Alavere is a village in

Anija Parish Anija Parish is a rural municipality in the eastern part of Harju County, Estonia. The administrative center of the parish is the town of Kehra, while the borough of Aegviidu and the village of Alavere are also notable. In total, the parish c ...

Harju County Harju County ( or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla Count ...

in northern

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The population was 345 in 2019.

History

Alavere was first mentioned in 1241 in the '' Liber Census Daniæ,'' during the reign of King

Valdemar II of Denmark Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Bishopric of L� ...

, as ''Hauaueeræ''. The village center of present-day was built up around a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

, dating from the 1620s. The Allafer Manor () of the former passed between the hands of several families throughout the centuries, notably the

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

Löwensterns in the 18th century and the

Ungern-Sternberg The Ungern-Sternberg family or von Ungern-Sternberg is an old and influential Baltic-German nobility, with branches belonging to the German, Finnish, Swedish and Russian nobility. Notable members * Mattias Alexander von Ungern-Sternberg (16 ...

s in the 19th century. The main building of the mansion, built by

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Gregor von Ungern-Sternberg in 1852, was heavily damaged by local peasants during the

1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

but was rebuilt. The last individual owner of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

was Mary von der Pahlen, who acquired it in 1907. During the Estonian Land Reform in 1919, the manor's lands were nationalized. The new owner of the manor house demolished the structure in 1938, with the granite stones brought to

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

to be reused in buildings there. During the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

, Alavere was part of the Kose Village Council and was the site of 7,700 hectare

state farm State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property and casualty insurance, property, casualty and auto i ...

Geography

The village is located in northern

, in western

. It lies south of the town of

Kehra Kehra is a town in Anija Parish, Harju County, Estonia, best known for its Kehra pulp and paper mill, pulp and paper mill. The town stands on the banks of the Jägala (river), Jägala River, and it has a station on the Tallinn–Narva railway. A ...

, the seat of the municipality.

is to the northwest.

Demographics

As of the 2011 census, there were 339 people. Of the total residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18; 67.8% were between the ages of 18 and 64; and 9.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

Transportation

The village lies along the Estonian national road T12. The nearest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

is away in

, which links to

and

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Notable people

* Sandra Nurmsalu, the musician and former

Urban Symphony Urban Symphony was an Estonian music group. It represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song " Rändajad", finishing in 6th place with 129 points. In doing this, they achieved Estonia's 6th best placement of all time, and ...

lead singer who represented Estonia at

Eurovision 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe (Dima Bilan song), Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the Eu ...

, was raised in Alavere * Jakob Mändmets, the Estonian writer and journalist, taught at the village school from 1892 to 1902

Points of interest

* A historic settlement site in the vicinity is registered and protected as an archaeological monument

References

Villages in Harju County Kreis Harrien {{Harju-geo-stub