Porkuni
Coordinates: 59 ° 11 ' N , 26 ° 12' E
Porkuni (German Borckholm ) is a village ( Estonian küla ) in the Estonian rural community Tapa in the Lääne-Viru district ( West-Wierland ). It has 205 inhabitants (as of June 1, 2006).
Porkuni lake
Lake Porkuni ( Porkuni järv ) is located on the Pandivere ridge , 107 meters above sea level. It is 41.5 hectares in size and comprises four parts: Suurjärv (36 hectares), Aiajärv (one hectare), Iiri järv and Alumine järv (four hectares). The greatest depth is 6 m. The Valgejõgi River , which flows into the Gulf of Finland , feeds from the lake . Lake Porkuni is known for its " floating islands ."
Porkuni became famous as the setting for one of the most famous legends of Estonian literature : in 1554, in the time of the order master Wolter von Plettenberg , the brothers of Barbara von Tisenhusen drowned their sister because of an improper relationship the noblewoman had entered into with the bourgeois scribe Franz Bonnius , in an ice hole. The story was passed down in 1578 by the chronicler Balthasar Rüssow . Otto Wilhelm Masing , Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald , Marie Under , Aino Kallas , Johannes Barbarus and Maimu Berg took up the subject matter of the unfortunate Barbara von Tisenhusen in their literary works. In 1969 the opera “ Barbara von Tisenhusen ” by Eduard Tubin based on a libretto by Jaan Kross was premiered.
Borckholm Episcopal Castle
The Bishop's Castle Borckholm was built between 1477 and 1479 under Simon von der Borch on a hilly island in the lake. The name of the place also comes from Simon von der Borch. The table goods belonged to the Bishop of Tallinn and were an important fortress in the Virumaa region ( Wierland ). The castle was protected by square towers. There was a small chapel on the south side of the courtyard .
The castle was badly damaged during the Livonian War in 1558. In the following years it lost its military importance and fell into disrepair. In the peace treaty of Teusina in May 1596, the Russians renounced all rights to the fortress.
Today only the foundations and the main tower of the former castle are preserved. He is 21 m high. The lower part is square, the upper part octagonal. It houses a small museum dedicated to the history, composition and use of limestone in Estonia. Rare limestone fossils from Estonia are also presented.
Porkuni Manor
The Porkuni estate was built around the castle in the early modern period. From 1628 to 1799 it belonged to the German Baltic noble family von Ti (e) senh (a) usen. In 1835 it became the property of the von Essen family. The current mansion was built between 1870 and 1874 on the island of Küngassaar in Lake Porkuni. The building in neo-Gothic style tries to lean on the shape of the medieval fortress. From 1887 to 1939 the estate was owned by the von Rennenkampff family .
In the foyer there is a historic cast iron staircase to the upper floors and a representative tiled stove in Art Nouveau style . The outbuildings near the manor house shape the property into a farm yard. A little further away on the lake there is a water mill, shed and the former schnapps factory.
Today the manor houses a boarding school for deaf children. It was founded in 1924 when the corresponding facility moved from Vändra to Porkuni. 1953 to 1955, an additional building was built for the school according to plans by the architect Raul Levroit-Kivi. A memorial stone today commemorates the founder of Estonian deaf-mute education, Ernst Sokolovski, as well as the teachers of the boarding school.
Battle of Porkuni
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During the Second World War , the place gained notoriety through the Battle of Porkuni ( Porkuni lahing ). After the impending collapse of the front at Narva , the German troops and the Estonian soldiers fighting on the German side withdrew to the west on September 18, 1944. On September 17, the Red Army had crossed the Emajõgi River in an advance and quickly advanced north.
On September 21, 1944, between the lake of Porkuni and the village of Sau (e) välja, heavy fighting broke out between Estonian units in German uniforms and Estonians who fought for the Red Army on the Soviet side. Over 500 Estonians fighting on the German side were killed in the only two-hour battle, 700 were taken prisoner. The Soviet side reported about 1,000 losses.
literature
- Ivar Sakk: Eesti mõisad. Rice yuht. Tallinn 2002 ( ISBN 9985-78-574-6 ), p. 158
Web links
- Full description (Estonian)
- Castle tower of Porkuni ( Memento from August 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (drawing from the Johann Christoph Brotzes collection )
- Porkuni school for the deaf
Individual evidence
- ^ Thea Karin: Estonia. Cultural and scenic diversity in a historical borderland between east and west. Cologne 1994 (= DuMont art and landscape guide ) ISBN 3-7701-2614-9 , p. 132
- ↑ Tiiu Viirand (ed.): Estonia. Cultural Tourism. Tallinn 2004 ( ISBN 9949-407-18-4 ), p. 127f.
- ↑ Ants Hein: Eesti mõisad. Manor houses in Estonia. Manor Houses in Estonia. Tallinn 2003 ( ISBN 9985-62-059-3 ), p. 138
- ↑ http://www.virumaa.ee/discuss/msgReader$6723
- ↑ Indrek Rohtmets: Kultuurilooline Eestimaa. Tallinn 2004 ( ISBN 9985-3-0882-4 ), p. 173