditions. Moreover, thanks to Alexander II, the Finns were given the opportunity to use their native language officially. For the first time since 1104.

And everything was fine, until the Russian Empire collapsed, and the Finns, together with independence, had an opportunity to claim about their right for the islands. The population there, they said, was Finnish so the land should belong to Finland as well. And in 1920 the short-sighted Bolsheviks gave away the islands. They regretted their decision later and began to offer Finland to return, buy, change the islands, but the Finns were adamant.

The Winter War (Soviet-Finnish) began and ended. And the next peace treaty of 1940 (the Moscow Treaty) returned the islands to their former owner, however, only on a lease basis, but with the right to build naval bases on them that the Soviet Union actually did until the summer of 1941.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the strategic position of the outer islands was revealed with a new force: they proved to be of fundamental importance to all belligerents. The history of the Siege of Leningrad has left the Road of Life, the Nevsky Pyatachok, the Oranimbaum bridgehead in the memory of people, but the role of the outer islands in the defense of the city, in our Victory as a whole, unfortunately, is known mostly only to military historians. Only they will be able to talk about the incredible courage of our submariners, who tried to break through the large-scale minefields «Ziegel» («morskoy yezh» (sea urchin)), which the German fleet put on the way to the central Baltic. About the most difficult air battles. About unprecedented landing operations, full of feats on the brink of human capabilities, and monstrous errors of command, of which official history, of course, chose to «forget.» About the Moshchny Island, which for three years (!) was the westernmost point of the front line, and about the island of Hogland, where in 1944 the former enemies — the USSR and Finland — together repulsed the attacks of the Germans.

If the fate of the islands would have been different, who knows what the blockade of Leningrad would have been, how quickly the war would have ended, how many lives could have been saved.

Only in the autumn of 1944 the Soviet troops occupied all the islands, and in 1947, according to the terms of the next «peace treaty» (this time The Treaty of Paris), they were again assigned to our country remain like that today.

Probably there are no more such modest territories on the earth, as the outer islands, that would appear in so many peace treaties.

Each island has a unique character. For example, giant Hogland, as if the owner of the bay, it rises above the steel waters of the Baltic, always fascinating travelers with its primeval power.

In good weather, standing on Hogland you can see Rodsher island, the westernmost island of Russia, whose tiny brick houses and a lighthouse are similar to the scenery for a fairy tale.

To the left there are the Virgin Islands, South and North. They consist of many round stones, sharpened by the Baltic waves. Ancient people built here ritual mounds and labyrinths. Even nowadays, the islands are not empty. Especially in spring, when the Virgin Islands, like the island of Kokor, turn into a «maternity home» for migratory birds.

The echo of the war is still heard on Moshchny Island, and it is difficult to imagine that this huge, life-and-colorful forest during the Great Patriotic War was on the front line.

Traces of war are even more evident on islands Bolshoy Tyuters and Sommers.

Being witnesses of the tragedies of Soviet troops, they keep their military secrets and artifacts to this day.

Their «younger brothers» have totally different atmosphere: Maly Tyuters with its virgin nature and Maly Sommers — a tiny granite piece of a hundred square meters land.

And here is Maly Island, the pastoral image of which deceived more than one ship with its invisible sandbar.

Sands, but already in the form of beaches, are present on the island of Seskar. However, its main attraction is the first all-metal lighthouse made in England in 1858. 

Another island, which is literally filled with history, is Nerva, a small stone plateau with hundreds of petroglyphs.

And, finally, Vigrund. The southernmost and most modest by nature of 14 islands and the endless subject of heated debate among scientists: what is the island, rock or something else?

Since 2013 the complex expedition «Hogland» summarizes the available data and is looking for new findings on the nature and history of the outer islands in order to compile their «passports» and tell people about everything in detail.

The team of the «Hogland» expedition mainly consists of experienced researchers, who are not frightened by unpredictable Baltic weather and uneasy living conditions in field camps in complete isolation from civilization. The main friends and partners of the expedition are the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Search Movement of Russia. The first group conducts archaeological work and adds all the new facts to the rich and bright history of the islands, the latter are looking for the remains of those killed during the Great Patriotic War on the islands of Hogland and Sommers and restore the military records in the archives.

