Tõstamaa Secondary School
Tõstamaa Secondary School (Estonian: Tõstamaa Keskkool) is a secondary school in Tõstamaa, Estonia. It is located in a manor house since the 1921–22 academic year. The children of Tõstamaa have been schooled for more than three centuries.
Today, the school has a faculty of about twenty-five,[1] who teach about 260 students[2] in the primary and secondary classrooms.
Timeline
Events in the history of the manor schoolhouse
1242 First surviving written notes about the present area of Tõstamaa, then situated in Saare Lääne (Insular–West) diocese
1534 First recorded mention of Tõhela, Ermistu, Pootsi, Liu, and Värati
1553 First recorded mention (for socage service) of Tõstamaa (Testamaa) bishop's manor, then belonging to Koonga administrative district
1624 Helmersen family acquires Tõstamaa manor
1665 Pärnu town buys Kastna Manor from Meelius family
1680 Tõstamaa Parish founded
1684 Pootsi, Seli, and Tõstamaa manors nationalized
1720 The Helmersens recover the nationalized manor
1763–1768 Present Tõstamaa church built
1790 Tõstamaa Manor pawned to Polish chamberlain Lilienfeldt for a term of 70 years
1804 Construction of Tõstamaa manor house begun
1819 Communes of Tõstamaa, Seliste, Pootsi, and Kastna founded by the manors
1831 At public sale, Tõstamaa Manor sold to Von Holstein, who earns the epithet, "the foolish baron" (his son August will be called "the mad baron"; his grandson Alexander, "the wise baron")
1845–1848 71% of the people living in Seli and Tõstamaa become orthodox; over the course of half a century, four orthodox congregations—Seli, Pootsi–Kõpu, Tõhela–Murru, and Kastna—are founded
1858 Maydell becomes official owner of Pootsi manor
1876–1877 Tõstamaa manor rebuilt
1921–1922 Tõstamaa school moved into the manor house; Pootsi school, into the bailiff's office
1921 Parcelling out of land in Tõstamaa and Pootsi parishes begun
1926–1945 A school of home economics operated in Tõstamaa
1927 A new townhouse built in the center of the commune in Ermistu
1939 As German Balts settle elsewhere, the Maydell family leaves Pootsi
1940–1944 World War II and subsequent arrests reach Tõstamaa
1944 In September, people begin to flee to Sweden: about a hundred people leave Seliste as well as Tõstamaa commune
1949 On March 25, sixty-seven people are expelled from Tõstamaa commune and twenty-two from Seliste
1953 In September, Tõstamaa School becomes a secondary school; the first students will be graduated in 1957
1962 Pootsi school moves into the manor house
1970–1982 An eight-year secondary school established in Tõstamaa
1972 On Midsummer's Eve, the front side of Tõstamaa church collapses, the steeple falls and the organ is destroyed
1982 The secondary school in Tõstamaa reinstated
1987 A memorial erected to Von Holstein, the last baron in Tõstamaa, and a famous scholar of Eastern languages
1990 The tercentenary of public education in Tõstamaa celebrated, two years late
1991 Preliminary renovation of Tõstamaa church completed; the present stage for singing is built, and the folklore festival celebrated in Tõstamaa
1992 On June 17, the separate community of Tõstamaa reinstated
1993 Tõstamaa Parish Day first celebrated
1996 Construction and restoration of the Tõstamaa Manor School begun; unique ceiling and wall paintings uncovered
1997 Tõstamaa Commune Days first celebrated
1998 Pootsi school moved back to the baillif's house
2001 Pootsi school relocated to Tõstamaa school
2002 An up-to-date boarding house at the Tõstamaa School completed; Tõstamaa Church receives a new steeple
2004 Schoolwork in the Poosti schoolhouse ceases; in August, Community Days celebrated in the heart of the manor
External links
- Official website (in Estonian)