Pürksi
Coordinates: 59 ° 1 ' N , 23 ° 31' E
Pürksi (Swedish Birkas ) is a village ( Estonian küla ) in the rural municipality of Lääne-Nigula in Lääne County in Estonia . Until 2017 it was the main town of the Noarootsi rural community .
Population and location
Pürksi is seven kilometers north of the county capital Haapsalu . It has 183 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2011).
The place name is officially bilingual Estonian and Swedish, as the village belonged to the traditional settlement area of the Estonian Swedes until 1944 .
history
The village was first mentioned in 1540 under the name Birrix .
In 1620 the court was founded by Pürksi. From the end of the 18th century until it was expropriated as part of the Estonian land reform in 1919, the estate was owned by the noble Baltic German family Ungern-Sternberg . From 1799 the Baltic German landscape and portrait painter Johann Karl Emanuel von Ungern-Sternberg (1773-1830) owned Pürksi.
The one and a half storey, simple mansion made of stone and wood was built during the 19th century. It was extensively restored in 1995. Today the local high school is housed in it. Several outbuildings have also been preserved. The three hectare park is under nature protection.
Agricultural and community college
From 1920 until it was closed by the Soviet authorities in 1943, the Estonian and Swedish-speaking agricultural and adult education center (Estonian Pürksi Põllutöö- ja Rahvaülikool ; Swedish Birkas lantmanna- och folkhögskola ) was active in Pürksi . It formed the center of cultural life in the rural community. The rectors mostly came directly from Sweden.
high school
The only grammar school in the rural community, the Noarootsi Gümnaasium, is located in Pürksi . The school, established in 1990, offers classes in Estonian and Swedish. The facility is financially supported by the Swedish and Finnish governments. Unlike most other schools in Estonia, it is run by the Tallinn government , not the local authority.
literature
- Baltic historical local dictionary. Part 1: Estonia (including Northern Livonia). Started by Hans Feldmann . Published by Heinz von zur Mühlen . Edited by Gertrud Westermann . Böhlau, Köln / Wien 1985 (= sources and studies on Baltic history. Volume 8/1), ISBN 3-412-07183-8 , p. 40.
Web links
- Entry in Eesti Entsüklopeedia (online version)
- Description (eestigiid.ee)
- Gut von Pürks (Eesti mõisad)
- Noarootsi Gümnaasium (Estonian and Swedish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://pub.stat.ee/
- ↑ Ivar Sakk: Eesti mõisad. Rice yuht. Tallinn 2002 ( ISBN 9985-78-574-6 ), p. 321
- ↑ Eesti Entsüklopeedia ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 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.
