Ruhnu prisonhouse in 1920s

Ruhnu prison, assembled from logs, the barely man-height hut had two small rooms and a window, then named Skithuset (in translation “shithouse”). The prison was situated in Ruhnu village. Reports about the prison originate from the beginning of the 18th century. In years 1702–26 Ruhnu pastor Jonas Drothenius has marked the following event to the church register „In one of the congregation´s meetings, the bell-ringer accused the master with  “offensive, non-Christian and inhuman accusations”, which all turned out to be wrong. “ Then I was forced to send the bell-ringer for half a night to the prison””. Later it is known that in 1804 a two-chambered prison was built in the middle of the village, which the village elder could use for imprisonment for 24 hours. The prison was closed in 1894 and was used as a pigsty thereafter.

Created in 2013