Tõstamaa Keskkool

In Pärnu county, there are three of the 65 manor schoolhouses in Estonia: Tihemetsa Vocational School of Agriculture, Kaelase School, and Tõstamaa Secondary School. Tõstamaa School has been in the beautiful manor house since the 1921/22 academic year, so for more than 80 years. For some schools it is a lifetime, but in Tõstamaa, Children have been being taught for 315 years already.
Today, the school employs approximately 25 teachers [http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/default.asp?id=44] and hosts approximately 260 students [http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/default.asp?id=59] in its primary and secondary classrooms.

Timeline

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE MANOR SCHOOLHOUSE

1242 The first written notes about the present area of Tõstamaa from the time it belonged to Saare Lääne (Insular–West) diocese
1534 Tõhela, Ermistu, Pootsi, Liu, and Värati are first mentioned
1553 Tõstamaa (Testamaa) bishop's manor which belonged to Koonga administrative district for socage service is mentioned for the first time
1624 Tõstamaa manor went into the Helmersen's possession
1665 Pärnu town bought Kastna Manor from the Meelius family
1680 Tõstamaa Parish was founded
1684 Pootsi, Seli, and Tõstamaa manors were nationalized
1688 A young man from Forselius's school taught peasant children for two winters
1720 The Helmersens got back the manor which had been previously nationalized
1763–1768 The present Tõstamaa church was built
1790 Tõstamaa Manor was pawned to Polish chamberlain Lilienfeldt for 70 years
1804 The building of Tõstamaa manor house began
1819 The communes of Tõstamaa, Seliste, Pootsi, and Kastna were founded by the manors
1831 At a public sale, Tõstamaa Manor was sold to von Holstein, who earned the title of the "foolish baron." his son August was deemed the "mad baron," and his grandson Alexander, the "wise baron"
1845–1848 71% of the people living in Seli and Tõstamaa became orthodox. Over a half–century, 4 orthodox congregations were founded: Seli, Pootsi–Kõpu, Tõhela–Murru, and Kastna
1858 Maydell became the official owner of Pootsi manor
1876–1877 Tõstamaa manor was rebuilt
1921–1922 Tõstamaa school moved into the manor house, Pootsi school into the bailiff's office
1921 The parcelling out of land in the possession of Tõstamaa and Pootsi parish's began
1926-1945 A school of home economics operated in Tõstamaa
1927 A new townhouse was build in the center of the commune in Ermistu
1939 As Baltic-Germans settled elsewhere, the Maydell family left Pootsi
1940-1944 World War II and subsequent arrests reached Tõstamaa
1944 In September, people began to flee to Sweden. About 100 people lefts Seliste as well as Tõstamaa commune
1949 On March 25, 67 people were expelled from Tõstamaa commune and 22 from Seliste
1953 In September, Tõstamaa School became a secondary school. The first students graduated in 1957
1962 Pootsi school moved into the manor house
1970-1982 There was an 8-year secondary school in Tõstamaa
1972 On Midsummer's Eve, the front side of Tõstamaa church collapsed, the steeple fell down and the organ was destroyed
1982 The secondary school in Tõstamaa is reinstated
1987 A memorial for von Holstein, the last baron in Tõstamaa, and a famous scholar of Eastern languages, was erected
1990 The 300th anniversary of public education is celebrated, even though it was skewed by two years
1991 The preliminary renovation or Tõstamaa church was completed. The present stage for singing was built and the folklore festival was celebrated in Tõstamaa
1992 Since June 17th, Tõstamaa has had its own community again
1993 Tõstamaa Parish Day was first celebrated
1996 Construction and restoration began in the Tõstamaa Manor School. Unique ceiling and wall paintings were uncovered
1997 The first Tõstamaa Commune Days was celbrated
1998 Pootsi school moved back to the baillif's house
2001 Pootsi school was relocated to Tõstamaa school
2002 An up-to-date boarding house was completed at the Tõstamaa School
2002 Tõstamaa Church got a new steeple, only the spire and the cock are still missing
2004 Schoolwork in the Poosti schoolhouse ceased
2004 In August, Community Days are celebrated in the heart of the manor
[http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/default.asp?id=131] [http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/]

External Links

http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/
http://www.tostamaa.ee

References