Ministry of Internal Affairs organises Place Name Day in Viljandi

Press release no. 170

Tomorrow, 3 November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the place name board will be organising Place Name Day in Viljandi to discuss issues related to the organisation of place naming. The day has become an annual traditional and is being held for the fourth time. Regional Minister Jaan Õunapuu will be giving a presentation about the role the state plays in the organisation of place naming, during which the minister will emphasise the historical and practical significance of place names and stress the importance of ensuring the use of places' original names.
Also giving presentations during the day will be Peeter Päll, deputy chairman of the place names board, who will be talking about international place name cooperation, and Aule Kikas, the board's secretary, who will be providing an overview of the legal basis for the organisation of place naming. Asta Jaaksoo, curator of the August Kitzberg Museum, will be introducing the history of Mulgimaa's place names, and Heli Grosberg, curator of the Viljandi Museum, will be talking about place names in changing times. Alli Laande, chairman of the board of the Mulgi Cultural Institute and elder of the village of Lilli in Viljandi County will be giving a presentation about farm names in his local area.

Tõnu Raudsepp will be presenting an overview of the mapping of place names, and Lui Hubel from the Estonian Map Centre will be talking about the possibilities of the national register of place names. Elle Sihver, chief specialist from the Viljandi City Library, will be introducing the place name-related literature held by the library and Uudo Timm, director of the environmental registry office of the information and technology centre of the Ministry of the Environment will be giving an overview of the names of Viljandi's natural sites.

"The aim of Place Name Day is to bring people together who consider place names important in terms of preserving cultural history, and who consider it important for the place names on our maps to be right, and who monitor them to see that they are in line with legislation and orthographic norms," explained Väino Tõemets, chairman of the Place Names Board.

Place Name Day is being held in the conference and exhibition hall on the third floor of the Viljandi City Library starting from 10.00 am.

The schedule for the day is attached.