 In 1989 Vahtre reestablished the chair of Estonian history University of Tartu and was its chairman until his retirement in 1993.Until his death in Tartu he was the most important historian in Estonia, the chief editor of the sequence of Estonian history (he edited volumes IV and VI) and also a book of Estonian Chronology (first edition 1994, second 2007).His older son Silver Vahtre is an artist, younger son Lauri Vahtre is a politician and historian.