Saare (Lyckholm) manor
Saare (Lyckholm) manor
Saare (Lyckholm) originally referred to a separate demarcated parcel of land on top of an island. The former island of Lyckholm merged with Noarootsi in the 19th century. Lyckholm was first mentioned in 1627, when it had three farms on it. Lyckholm Manor was founded in 1662 and its first owner was Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, who sold the manor to Count Königsmarck in 1681. 17. At the end of the century and in the 18th century the manor changed hands several times, but in 1773, the manor was bought by Friedrich Adolf von Rosen and remained in the von Rosen family for several hundred years.
The baroque main building of the manor was probably built in the second half of the 18th century. Constructed of local limestone, the main building was originally a single-storey building with a medium-sized mantle chimney with half of the building having a low-plinthed basement floor and rooms under the roof at both ends of the building. The building was covered by a high half-hip roof. The main door was positioned at the left end of the building along with a small wooden antehall with a hip roof. A large wooden veranda was located along the façade of the right end of the building. Currently, there is a wide staircase leading to the main entrance on the front of the building. The carriage house and the stables still remain of the manor complex, although the stables are in ruins.
The main manor house was once surrounded by a French garden, probably established in the 18th century. Tatarian honeysuckle still grows in the area.
After the War of Independence, nine new homestead settlements were allocated from Saare manor with the land reform, but the centre of the manor estate along with 200 hectares of land remained in the possession of the von Rosen family. This was due to the fact that two sons of the then owner, Woldemar von Rosen, fought on the Estonian side in the war. After the War of Independence, Friedrich von Rosen took over the management of the manor after returning from the war. The manor lord’s family had to do the farm work themselves. Old photos show young barons barefoot hauling manure and cutting rye.
In 1939, with the resettlement of the Baltic Germans, the von Rosen family also left for Germany. The manor was left empty and began to fall apart. When Friedrich von Rosen’s son Gustav, who was born in Saare manor, came back to Estonia and Saare manor for the first time in 1989, all that was left of the manor house were the walls and the mantle chimney – the roof had long since disappeared and the ruins were covered with trees.
As the Baltic Germans were compensated for the property they had to leave behind when they left, Gustav von Rosen was unable to reclaim the land, and ended up buying back the central manor estate in 1995. He started by restoring the carriage house and opened a museum there in 1997. The museum was set up with the help of local people who helped to collect artifacts. The museum introduces the history of Saare, the limestone of the Lyckholm formation and local life, from tools to tableware and other household items.
Gustav von Rosen then undertook the restoration of the main building, which was completed in 2001. Gustav von Rosen has since passed away and, like his brother Hans, rests in a cemetery near Noarootsi church. The manor is still owned by the family and is used for accommodation and events, with a café open in the summer.
Hard working manor lords
In his book ‘Kuldrannake’ (original title in Swedish: ‘Guldstrand’, English title: ‘Golden Beach’) Sven Danell, a Swedish clergyman who served as a priest in Noarootsi in the 1930s, also describes the manor lords of Noarootsi. About Friedrich von Rosen and his family, he writes:
“Baron Rosen of Noarootsi’s neighbouring Saare manor (Lyckholm) was free of complexes and bore no ill will. As an officer he had been on the front line when the revolution broke out. It was said that while other officers had to sacrifice their lives, his soldiers honoured him by carrying him on their arms and tossing him up into the air. He wasn’t exactly happy about the cuts to his manor, but he thought it could have been worse, and with the help of relatives who also had a claim to the land, he was able to keep hold of a decent sized plot that could feed a cattle of twenty. This was presumably because both he and his brother had taken part in the Estonian War of Independence and therefore had certain rights to the land.
Skinny, sinewy and energetic, von Rosen made for a hard-working farmer. He had Angeln cattle, all reddish-brown or almost dark brown, rather slender bodied and with narrow foreheads. Their ploughs were driven by oxen and it was often the small baroness, as frail as the youths undergoing the rites of confirmation, her honey-coloured hair twisted in a braid around her head, who took to the fields with a pair of oxen. Their tireless work made a very strong impression. According to the lady of the manor herself, her most wonderful holiday of the past ten years was when she had to spend several weeks getting treatment in Haapsalu because of tooth decay. She had to walk about 8 km to the Österby pier, squeeze into a mail boat that was always full to bursting, and then sit still for a couple of hours in the boat and then at the dentist’s before starting the return journey. She spoke about that holiday with a great deal of gratitude for several years after the fact. /…/
The lady of the manor was a valiant person and guarded herself against any sentimentality, while internally she burned with compassion for those who were suffering, with a passion for justice, idealism and maternalism. She knew how to create a cosy and festive atmosphere for her sons with little means at her disposal. When one of them had a birthday, residents of the clergy house were also invited. Instead of a birthday cake, there was a giant braided kringle with as many lit candles as the age of the birthday boy. On such occasions, Saare hosted wonderful evenings in the company of the family.”
First private airfield
In 2006, Gustav von Rosen, who restored the manor, built a private airfield on the estate so that his son Lothar could visit more often. Previously, Lothar von Rosen had to land on Ämari airfield but it’s quite a long way from there to the village of Saare.
The airfield was built jointly by von Rosen and his neighbour Herbert Trisberg on their respective lands. The main requirement of the Estonian Civil Aviation Administration was that the runway should not be less than 600 m long. The final dimensions of the runway of Saare airfield are 650 × 60 m. It was the first private airfield in Lääne county.
Lothar von Rosen was the first to land when the airfield opened in September 2006. The next day, two planes from Germany arrived with his friends, and a day later, on Saturday, an Estonian plane visited the newly built airfield. The Germans also took the villagers who had come to greet them to fly in their planes. Due to the large turnout, a record was set for take-offs from one airfield in one day in Estonia.
“This is a historic event for Noarootsi,” said Ülo Kalm, the rural municipality mayor.