Helme is a
small borough ( et, alevik) in
Tõrva Parish
Tõrva Parish ( et, Tõrva vald) is a rural municipality in Valga County. It includes the town of Tõrva.
Settlements
;Town
Tõrva
;Boroughs
Helme, Hummuli
;Villages
Aitsra, Ala, Alamõisa, Holdre, Jeti, Jõgeveste, Kalme, Karjatnur ...
,
Valga County
Valga County ( et, Valga maakond or ''Valgamaa'') is a first-level administrative unit and one of 15 counties of Estonia. It comprises the former area of Valga District. The present-day county was created on 1 January 1990. The capital and lar ...
, in southern
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. Prior to the 2017 reform of Estonian municipalities, it was located in
Helme Parish
)
, leader_name = Tarmo Tamm
, area_total_km2 = 312.73
, population_total = 2525
, population_as_of = 01.01.2009
, population_density_km2 = auto
, website www.helme.ee
Helme Parish ( et ...
. It's located only northwest of the town of
Tõrva by the
Valga–
Pärnu
Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...
road (nr. 6). At the
2011 Census, the settlement's population was 167.
Helme castle
The settlement was first mentioned in the
Livonian Chronicle of Henry
The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' ( la, Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) offers a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's inland Estonia and the northern part of Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was ...
in 1210. Helme church parish was first mentioned in 1329 during a
Lithuanian raid. Most of the neighbouring land was
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...
ed in the 15th–16th centuries.
Livonian Order castle in Helme (''Ordensburg Helmet'') was probably built in the first half of the 14th century. The site on a steep hill is believed to have been used as a stronghold earlier by
Sackalians in the
Ancient Estonia. By its ground plan the order castle was 120×60 m oval shaped structure, surrounded by two
moats. There was a borough beside the castle in the Middle Ages, it was mentioned until the 17th century. The castle was destroyed by the
Swedes during the
Russo-Swedish War in 1658. Nowadays only parts of the walls with high window holes have survived.
Helme is the birthplace of poet and dramatist
Henrik Visnapuu
Henrik Visnapuu ( – 3 April 1951) was a well-known Estonian poet and dramatist.
Life
Henrik Visnapuu was born in Helme Parish, Viljandi County, Livonia. He first attended the village school in Reola (today in Ülenurme Parish) and college in ...
(1890-1951) and sculptress
Erna Viitol
Erna Viitol (née Erna Juhanson; 10 May 1920 – 11 November 2001) was an Estonian sculptor.
Biography
Viitol was born into a family of farmers in Ala, Lõve Parish (now in Tõrva Parish), Valga County. She traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to study ...
(1920–2001).
Gallery
File:Helme linnus 1.jpg, Ruins of Helme castle
File:Helme castle ruins.jpg,
File:Helme linnus 3.jpg,
File:Helme-caves.jpg, Entrance to Helme caves
File:Helme mõisahoone.jpg, Helme Manor
References
External links
Helme Parish
Boroughs and small boroughs in Estonia
Castles of the Teutonic Knights
Kreis Fellin
{{valga-geo-stub