History

Printimise kuupäev: 07.09.2010

The oldest traces of human activity around Keila date back to 3^rd or 2^nd millennium BC, and about 1000 years ago a settlement appeared on the right bank of the Keila river. In 1219 North-Estonia was conquered by the Danes who established a church on Keila hill in Reval county of Vomentak¿ district. The church, dedicated to the Archangel Michael, was built of wood at first, but was replaced by a stone building at the end of the 13^th or beginning of the 14^th century. The first written reference to Keila (Keikŋl) appears in the Danish register of 1241.

In the 15^th and 16^th centuries a couple of dozen houses appeared, housing a hundred or so residents, and around the same time the Livonian Order built a castle on the river bank (where the Jõepark or Riverpark is now). Archaeological digs in the ruins of the castle started in 1976.

Seriously damaged during the crusades of the Livonian war (1558-83), and having suffered terribly during the famine and plague of 1601-1602, Keila remained a small parish village for three centuries. One of the first events that marked the appearance of Keila as a town of cultural note, was the erection of a six-metre high memorial column to Martin Luther near to the church rectory in 1862 (later destroyed in 1949). In 1867 a village school was opened in Väljaotsa farm near Keila, offering a basic education, then in 1885 the first song festival was organised in Keila, with 19 choirs participating, and conductor Konstantin Türnpu from Klooga leading their joint singing.

The development of Keila was given a boost in 1870 by the construction of the Tallinn-Paldiski railway, which opened the way for traders and businesses. The local landowner of the time, Baron von Uexküll started to sell his land for construction in 1896, and several of the buildings around Station Street (Jaama) which are today architecturally listed were put up after this. In 1905, a railway branch line was built to Haapsalu, and by then there were some 65 houses in Keila. The number of residents had risen to 950 by 1925 when Keila became a self-governing small town, and in 1930 the town and rural municipality worked together to open the new primary school building, which was dedicated as a memorial to the War of Independence. In 1938 Keila was officially declared a town, and the first mayor was the former council leader Johann Tähe. Keila then was a small, pretty and quiet town, but it didn't stay quiet for long as the Soviet occupation and deportations and the Second World War all had a heavy impact on both the town and its residents.

Between 1950 and 1962, Keila was the centre of the Keila region, and grew rapidly, helped by the electric rail link to Tallinn, which started in 1958. At the same time, a building cooperative started up in Keila (now OÜ Harju KEK), one of the most significant events for the development of the town in the post-war period.

The first post-war town council was elected in 1989 with Andres Pärt as mayor; Since 3 October 2006, Tanel Mõistus has been mayor of Keila.

Keila is a member of the Association of Estonian Cities (since 1935) and the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) (since 1997).