Palmse mansion

Palmse Manor (in German: Palms) was a knight’s manor in the parish of Kadrina in Virumaa. Today, the former estate is located in Lääne-Viru County, within the territory of Haljala municipality.

Engraving by Wilhelm Siegfried Stavenhagen, 1867
Palmse Manor was first mentioned in the Middle Ages, when Danish King Valdemar II gifted the land to the Cistercian St. Michael’s Nunnery in Tallinn. In 1510, the convent exchanged the manor with Bertram Junge for the Nabala estate.

In 1522, Palmse passed into the hands of the Metztacken family. The manor was successively owned by:

1520–1545: Diedrich Metztacken, brother-in-law of Bertram Junge;

1545–1560: Dorothea Metztacken, his widow;

1560–1576: Marcus Metztacken, their son;

1576–1650: Arend Metztacken (son of the previous);

1650–1657: Reinhold Metztacken (nephew of the previous);

1650–1657: Arend Dietrich Metztacken (son of the previous).

On March 20, 1677, the manor passed to Arend’s sister, Margareta Dorothea, who was married to Gustav Christian von der Pahlen. Palmse, along with its lands, became the property of the von der Pahlen family for the next 242 years. After Margareta’s death, the manor was inherited by the noble von der Pahlen family, under whose leadership a grand manor house was constructed.

The next owner was Arend Diedrich von der Pahlen (1675–1710), Gustav Christian’s son, who died of plague during the Great Northern War. In 1703, the manor was looted by Russian troops but was soon restored. Arend Diedrich von der Pahlen (1706–1753) became the owner and established a library in the manor. After him, the owner was Hans von der Pahlen (1740–1817), a councilor of Estonia and privy councillor, under whom the Võsu manor was established. He was followed by Carl Magnus von der Pahlen, councilor and governor general of Estonia, Livonia, and Courland, and military governor of Riga; Alexander von der Pahlen (1819–1895), initiator and first director of the Tallinn–St. Petersburg railway; Alexis von der Pahlen (1850–1925); and Gustav von der Pahlen (1883–1914), who died in World War I. The manor was inherited by his widow and their two minor sons, who later emigrated to Germany.

In 1919, the manor was expropriated by the Republic of Estonia.

Manor Complex

Rear view of the manor house
The construction of the current manor house was started in 1697 by Gustav Christian von der Pahlen based on designs by Jakob Staël von Holstein. The two-storey stone building with a symmetrical floor plan resembled the Palladian design of Maardu and Aa manor houses.

In 1703, the manor center was looted by Russian forces during the Great Northern War.

After the war, Arend Diedrich von der Pahlen, who had studied architecture abroad, began restoration. The main building was completed by 1730. In 1731, the Ilumäe chapel was built, in 1734 a granary, in 1736 a distillery, in 1737 a horse stable, in 1738 a formal garden was started, and in 1743 the Oru mill, among others.

Under Hans von der Pahlen’s ownership, wooden buildings were gradually replaced with stone ones.

From 1782 to 1785, the main building was redesigned by architect Johann Caspar Mohr, giving it its current appearance. By the mid-19th century, several outbuildings had been added, and the park (Palmse Park) took its current form. In the 1870s, a palm house was completed. At the end of the 19th century, only a few additional buildings were added (a new distillery, greenhouses), and in 1914, the cattle stable was completed as the last structure.

On April 27, 1934, the Estonian government allowed the Ministry of Agriculture to transfer the manor house for free use by the Estonian Defence League.

Palmse is one of the most thoroughly restored manor ensembles in Estonia. Restoration began in 1972 when the complex came under the ownership of Lahemaa National Park.