The time machine in Paide

Paide Rampart Tower has been changed into history center called „Wittenstein". It is a historical theme park created at nine floors, each carrying the different exhibition from different eras. Visitors have the possibility to ride the elevator up from the Iron Age to the Euro Era.

For the first time in written sources Paide was mentioned in 1265 when the Livonia order knight Konrad von Mandern had built the massive fortress called Rampart Tower. During different periods it was bombed to ruins and built up again from the ground. It witnessed and survived many wars and battles, kings and tsars, but it has always been a strong emotional symbol for the Estonians. When the tower was re-built in the beginning of 1990, the rise of the tower was seen as a symbol of the Estonians getting back in charge of their country which many generations before had dreamt of, worked hard and even died for. The tower was opened in 1993.

With the co-funding of the ERDF and PaideTown Government, a long-planned idea became the reality in 2011. The historical tower with its nine floors is a real time machine that enables visitors to travel in time just like Herbert George Wells had once dreamt of. The role of the time-machine is carried out by an elevator which takes visitors from the ancient times exhibition on the ground floor through eight different ages up to the 21^st century on the 9^th floor.

The tower is full of different high-technology devices and applications which help to create a more realistic expression of the time period and allow the visitors to experience unforgettable adventure throughout the thousands of years of history exposed in the history centre Wittenstein. A time traveller will be able to listen to the spell of a wiseman at an authentic sacred grove site of prehistoric Estonians, sit by the same table with a higher government official of feudal times, ride in a real stage-coach along Estonian manor-houses, experience the bumpy ride inside a cattle wagon on route to a prison camp and enjoy many more interesting attractions. No reason to be discouraged by language barriers at the tower of Wittenstein - the vikings, Gustav II Adolf, Peter the Great and all the other historical celebrities speak Estonian, Finnish, English, Russian and German. Time travellers will be instructed by a guidebook which tells stories about the magic and pain of different eras.