The first Old Thomas was placed atop the Town Hall's spire on Raekoja plats in 1530 and remained there until the Soviet bombing of Tallinn in March 1944.

Tallinn Town Hall curator Ivi Jürgenson said letting go of the city icon comes with a heavy heart.

"We did everything in our power to keep the first Old Thomas at the Town Hall, but our efforts were in vain. Legally, all Town Hall artifacts belong to the City Museum. Back in 1937, the historic items of the Town Hall were handed over to the newly established museum. At the time, there was an expectation that a new town hall would be built and the old one would house the City Museum, as is the case in many other cities," she explained.

Today, the City Museum loans Town Hall objects for display. But it does not always get all the pieces it would like.

"Our wish was for the 1530 Old Thomas to remain at Town Hall, the place he came from and where he fell during the March 1944 bombing when the burning spire collapsed, because every artifact is most valuable in its original historical environment. Visitors also expect to see Old Thomas at Town Hall, which he is associated with. In the Town Hall cellar, he was easy to view, even for those who stepped inside without buying a ticket," Jürgenson said.

Old Thomas will now become part of the museum's new permanent exhibition, which opens later this year.

"When we began creating the exhibition, we decided to focus also on Tallinn's legends, and Old Thomas is one of the most important of them," explained Maris Rosenthal, the museum's chief curator.

"The role and responsibility of the museum is to exhibit authentic, original objects. Since, by agreement with our colleagues at Town Hall, we were able to exchange the weathervanes, we decided to display the very first one, 'Old Thomas No. 1,' in the context of the new exhibition. The museum will ensure preservation conditions that meet modern standards, and therefore the first Old Thomas will be displayed in a climate-controlled case," Rosenthal added.

In the Town Hall cellar, the departing figure will be replaced by the second Old Thomas, who took his place atop the tower in 1952, when the war-damaged spire was rebuilt along with a new weathervane.

By 1996, however, the spire had decayed dangerously, and it was decided to replace both the spire and the weathervane.

After only 44 years atop the tower, the second Old Thomas had loosened fastenings and a corroded surface. The main reason was that the weathervane had never been painted in 1952 and its fittings were left unprotected from rust.

As a result, the second Old Thomas lost his sword while on duty and came down from the tower without it. The third Old Thomas, placed atop Town Hall in 1996, remains there to this day.

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