Specialists of Komarov Botanical Institute, the Institute of Geology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy, ornithologists, and divers also participate in the work. For three years, more than three hundred students from Pushkin Leningrad State University, V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University and Belgrade University (Serbia) have gained valuable experience here. The most active support of the expedition is provided by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the Western Military District and the Leningrad Naval Base.

A lot of results have been achieved already. It should be mentioned that burials were discovered on Hogland, and although they are in Finland and Estonia, they were first found on the territory of Russia. Not only traces, but also tools of the Stone Age were discovered, and it became obvious that the island was inhabited 5 thousand years ago. In general, there are many ritual stone embankments, petroglyphs, and cup stones on Hogland.

The cultural layer of former Finnish villages was also carefully studied. The only thing that was not found was a cave, where in the XVII–XVIII centuries the alarm signal mountaineers were hiding from the bad weather — because it is still impossible to discover the very mountain. Also the treasures of the medieval pirate Aleph von Malen, who traded near the islands and hid the stolen goods on Hogland, were not found too. But the expedition still has everything ahead.

There are great prospects on Bolshoy Tyuters as well. It is already known exactly where a Scandinavian settlement was located, and a Bronze Age burial ground was found. Most striking findings are the weather vane of the Lutheran church of 1772, which was once there, a silver hryvnia (cervical decoration), dated to the 10th century, and a bronze vessel bearing the coat of arms of the presumably Polish city of Shecin.

The results of research conducted on this island by Komarov Botanical Institute are very interesting: 20 new plant species have emerged for 10 years on Bolshoy Tyuters with the area of ​​only 8.3 square meters!

 Islands Hogland and Tyuters have been fully studied in the field of geology. On Hogland, by the way, there is pink porphyry and there are also emeralds-beryls (although, small). There are no precious stones on Tyuters, but glacial basins were found — cavitz at the base of a glacier with vertical walls and concave bottom, drilled during the rotation of boulders by streams flowing into the cracks of the glacier. Glacial basins were discovered for the first time in the Leningrad Region.

Three books have already been published: two photo albums «The Lost Worlds of the Baltic» and «Land of the Gulf of Finland», and, together with the Russian Search Movement, «The Battle at the Point of a Knife, or The Forgotten Battle on the Island of Sommers.» And since historians continue to work in the military archives and find new data, «The Battle …» will be reissued and will become a three-volume book, from which it will be possible to learn about all the landing operations in the Gulf of Finland during the Great Patriotic War.

Four films have been shot and shown. Two — «The Baltic Outpost» and «Secrets of the Island of Hogland» were made by our friends from St. Petersburg company «AgitEcoStudio». The film «War on the Cold Isles» is the result of the work of the team of «Zvezda» TV channel, while «Bolshoy Tyuters. Secrets of the Isle of Death» was made by «My Planet» TV channel.

 There are two films in production now: the film about the expedition itself and the movie that the Hogland team have dreamed of for many years — «The Lost Worlds of the Baltic», which brought together all the available historical data about the islands.

 A lot of work with interesting and serious tasks is still ahead.

Every season the complex expedition «Hogland» continues scientific research in different directions; and at the same time each season is devoted it to a particular topic. Thus, in 2014 it was conducted under the auspices of geological research, and 2015 was marked by a unique operation to rescue dozens of military-technical historical objects on Bolshoy Tyuters Island. The objects were taken to the mainland and then transferred to museums and restorations. And in 2016, it was devoted to ecology.

Within a month the team of the expedition and volunteers, chosen during the All-Russian competition, eliminated the consequences of anthropogenic impact on the natural systems of a number of islands, and cleaned them. They also took part in the restoration of historical lighthouses.

Guys faced really hard work, living in field camps in complete isolation from civilization, on harsh and fabulously beautiful islands, where you can understand what the unpredictable Baltic weather is like and test yourself, your character, and your ability to work. And of course, it is a chance to learn a lot about your native country, and gain a unique experience and loyal friends.

Volunteers usually prepare for difficult but incredibly interesting weekdays during special two-day trainings on the mainland.