Mahtra
Coordinates: 59 ° 5 ' N , 25 ° 1' E
Mahtra ( German Machters ) is a village ( Estonian küla ) in the Estonian rural community Juuru in Rapla County .
Location and history
Mahtra is 39 kilometers southeast of the Estonian capital Tallinn . It was first mentioned in 1241 under the name Mataros .
The village has 92 inhabitants (as of 2010). Near the village is the almost 10,000 hectare moorland of Mahtra ( Mahtra raba ). Part of it is under nature protection.
The history of Mahtra and rural life in Estonia is represented in the village's farming museum ( Mahtra talurahvamuuseum ). It was inaugurated in July 1970. The permanent exhibition gives an overview of rural life in Estonia in the 19th century. One focus of the exhibition is on the Mahtra peasant uprising.
Mahtra peasant uprising in 1858
Mahtra is best known in Estonian historiography for the peasant uprising there ( Mahtra sõda ), which lasted from May to July 1858. The uprising represents a locally limited uprising of the Estonian rural population against the feudalist privileges of the Baltic German upper class.
The serfdom was in Estonia in May 1816 and in Livonia in March 1819 after the war against Napoleon abolished (in all of Russia until 1861). However, no land reform was carried out. Most of the property remained in the hands of the Baltic German nobles. The Corvée also survived until 1876. As a result, the farmers were obliged to continue to do unpaid work for the landlord.
The Estonian peasants had high hopes for the new agricultural regulations of Tsar Alexander II of March 1856. The peasants promised themselves that the new law would abolish certain compulsory labor for their landlords. However, they were disappointed. Kurisoo and Anija farmers who traveled to Tallinn to have the new regulations reviewed were publicly flogged in the Estonian capital.
In April 1858, the Estonian peasants refused to work on 18 estates in northern Estonia, including Mahtra. They relied on their (incorrect) interpretation of the Peasant Law, which in their opinion exempted them from certain compulsory labor such as seasonal and construction work. However, neither the Russian authorities nor the Baltic German nobility shared this view.
When the North Estonian peasants continued to refuse to perform their previous compulsory labor, the Russian military sent a 50-man military command at the end of May 1858 to maintain order. The farmers of Mahtra opposed this surprisingly bitter resistance. Together with other farmers from the area, they faced the soldiers with 700 to 800 men. They besieged the Mahtra manor, where the Russian soldiers had holed up, and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops. The situation escalated.
In the event of violent clashes on May 21, July / June 2, 1858 greg. ten Estonian farmers were killed and others injured. The commander of the Russian soldiers, Captain Bogutski, was also killed; numerous soldiers injured. The farmers were defeated in the unequal exchange of fire. From May 23rd jul. / June 4, 1858 greg. a gentleman of 1,100 tsarist soldiers arrested the participants in the peasant uprising, ended the uprising and took about 65 participants to the prison in the Estonian capital Tallinn.
The judgments were harsh. A court made up of Baltic German nobles sentenced 59 insurgent peasants to death by shooting. The death sentences were later softened by the Russian governor general Suvorov and commuted to corporal punishment for 44 farmers . 35 people were additionally sentenced to forced labor in the mining industry or exiled to Siberia. 21 farmers were released.
The corporal punishment took place at ten degrees below zero on February 10th July. / February 22, 1859 greg. under the protection of 900 Russian soldiers in Mahtra. The two Estonian leaders, Ado Andrei and Peeter Oleander, received 1,000 lashes. Ten peasants were sent into exile in Siberia . They were followed by their nine wives and 23 children.
A monument today commemorates the Mahtra peasant uprising. It was inaugurated on the 75th anniversary of the peasant uprising on July 4, 1933 by the Estonian parliamentary president Karl Einbund . The memorial stone bears the inscription "1858 Mahtra sõda mälestuseks 1933 / Siin võitles Eesti talupoeg tõe, õiguse ja vabaduse eest!" ("1858 In memory of the war of Mahtra in 1933 / Here the Estonian peasant fought for truth, justice and freedom!") . In addition, three more memorial stones were erected in Mahtra in 1958, which among other things contain the names of the Estonian rebels and remind of the place of punishment.
The well-read novel Mahtra sõda (“The War of Mahtra”, German edition: Aufruhr in Machtra , 1952) by the Estonian writer Eduard Vilde from 1902 has dealt with the events in literature.
Good mahtra
The Mahtra manor was founded between 1468 and 1480. Over the centuries it belonged to various German Baltic owners, including the noble families Fersen , Huecke , Ruckteschell and Riesenkampff . In 1853 it was owned by Constantin von Helffreich . The last Baltic German owner of the relatively small property was before the expropriation in the course of the Estonian land reform of 1919 Alexander Konstantin von Barlöwen.
A large part of the mostly simple manor buildings are no longer preserved. You can still see a barn and the ruins of a historic Dutch windmill .
Web links
- Description of the place (Estonian)
- Good Mahtra (Estonian)
- Mahtra Peasant Museum (Estonian and English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Baltic historical local dictionary. Part 1: Estonia (including Northern Livonia). Started by Hans Feldmann . Published by Heinz von zur Mühlen . Edited by Gertrud Westermann . Cologne, Vienna 1985 (= sources and studies on Baltic history. Volume 8/1), ISBN 3-412-07183-8 , p. 328.
- ↑ Indrek Rohtmets: Kultuurilooline Eestimaa. Tallinn 2004 ISBN 9985-3-0882-4 , pp. 95f.
- ^ Mati Laur et al .: History of Estonia . Tallinn 2002, ISBN 9985-2-0606-1 , pp. 161 f . (English).
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Name under Archived Copy ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ivar Sakk: Eesti mõisad. Rice yuht. Tallinn 2002 ISBN 9985-78-574-6 , p. 79
