I was recently overjoyed upon learning that this fenomen has a name – thanks to @urbanarchiveny (Urban Archive New York) on Instagram, dedicated to uncovering the history of New York City. On 15. oktoober they posted a old photograph from Brooklyn featuring an example of an architectural palimpsest or ghost building and the explaination: “A palimpsest is traditionally a parchment made from animal hide that has been scraped “clean” again, so that new text can be written on it. In many cases, the ghost of the original text can be seen faintly behind the new words. In the case of architecture, a palimpsest is the partial remains or outline of a vanished building seen on existing buildings.” The rather challenging word is the same in Estonian: “palimpsest – pärgament, millelt varasem kirjutus ähmastatud või kustutatud ja uus peale kirjutatud.
In the spirit of Hallowe'en, as well as Estonian hingede/aeg (time of spirits in November), there’s something thought-provoking and a bit haunting about detecting the trace of a staircase, or a door, and starting to imagine the lives lived in what is now emptiness. A ghost is a kummitus and if a place is haunted then seal kummitab.
Us ghostbusters gotta stick together… the Instagram account @ghostbuildings spotted my thematic hashtags along with this example from Rakvere and asked if they could re-post. By all means! I was honoured to have these Viru vaimud ja varjud (spirits and shadows from Virumaa) featured. If nostalgia and curiosities are your thing, check out messynesschic.com based in Paris, which includes the article “The Haunting Magic of Ghost Buildings”.
Riina Kindlam, Tallinn
