Kuressaare, Estonia

Kuressaare is located on the southern coast of Saaremaa Island, facing the Gulf of Riga.

The area was called Livonia [Liefland in archaic German] and was governed by descendants of the Baltic Germans for centuries. From 1721 to 1796, this area was controlled by Russia, but Peter the Great had declared that German be the official language of the region.

Its historic German name was Arensburg. From 1952 to 1988 when it was under Soviet rule, the town was called Kingissepa. In 1988, the name was restored to Kuressaare.