• 1286: Valga (under
German name
Walk) appears for the first time in the credit register of the city of
Riga. • 1298, 1329, 1345: Walk suffers from looting raids made by
Lithuanians who are led by Grand Duke
Gediminas and
Algirdas on the second and third occasions. • 1419: Walk becomes the seat of the
Landtag of the
Livonian Confederation. • 1481: A raid by
Russians; the settlement burns down for the fourth time. • 1500: Walk, a settlement in the heart of
Old Livonia that is not fortified, is chosen as the location for town assembly days 36 times up to 1500. • 1501: During another raid by
Russians the settlement gets burnt down for the fifth time. • 1558: During the
Livonian War the medieval settlement of Walk is completely destroyed. • 1584 11 June: Valga is granted the same charter and byelaws as
Riga by
Stefan Batory, the King of
Poland. • 1590 17 April: The
King of Poland,
Sigismund III Vasa, ratifies the charter for the second time. Valga is granted its city arms. • 1600: The first town map, showing 42 house properties. The town is long and between wide. • 1626: After the
Polish-Swedish War Valga becomes the subject of
Sweden. On 6 March, King
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden confirms the existing privileges. • 1657: On 9 July, a Swedish army under
Friedrich von Löwen defeats a Russian army under Scheremetchev in the Battle of Walk. • 1721: As the result of the
Great Northern War, Valga is subjected to
Russian rule together with the rest of
Estonia. • 1764 5 October: Empress
Catherine II confirms the town's privileges. • 1783: During the
Regency of
Catherine II the Valga County (
Kreis Walk) is formed. • 1780: The first stone buildings are erected: a church, a school and county offices. • 1789: Land surveyor O.S. Engell drafts the map of Valga showing 76 plots with houses. • 1816: The building of St. John's Church is finished. • 1819: 451 inhabitants lived in the town (79.6% of them Germans, 10.0% Latvians, 7.5% Russians and 2.9% Estonians) • 1876:
Walkscher Anzeiger, the first newspaper in Valga, in
German, is issued. • 1889: Valga Railway Station is opened. On 22 July the
Tartu-Valga railway line is officially opened. • 1890 16 December: The Valga Temperance Society is founded. • 1896: The
Pärnu-Valga
narrow-gauge railway is opened. • 1901 7 December: Together with
Latvians,
Estonians succeed in winning the elections over
Baltic Germans in Valga – the first occasion on
Estonian territory. The chemist
Johannes Märtson is elected mayor. • 1902: In the building of the Temperance Society the social society Säde is founded;
Andres Alver, the county medical officer, is elected chairman. The Valga-
Marienburg narrow-gauge railway is opened. • 1908 24 June: Estonian military commander
Alfons Rebane is born in Valga. • 1908: The Girls' Progymnasium is changed into the
Gymnasium with Marta Pärna as principal. • 1909: The construction of the Säde building is begun (architect
Georg Hellat). • 1913: 16194 inhabitants lived in the town (51% of them Estonians, 25.1% Latvians, 15.5% Russians, 4.0% Germans, 2.1% Jewish). • 1917: A
German zeppelin flies over the town and drops forty high-explosive bombs without hitting the main target, the railway station. • 1918 11 January: The Council of Delegates of Valga County Workers, Soldiers and Landless Men gains power in the town. On 12 February the
German Army occupies Valga. • 1919 11 January: The Valga Estonian Gymnasium is opened at 22 Kesk Street. For the first time in the history of secondary education in Valga the teaching language is
Estonian instead of German. At the end of January, 107 victims of
Bolshevik acts of terror are found in five mass graves around Valga; 67 people are taken away as hostages. On 31 January the
Battle of Paju takes place and consequently Valga is freed from the Bolsheviks. , Latvia in the 1920s • 1920 1 July: The
British envoy
Colonel S. G. Tallents conclusively establishes the border between
Estonia and
Latvia, putting an end to their
disputes and the city of Valga is divided into Estonian and Latvian areas based on ethnicity. Valga proper, as far as Konnaoja and Luke graveyard, remains intact under
Estonian rule. • 1921 11 February: The decree of the
Estonian government establishes the territory of Valga county. Valga becomes a county centre. • 1940 17 June: The
Soviet occupation begins and with it the political repressions against Estonians and Latvians in Valga/Valka, including the mass deportations in June 1941. • 1941 9 July: Valga is occupied by
German troops. • 1944 • Dulag 110
transit prisoner-of-war camp relocated from
Tapa to Valga, and then further relocated to
Chełm in
German-occupied Poland after a few months. • 19 September: In the course of heavy fighting Valga is liberated from the German occupation of Estonia. It is immediately replaced by the Soviet occupation of Estonia. • 1988. The Valga Society for the Protection of Antiquities is founded. On 27 November, on the initiative of the Society, the beginning of the War of Liberation is commemorated at the memorial for those killed in the war. • 1989 24 February: The first
Estonian flag of the re-established independence period is hoisted on the flagpole of 12 Aia Street. • 1992 24 May: The
Russian army base in Valga is taken over, and later on becomes the border guard's post. • 1993 17 October: The first free elections of the municipal council after the restoration of independence take place. • 1994 31 January: On the 75th anniversary of the battle of Paju a memorial to it is opened. On 21–25 June, worldwide days of Valga county people take place. ==International relations==