The first regularly published weekly newspaper in Estonian, the Perno Postimees, was founded in 1857. A year later, the first missionary newspaper, the Missioni-Leht, was issued. Yet unlike secular journalism, Estonian-language ecclesiastical, and more specifically missionary, journalism has hitherto not been sufficiently covered in academic research.

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of Estonian missionary periodicals, focusing on the latter half of the 19th century, which was the first half-century in the history of issuing Estonian missionary newspapers. The reasons and purpose of missionary journalism in Estonia in general were raised as this article’s research topic, shedding light on a few possible causal connections and factors, which had an impact on the development of this genre. In addition, newspapers published in this period are described in greater detail while positioning them in a broader context.

At least 149 Estonian-language ecclesiastical newspapers and magazines were published between 1847–1944. Only 15 of them were published or founded before 1900. Among these, a total of six different missionary newspapers were published in the Estonian and Livonian provinces, two of which were publications with their own appendices. The other four were supplements to main newspapers: Missioni-Leht and its two appendices, Pagganatte ö ja koit, Missionär ehk sõnnumed pagganatest, Missioni Lehhed and its appendix, Ristirahwa pühhapäewa lehhe lissa leht and ‘Eesti Postimehe’ Missioni-Leht. Missionary periodicals developed into a considerable source of information on foreign countries for Estonians since along with religious messages, numerous descriptions of the regions where missionaries worked were provided. At the same time, no missionary societies had been established in Estonia. Such societies were usually the publishers of similar periodicals in Germany, Great Britain, North America and elsewhere.

Based on analyses, it was possible to draw some initial conclusions. It is safe to say that the beginning and at least the early development of missionary journalism in general is related to co-operation between the Estonian Lutheran Church and the German Leipzig Mission Society. The propagation of missionary endeavours followed in the 1840s. In addition, the movement that began in the same decade, which aimed at converting the population from the Evangelical Lutheran Church to Russian Orthodoxy, was a key factor. However, the role of individuals in developing missionary journalistic continuity seems to be greater than might have been previously thought. A more detailed study of connections between individuals behind missionary periodicals might reveal more factors which influenced the development. In my opinion, the key figures here were Johann Voldemar Jannsen, the founding father of Estonian journalism, along with Ernst Wilhelm Woldemar Schultz, the clergyman from Pärnu and a long-term General Superintendent of the Province of Estland, and Caspar Franz Lorenzsonn, another clergyman from Pärnu. Woldemar Adolf Hansen, a pastor from Paistu, an education activist and a great supporter of missionary work, must also be considered in the light of his connections to Baltic German journalism. In addition to ideological reasoning, the economic interests of publishers and editors may also have played an important role in this narrative.