The history of Maiasmokk dates back to 1864, making it the oldest continuously operating café in Tallinn. Georg Johann Stude, a Baltic-German confectioner, bought a small local pastry shop and turned it into a café and patisserie. His successful business was further developed by his son, Georg Ferdinand, who also had the qualifications of a confectioner and master chocolatier. In his day, Stude Jr was a well-known and much respected businessman and social activist.
Stude’s shop handcrafted wonderful marzipan figurines and luxurious chocolate treats, as well as a wide range of cakes and pastries. In the second half of the 19th century, the shop also supplied the Russian Imperial family and court with marzipan figurines. Nearly 200 different marzipan moulds from Stude’s shop have survived, and they are still used today in the production of Maiasmokk’s marzipan figurines.
When the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940, Georg Stude’s business was also nationalised. The company was merged with several other confectionery manufacturers and it became a part of Kalev, Estonia’s largest chocolate factory. Stude’s cake and tart shop remained in its former location after nationalisation and was later renamed Café Maiasmokk. The making of marzipan figurines and handmade sweets was moved to the Kalev chocolate factory for many years, but it has now also returned to its historic home.
