Meleski is a village in

Viljandi Parish Viljandi Parish ( et, Viljandi vald) is a rural municipality of Viljandi County, Estonia. It is located around the town of Viljandi, but does not include it. Viljandi Parish was established by merging four municipalities: Paistu, Pärsti, Saa ...

Viljandi County Viljandi County ( et, Viljandi maakond or ''Viljandimaa''; german: Kreis Fellin) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. History Viljandimaa, under the ...

, in central

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 ...

. It is located about north of the Lake

Võrtsjärv Lake Võrtsjärv (; german: Wirzsee) is a lake in southern Estonia with an area of 270 km² (104 mi²). It is the second largest lake in Estonia (behind Lake Peipus), and the largest lake situated entirely within Estonia. The shallow ...

. According to Estonia Census 2000, the village had a population of 137. Meleski is bordered by the

Põltsamaa River Põltsamaa (german: Oberpahlen) is a town in Põltsamaa Parish, Jõgeva County, Estonia. The town is situated on the Põltsamaa River, and features a 13th-century castle. Gallery Põltsamaa Jõgi.jpg, Põltsamaa River Põltsamaa Vabadussõja ...

to the northeast.

Glass manufacturing

Meleski glass factory, Amelung & Co, has the longest history of glass factories in Estonia. It was founded in 1792–1795 by Carl Philip Amelung and his father Anton Amelung who, fearing the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, escaped from the Grünenplan mirror factory in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

, Germany and travelled to Estonia. Among the owners of the factory, there were the von Bocks who were closely related with the Russian czar court. Allegedly one of the von Bocks was the illegitimate son of Russian czar

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...

. Meleski glass factory was the biggest in the Baltic states during the 19th century, and only the Rjazan glass factory competed with Meleski for the title of the biggest glass factory in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. 1864–1902 Friedrich Amelung was the director of the factory. Other Estonian glass manufactures such as Johannes Lorup's glass manufacture, Tarbeklaas, Scankristall and Glasstone were developed from Meleski glass factory. Glass production in Meleski was ceased in 2005 but the village contains the largest private glass museum in Estonia.

References

External links

Meleski glass museum
Villages in Viljandi County {{viljandi-geo-stub