Võsu is a village in Haljala parish, Lääne-Viru County in northeastern Estonia. It has 507 inhabitants (January 1, 2005). Until the local government reform of 2017, Võsu belonged to the Vihula Rural Municipality, the main town and administrative seat of which was Võsu.
Võsu is located on the southern shore of Käsmu Bay. A sandy beach about one and a half kilometers long leads into the shallow Baltic Sea at this point. The village is surrounded by pine, spruce and fir forests. Lake Käsmu is located near Võsu. To the east of the Võsu River there used to be Lake Üllikjärv, which was drained in 1886 for the construction of a manor house. Today the site is overgrown with forests.
Due to its ideal location on the Baltic Sea and its good climate,
Võsu became a well-known resort and seaside resort of the upper class of
the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. Visitors came
from St. Petersburg, Moscow and even from the Crimea to enjoy the summer
freshness. They had about 200 summer houses built at that time. In the
summer, the number of guests in the resort went into the thousands.
Only with the First World War and the independence of Estonia from
Russia in 1918 did Võsu lose its importance for Russian summer tourism.
Today, Võsu is again a popular excursion and holiday destination for
Estonians and has a good tourist infrastructure by Estonian standards.
In ancient times, the area around the village belonged to Revala
Parish in the north-west of Virumaa. 13. in the century, the coastal
plain was apparently uninhabited.
Late Middle Ages and Tsarist
times
It is first mentioned in (am Strande Woso) 3. dated April 1510.
Namely, from the mouth to the mouth of the river, the entire area
belonged to Palmse Manor. The owner of Palmse Manor at that time was the
Nunnery of St. Michael (Mihkli) in Tallinn. 3. in a treaty signed in
April 1510, Abbess Elisabeth Brince exchanged Palmse Manor for Nabala
Manor and Bertram Junge became the owner of Palmse Manor. In the said
contract, the object of transfer is indicated as "families on the beach
of the shoot". This is the first mention of the scion.
1677. in
the year the areas of Palmse Manor came into the possession of the von
der Pahlen.
1700. at the beginning of the years, five families
from Prussia came to live on the Bush – refugees from the Black Plague.
From Baron von der Pahlen of Palmse, they bought land and established
farms at the eastern end of the present site, near the river. The names
of farms and families are as follows: Reinu-Randmann, Uuetoa-Vogt,
Simuna-Licholm, Village tip-Lillemann, Madise-Treimann. The descendants
of these families have long considered themselves Estonians by
nationality.
1777. in the year the owner of Palmse opened the Inn
Hotel de Baltique. There was no current Main Street (Mere Street), and
the tavern and its surroundings became the center of the settlement. A
means of transport could be rented from the tavern, which was a
carriage, Runi or Saab applied after a horse. When cars appeared, an
omnibus stop was located at the tavern.
The trade took place at
the tavern. At the tavern under the Pines, the nearby farmers sold farm
products directly from their carts. There was a market. There was also a
post office near the inn. The mail was delivered by horse-drawn vehicle,
sorted and delivered to the addressee. Later, a fire-fighting spray shed
was added, and when smuggling was very much underway, a customs post was
opened to declare goods coming across the sea. It also organized the
activities of the rand Knights to capture the smugglers.
In the
year 1780, there is a mention of the brick building of Palmse Manor.
However, stones were produced for the manor itself. 1868. the modern
Brickworks with Hoffmann furnaces and a gabled brick Press began work
in, and roof tiles were also produced.
Since 1872, the village
has been called palmse Manor. The manor was located opposite the brick
factory at that time, across the road. There was also a butter factory.
Old maps show a lake located in this area-Noble Lake, which was located
east of the river. The drainage from there took place through the
Jaanioja, which flowed into the Gulf of Finland near the village of
Koolimae Hill. The lake was opened for expansion in 1886. discharged
into the sea in, its rugged bottom was ditched and turned into farmland.
To date, the fields are forested, and only a rather sharp eye catches
the traces of former drainage ditches.
From 1895 to 1904, the
former brickworks was further improved and began to produce 1-2 million
bricks per year.
In the days of the stone factory, the railway
was built on a pier by the sea. Along it, bricks were transported in
wagons for conveyance to ships waiting at sea. Bricks with the imprinted
name PALMS were transported by ships to Russia, Finland, Sweden and
Germany. Next to the stone factory, the table factory also delivered.
The stone factory's high stone chimney top was stacked as a lace
decoration. The chimney slender and beautiful and shone far out to sea.
Fishermen and sailors also set the course when the factory was no longer
working. The stone factory chimney was demolished in 2007.
As a
summer resort, the opening of the St. Petersburg–Paldiski railway
(Baltic railway) in 1870 gave a special impetus to its development. in.
Now, in addition to domestic bathing suits, vacationers arrived from
Russian cities. They were brought to the railway station by horse-drawn
vehicle. The magnets were a beautiful pine forest rich in mushrooms and
berries, white beach sand, clean and warm sea water, a river rich in
Trout and crayfish, and a kind coastal people. In connection with the
abolition of serfdom, the Barons reoriented. They began to sell land.
Von der Pahlen, the landlord of Palmse, also mapped the forest area on
the site, the main street of the current site (Mere t) towards Kommu.
Divided the area into cottage plots, put them up for sale in 1880-1910.
