diff --git a/app/controllers/tag_controller.rb b/app/controllers/tag_controller.rb
index 4855c384f7..772951a2e3 100644
--- a/app/controllers/tag_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/tag_controller.rb
@@ -525,6 +525,17 @@ def comments
     render 'show'
   end
 
+  def subtopics
+    # here, we look for this special tag marking a node as having a parent
+    # collect the "slugs" i.e. the unique part of the URL, which should correspond to a tagname
+    subtopic_names = Tag.find_by(name: "parent:#{params[:topic]}")
+      &.nodes
+      &.collect(&:slug)
+    @subtopics = Tag.find_by(name: subtopic_names)
+    render "tag/_subtopics", layout: false
+  end
+
+
   private
 
   def order_string
@@ -568,4 +579,5 @@ def fetch_counts
   end
 
   def topic_tree; end
+
 end
diff --git a/app/views/tag/_subtopics.html.erb b/app/views/tag/_subtopics.html.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c896a3adf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/tag/_subtopics.html.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<% @subtopics&.each do |subtopic| %>
+    <h1><%= subtopic %></h1>
+<% end %>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 88baa62445..75e9e450ec 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -383,6 +383,7 @@
   post 'comment/react/update/:id' => 'comment#react_update'
 
   get 'topic-tree' => 'tag#topic_tree'
+  get 'tags/subtopic/:topic' => 'tag#subtopics'
 
   # Sample resource route (maps HTTP verbs to controller actions automatically):
   #   resources :products
diff --git a/test/fixtures/node_tags.yml b/test/fixtures/node_tags.yml
index 4f2be77509..68f92f40e2 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/node_tags.yml
+++ b/test/fixtures/node_tags.yml
@@ -284,3 +284,9 @@ sub_tag:
   tid: 37
   nid: 1
   uid: 2
+
+subtopic_tag:
+  tid: 38
+  uid: 2
+  nid: 41
+  date: <%= DateTime.now.to_i %>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/tags.yml b/test/fixtures/tags.yml
index 0fc023fc87..780b5faf68 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/tags.yml
+++ b/test/fixtures/tags.yml
@@ -150,3 +150,7 @@ hidden_response_tag:
 subscribed_tag:
   tid: 37
   name: sub:tag
+
+subtopic_tag:
+  tid: 38
+  name: parent:one
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/functional/tag_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/tag_controller_test.rb
index 0c60755709..0070e04925 100644
--- a/test/functional/tag_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/tag_controller_test.rb
@@ -458,6 +458,15 @@ def setup
     assert_not_nil assigns(:notes)
     assert (notes & expected).present?
   end
+  
+  test 'subtopics partial' do
+    get :subtopics,
+        params: {
+          topic: 'test'
+        }
+    assert :success
+    assert_not_nil assigns(:subtopics)
+  end
 
   test 'shows suggested tags' do
     get :suggested, params: { id: 'spectr' }