Puhtu (also known as Puhtuaid) is a former

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

and since the beginning of the 19th century a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

in western

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 ...

. Administratively it belongs to

Virtsu Virtsu is a small borough (') in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County, Estonia. It lies on the western coast of continental Estonia, and is a location of the main port for traffic to and from Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia. The Virtsu fe ...

small borough 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 ...

. Puhtu is covered by a speciose old

broadleaf forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

History

Puhtulaid (''Holm Puchten'', ''Holm zum Pucht'') was first mentioned in 1478 when it belonged to the von

Uexküll Uexküll (also Üxküll or Yxkull) is the historic German name of Ikšķile, a town in Latvia. It is also the name of a Baltic-German noble family. Uexküll was originally a Bremen noble family whose lineage can be traced to several places, the ...

family. The first buildings were erected in the 18th century by the owner of Vana-Virtsu Manor, Carl Thure von Helwig. He designed Puhtu as a private resort with three ''Chinese''-styled houses and alleys surrounded by hewn sculptures. In 1813 Carl Thure von Helwig's widow Wilhelmine von Helwig ordered a memorial stone to a family friend, world-famous German poet

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

(1759–1805). It's reputedly the earliest extant monument to Schiller in the world. During the World War II the monument was heavily damaged but was restored by Paul Horma in 1958. In 1857 a cattle manor building (now known as the ''Count's House'') and a stable were built on Puhtu, both are extant today. In the 19th century the island was connected to the continent by building a road with a bridge to

. During the World War I Puhtu was used as a seaplane base by Russians. The soldiers and officers lived in the Puhtulaid's summerhouses. While retreating, all the summerhouses were demolished and the von

Helwig Helwig is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andreas Helwig (1572–1643), German classical scholar and linguist * David Helwig (born 1938), Canadian poet * Hans Helwig (1881–1952), German Nazi SS concentration camp com ...

family graves were plundered. Puhtu was acquired by the professor of

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

biologist

Jakob von Uexküll Jakob may refer to: People * Jakob (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jakob (surname), including a list of people with the name Other * Jakob (band), a New Zealand band, and the title of their 1999 EP * Max Jakob Memorial Aw ...

in 1927. 1929–1939 he spent nearly every summer some time in Puhtu. In the 1930s he built a new summerhouse on the southern end of the peninsula. In 1934 Jakob von Uexküll invited Count Alexander Keyserlingk, an amateur ornithologist as the guardian of Puhtu; he lived there until 1939. In 1939 Puhtulaid and Adralaiud were taken under natural protection After the World War II Puhtu was given to Tartu State University but shortly after that to

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences ( et, Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to ...

. The latter opened an

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

station headed by

Eerik Kumari Eerik Kumari born Erik Mathias Sits (7 March 1912 – 8 January 1984) was a biologist, and pioneer of ornithology and nature conservation in Estonia. He was born in Kirbla, Lihula Parish. He was a director of the Institute of Zoology and Botan ...

on Puhtu. Besides the main building (''Baron's House'', summerhouse built by Jakob von Uexküll in the 1930s) the station consists of a laboratory and a birdwatching tower (built in the 1960s) and a guardian house (''Count's House'', the cattle manor building from 1857, used by Alexander Keyserlingk). Since 1995 Puhtu belongs to the

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 ...

and from 1997 the station operates under the

Estonian University of Life Sciences The Estonian University of Life Sciences ( Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) located in Tartu, Estonia, is the former Estonian Agricultural University, which was established in 1951 and renamed and restructured in November 2005. Eesti Maa� ...

Gallery

File:Puhtulaid 3.JPG, The main building of the biology station, the ''Baron's House''. File:Puhtulaiu valvurimaja.JPG, The guardian house, the ''Count's House''. File:Kumari kivi.JPG, Memorial stone of

, the founder of the station. File:Mälestusmärk Puhtulaiul.JPG, Memorial to German poet

from 1813. File:Puhtulaiu rannik 3.JPG, coast File:Heinalrullid.JPG, Hay bails File:Puhtulaiu rannik.JPG, File:Jäämäed Puhtulaiul 1.JPG, Hills of ice in April. File:Puhtulaid 5.JPG, road

References

*Zooloogia ja Botaanika Instituut
Teetähiseid Puhtu ajaloost
(in Estonian) *Virtsu

(in Estonian) {{Authority control Former islands of Estonia Peninsulas of Estonia Lääneranna Parish Landforms of Lääne County

History

See also

Gallery

References