Tammsaare wrote the first volume of the five-part work while living in a small two-room apartment on Õuna tänav. To find the quiet he needed to work, he rented an attic room in a summer house at Kirikuaia 6, said Maarja Vaino, director of the Tallinn Literature Center.

"Unfortunately, the house was demolished in the 1950s, and it's now the site of a children's clinic," she said. "But it's truly wonderful to see such an important cultural site in the city now marked with a bench."

Credited with the idea is historian, author and politician Jaak Juske, who said places vital to Estonia's cultural history deserve recognition, "especially when the surrounding cityscape has changed beyond recognition."

The birthplace of "Truth and Justice," one of the country's most foundational literary works, he added, is a perfect example.

Still relevant

Mayor Peeter Raudsepp said the century-old novel's themes of justice, mutual understanding, love and the absence thereof still remain relevant today.

He expressed hope that the bench would offer people a place to pause and reflect, "and maybe even inspire them to revisit Tammsaare's work."

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