But yeah, USSR didn't manage to break our culture (and our own language is a noteworthy part of that). Although there was corruption in various government institutions after USSR collapse, systemic open corruption wasn't part of our culture.
Most (many?) people are ok to work for their own success instead of cheating others as the first choice, that helps the startup culture. And Skype is the most notheworthy company affecting Estonian startup culture. Although not founded/funded by Estonians, the tech & business was built in Estonia from scratch, by mostly Estonians. And now there are multiple generations of ex-Skypers who've successfully built startups & businesses more than once.
Culture & neighbors - that's what I usually tell other people, when they ask about our quick recovery after the USSR occupation.
I visit both at least once or twice every year and always come away being very much impressed with all the projects and companies that originate there. Access to funding is still not what it should be though, hopefully that will change in the future.
I know that Estonia was contested at certain points for Russian and German rule. My grandfather was a lawyer, may grandmother was a teacher, and, according to family lore, they were persons of interest to the people who'd invaded and taken over. Do you have recommendations for learning more about that awful phase of history? I wouldn't bring it up, but it is connected to my maternal line's emigration to the US in 1948, so there is a curiosity on my part.
They had several old telephone exchanges connected together so you could place calls between them and also between rooms elsewhere in the museum. The oldest exchange was a manual plug board type, the newest was an Asterisk PBX running on a Raspberry Pi which had an IP desk phone connected to it. It was mostly all connected together, although I didn't get very long to play with it, so I'm not completely sure.
The one in Paderborn is quite big and has lots to see. The one in Kiel is located in an elevated bunker and my co-founder happens to be the director. If someone really wants to, I'm sure we could arrange a private tour!
Some really fun things to see and do, including a working 8-bit collection, classic arcade games, etc.
HomeComputerMuseum in Helmond (The Netherlands) https://www.homecomputermuseum.nl/ The Apple Museum (Stockholm, Sweden) Computer History Museum (Mountain View, California)
