Võhma

Võhma ( German Wöchma ) is a small town in the district of Viljandi in Estonia. Although the settlement has only 1544 inhabitants, it has since August 10, 1993 city law and is thus one of the smallest cities in the country.

History

After the completion of the railway line Tallinn - Viljandi - Mõisaküla was built around the station Võhma a small country village, through the establishment of an agricultural cooperative and a dairy grew rapidly in the following years. An important step for the development of the town was 1928, the establishment of a slaughterhouse, the Võhma owed ​​a steady recovery over the next few decades. During World War II Võhma was severely affected, the German troops mined the meat factory before their withdrawal from the area, but the mines were defused in time by some local workers.

Even in the period under Soviet rule the slaughterhouse remained the center of economic life and gave the community a degree of prosperity. From 1972 to 1975, a new slaughterhouse was built on the outskirts, from where, thanks siding, meat and sausage products were shipped directly to Leningrad. In the 1980s, over 800 people were employed in the meat factory.

Estonia's independence in August 1991, led by the elimination of the market in the East ( new state borders, customs duties) the decline of the slaughterhouse one. 1994 had to file for bankruptcy the slaughterhouse, after a rescue attempt with a dramatically reduced workforce in 1996 joined the factory gates forever. Thus the city was plunged into a deep social crisis and was at times almost exemplary of the risks of the new state on the way from a planned to a market economy. The unemployment rate in the late 1990s to 25%.

It was not until the turn of the millennium, the economic life began to recover. In summer 2000, a candle factory began its production in the following years, a sewing came (now the largest employer with about 80 employees ) to a Mineralwasserabfüllerei and various small businesses.

Geography and Attractions

Võhma located almost in the center geo Estonia on the northern border of Viljandi County. The railway line Tallinn - Viljandi passes through the town 's main street, Tallinn - Viljandi right past it. The city is surrounded by swampy and marshy land and is located about 10 km north of Soomaa, the largest floodplain in Europe.

Famous sons and daughters of the town

Jaak Aab, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs from 2005 to March 2007 and a member of the XI. Parliament was mayor from 1996 to 2002 and to date has his residence in the city.

The Estonian football player Jarmo Ahjupera was born here.