Danish King's Garden Tallinn

Danish King's Garden Tallinn is a park in Tallinn Old Town, Estonia, associated with the 1219 battle of Lindanise and the origin legend of Denmark's flag. According to the legend, King Valdemar II saw a red flag with a white cross fall from the heavens during the battle, giving the Danes the symbol known as the Dannebrog.

What is Danish King's Garden in Tallinn?

Danish King's Garden is the Tallinn Old Town park connected with this account of the Danish arrival in 1219. Its historical importance comes from the place's association with the battle for Lindanise, also called the Dannebrog battle, which the tour source identifies as the point at which Tallinn's written history began.

Why is Danish King's Garden connected to the Danish flag?

The story begins by the end of the 1100s, when the Pope called for a crusade against the remaining pagan peoples of the Baltics. German campaigns reached Old Livonia and then met resistance from the Estonians. After repeated failed attempts to overcome them, the Germans asked Denmark for help.

In 1219, King Valdemar II arrived with a Danish armada of 150 ships and 5,000 warriors. During the battle for Lindanise, the account says Valdemar became surrounded and prayed for divine intervention. According to the legend, a red flag bearing a white cross then fell from the heavens.

The sight inspired a final Danish stand. When the fighting ended, Valdemar and his men were still alive, and the flag became, according to the legend, Denmark's national flag. The tour source describes the Dannebrog as the oldest national flag still in use.

How can you encounter the garden in Tallinn Old Town?

Danish King's Garden is stop 4 of 16 on the Tales of Reval Virtual Tour, which offers a way to encounter the park alongside the historical story connected to it. The route continues beyond this stop, so the garden is one point within the wider Tallinn Old Town experience, not the route's conclusion.

If a friend is exploring Tallinn Old Town and wants to find the place connected to Denmark's flag legend, send them this page together with the Tales of Reval route. It gives them the name of the park and the story to look for without giving away the tour's in-app challenge.