Funeral for President Rüütel to take place next week
Everyone in Estonia will have the opportunity to pay their final respects to President Arnold Rüütel at Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn next Friday, January 10, from 12 noon until 9 p.m. A funeral service will be held for invited guests at the Estonia Concert Hall the following day.
A book of condolences will be open at Kadriorg Palace (A. Weizenberg 37, Kadriorg Art Museum) next Friday from midday until 9 p.m., in which well-wishers can write their condolences and leave messages of remembrance. The public are asked to refrain from bringing flowers or wreaths.
On the day of President Rüütel's funeral – Saturday, 11 January – a memorial service will be held in the Governor's Garden in Toompea. The service begins at 9.10 a.m. when the sun rises with the Estonian national anthem and the raising of the national flag on top of Pikk Hermann tower. Afterwards, the funeral car containing President Rüütel's cortege will move from Toompea to the Estonia Concert Hall, where the funeral ceremony will begin at 12 noon.
At approximately 1.20 p.m., the funeral cortege will begin moving from the Estonia Concert Hall to Kadriorg. A memorial service will be held in front of the Office of the President of the Republic, with a guard of honor given by the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF). The funeral car will then move with President Rüütel's cortege to Metsakalmist, where a private funeral service will be held for family members and close associates.
The book of condolences will be open at the Office of the President of the Republic (A. Weizenberg 39) until Thursday January 9 at 5 p.m. On Friday. January 10, condolences and messages of remembrance can be left at Kadriorg Palace.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Michael Cole
