24-year-old Iris Kreen spends most of her time in cemeteries. When Kreen is not at a cemetery, she does research on them. It all began when she was mapped out her local cemetery for a school project in eighth grade.

"I created an Excel spreadsheet with the coordinates of the burial sites, their locations according to sector names, and the information written on the gravestones," Kreen told ERR.

"I checked this information against the burial register as much as possible, because gravestones do not always have the full name and correct dates on them. What is written on a gravestone is not always as reliable as a church or burial register," she explained.

Although cemetery tourism is a popular phenomenon in western Europe, Kreen said that when visiting cemeteries with a tour group in Estonia, she often encounters strange looks and curiosity from members of the public.

In her university thesis, Kreen took a closer look at cemetery sculptures.

"My chart of sculptures has grown to 500 to 600 entries. They are the ones whose creators I know for sure. There are quite a few sculptures that have the sculptor's signature on them," she explained.

"In general, however, there are few of those, and finding out about them is another story. You have to read the artist's monograph or database to find out that this is their sculpture and then go and see it," Kreen said.

One example is the monument to Estonian educator and politician Jakob Westholm, which was inspired by the work of his best friend – painter and illustrator Kristjan Raud. Westholm's monument bears the signature of sculptor Juhan Raudsepp.

"Raudsepp's work is very diverse. He created over 100 gravestones and monuments, including entirely plastic bronze-colored sculptures. For example, Signe Tiidemann's grave monument in Käsmu, Lääne-Viru County, which is considered to be the most beautiful in Estonia. At the same time, there are also other totally ordinary gravestones," said Kreen.

The creation of elaborate and unique grave monuments is a practice that continues to this day. Over the past 20 years, sculptor Tiiu Kirsipuu has produced almost 50 grave monuments, for instance.

"They are still being commissioned, especially for the graves of famous people," Kreen said.

Alongside her other work, Kreen currently takes people on cemetery tours. She points out that there is still a lot of research that needs to be done in order to talk in detail about what to look for in Estonian cemeteries.

"For example, the gravestone of the first car accident victim in Estonia can be found in this cemetery, so you could make small stops like that during a tour. I have also given a tour of the graves of freedom fighters. But since most of them were young men, their stories are generally not known," explained Kreen.

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