Lihula is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in
Lääneranna Parish
Lääneranna Parish ( et, Lääneranna vald) is a rural municipality (Estonia), rural municipality in Pärnu County. It includes the town of Lihula.https://www.laanerannavald.ee/ (accessed 7 March 2020)
Settlements
;Town
Lihula
;Boroughs
Virtsu ...
,
Pärnu County
Pärnu County ( et, Pärnu maakond or ''Pärnumaa''; german: Kreis Pernau) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the nor ...
,
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 ...
.
Lihula castle
The castle of Lihula (german: Leal) was first mentioned in 1211, but it appears the site was used as a fortress since the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. In 1220, a Swedish army started constructing a castle here, but were defeated by Estonian forces on 8 August 1220, in the
Battle of Lihula
The Battle of Lihula or Battle of Leal was fought between invading Sweden, Swedes and Estonians for the control of a castle in Lihula, Estonia in 1220. The exact date remains uncertain, though some historians suggest that the battle took place ...
.
In 1238, however, the
bishop of Saare-Lääne (german: Ösel-Wiek) constructed a
crusader fortress at the site, in cooperation with the
Teutonic Order
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. This attempt was more successful and the castle became one of the residences of the bishop. The Teutonic Order also used the castle as a centre of their
commandry
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
between 1241 and 1477. In 1560, the estate was reportedly granted to alderman
Gerdt Bellingshausen Gerdt may refer to:
* Zinovy Efimovich Gerdt, Russian actor
* Pavel Andreyevich Gerdt or Paul Gerdt (1844–1917), Russian dancer for the Mariinsky Theatre
* Elizaveta Pavlovna Gerdt (Елизавета Павловна Гердт) (1891-1975), Russ ...
by
Duke Magnus of Holstein.
In the course of the
Livonian War
The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region (pre ...
, the castle was destroyed.
Lihula Manor
Despite the fact that the castle was destroyed during the Livonian War, a new manorial estate grew up right next to the original location thereafter. In the 1630s, it was recorded as the property of the Swedish general
Åke Tott. The manor stayed in the Tott family until 1684, after which it belonged to various aristocratic families. The present
neoclassicist
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
manor house was built in the early 19th century.
Episcopal See
From 1211, it was the see of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Leal
Diocese of Leal or Bishopric of Estonia was the name of the main Latin diocese in Estonia during the early Catholic missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide ...
(also known as bishopric of Estonia), which was however suppressed as such in 1235, to establish on the same territory the
Diocese of Dorpat
The Bishopric of Dorpat ( et, Tartu piiskopkond; nds, Bisdom Dorpat; la, Ecclesia Tarbatensis) was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. It ...
, a
prince-bishopric, which lasted till 1558, falling victim to the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
.
Lihula Monument
For a short period there was a
monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
in Lihula, honoring those Estonian soldiers who fought in the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
By the order of prime minister
Juhan Parts
Juhan Parts (born 27 August 1966) is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 2003 to 2005 and Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications from 2007 to 2014. Juhan Parts is a member of Isamaa party.
Education
Born in Ta ...
, the authorities removed the monument and as of June 2007, it stands in the
Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom
Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom ( et, Eesti vabadusvõitluse muuseum) is a privately owned museum in Lagedi, near Tallinn. It specialises on exhibits of World War II battles on Estonian soil, or involving Estonian soldiers.
Monument of ...
in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
.
Gallery
File:Lihula linnus 4.jpg, Lihula castle ruins
File:Lihula linnus 3.JPG, Lihula castle ruins
File:Lihula linnus 1.JPG, Lihula castle ruins
File:Lihula linnus.JPG, Lihula castle ruins
File:Lihula manor house 24Sep2008.jpg, Lihula manor
File:Lihula kirik 2005.jpg, St. Elizabeth's Church in Lihula
File:Lihula (2).jpg, Aerial view of Lihula, with the cultural center in the foreground and Lihula manor in the background
See also
*
Pärnu County
Pärnu County ( et, Pärnu maakond or ''Pärnumaa''; german: Kreis Pernau) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the nor ...
*
Matsalu National Park
Matsalu National Park (previously Matsalu Nature Reserve, et, Matsalu rahvuspark, often just Matsalu) is a nature reserve and national park situated in Lääne and Pärnu Counties, Estonia. Matsalu National Park spans an area of , comprising ...
*
Monument of Lihula
Monument of Lihula is the colloquial name of a monument commemorating the Estonians who fought for Estonia against the Soviet Union in World War II, located in a privately owned museum in Lagedi, Estonia. The monument has been controversial due t ...
References
External links
*
Lihula castle and manorat Estonian Manors Portal
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Estonia
Former municipalities of Estonia
Kreis Wiek