The size and location of the plot purchased for the scion, of course,
depended on the thickness of the wallet. Logs for the construction of
the house became Pines grown on its plot. 1901. the agreement (kontraht)
for the purchase of land between von der Pahlen and Herman isop, the
landlord of Palmse, has survived to this day. Rakvere notary E. Hunnius
22. a counter affidavit confirmed in June 1901 reveals that H. Isop
bought a plot of land in Reute Heath on the offshoot Beach, the size of
which is 801 square villages for 279 rubles and 50 kopecks as real
property. In today's terms, means that 3,646 m2 of land was purchased
from the estate for around 5,500 euros (2017. year currency). Similarly,
Merea, Kungla, hope, Vambola, Ranna, Laine, Vabaduse, Kalev, Viru, Eha
and Posti streets were inhabited. Since then, the place has been known
as a summer resort. In 1893 a post office was established in the
village, in 1907 A Society of farmers was founded, in 1910 its own bank
was established, in 1912 a Volunteer Fire Brigade Society was founded,
several bakers worked, a cafe was opened. There was also a joinery shop,
a piltmaker, a watchmaker, several tailors, shoemakers, woodworkers,
Potters and masons. 1911. in the year the post house was moved from the
former offshoot Centre to the corner of Post and Mere streets. The
Telegraph also came there, and a second bus stop was opened. Thus, a new
offshoot Center developed. Until World War I, vysu was visited mainly by
tourists from Moscow and St. Petersburg, for example, Jakob Hurt, a
clergyman and public figure who lived in St. Petersburg, has spent the
summer in Vysu on a couple of occasions. There was also a transport
connection with Tallinn, both by land and by water. Between 1910 and
1929, the line Tallinn-Kaberneeme-Tsitre-Lohmu-oursu ratasaurik kungla
travelled 2 times a week.
20. at the beginning of the century, a
summer rental of a three - to eight-room apartment cost forty to one
hundred rubles (approx.800-2000 euros in 2017. year currency). There
were also several boarding houses on the site, the best known of which
was by local entrepreneur and property owner Eduard Langsepp in 1908.
"Langsepa pension" opened in the year, where, among other things, water
treatments were offered. It was also located on the beach, and also E.
In the bath house owned by langsepp, mud baths and other health water
baths can be taken in addition to warm sea baths. In addition, small
bathhouses had also been built, because the ethical standards of that
time considered it a shame to show yourself in a bathing suit on the
beach. Doctors have once noted that the dry and clean air, temperature
and warm sea water of the shoot are supposed to have a healing effect.
Before World War I, there were around 3,000 summer residents. After the
first World War, the number of holidaymakers decreased several times,
starting to rise again only in the 1930s.
Having grown out of a traditional coastal village, where, in addition
to the sea and farming, the brick factory of Palmse Manor also allowed
service, the identity of the summer resort became dominant in the case
of the offshoot. However, it has been badly battered by interruptions
and cultural changes. If in the case of Komandmu, World War I meant only
a temporary shock, then in the case of Khutsu, World War I irretrievably
ruined the whole life of the past – in particular, having been the
summer resort of the Russian intelligentsia, it was deprived of a large
number of its former vacationers. However, thanks to its proximity to
Tallinn, the village fared better than many Eastern summer resorts that
never regained their former glory (Sillamae, Sea village, Smolka, etc.).
By the early days of the Republic of Estonia, the offshoot had
become a unique and well-organized small settlement. If before World War
I the visitors to the village were mainly German and Russian nobles and
the Estonian people did not get much access to the village due to poor
traffic conditions and lack of money, the situation changed in 1920. by
the beginning of the years, where the first permanent visitors of the
shoot emerged among Estonians. In addition to rental apartments, there
were 1923. three boarding houses with a total of 32 rooms were opened
for the year. Ed was considered better. Langsepale and V. Thomson's.
1923. in the summer, it was possible to choose a ratasaurik kungla
leaving Tallinn twice a week or a rental car (three times a week from
the current Viru Square stop), a post field leaving Rakvere or a bus
every day for driving to Vysu. The 37-km journey from Rakvere to Vysu,
which accommodates almost 35 people, took 1 hour and 45 minutes
(nowadays it takes less than 30 minutes to complete the same journey).
1930. in the year ratasaurulaev stopped the kungla line trips, but
by that time there was already a regular bus service between Tallinn and
Vysu, on the Route Tallinn–Valgejee–Vysu–Lohmu, at first under the
leadership of Volbrecht tats bus company, later already by Motor Ltd.
1930. by the middle of the year, the bus was travelling from Puddle to
Tallinn and Tapa three times a week and to Rakvere on all days of the
week.
In addition to the restaurant Nordala, which was operating
in the Old Inn building at the time, a number of new catering and
entertainment venues were opened in the village. One of the first opened
in 1929. in May, the restaurant Upsala Rakvere restaurateur Albert Ups.
There were also three tennis courts and a bowling alley. Rowing and
sailing boats and sea kayaks were rented to water sports enthusiasts.
A strong impetus was given to the development of the towns in 1922.
the National Building Loans Act, 1930, passed in. there were 550
permanent residents living on the Bush in, there were 160 residential
houses, 60 of them cottages. Cottages on the Bushes were built not only
by locals, but also by summer residents themselves. The engine and
direction of the local economy were mainly summer residents. For
example, by the end of April 1938, 75% of the cottages had been rented
out, with rental prices ranging from 50 to 200 kroons. 1930. at the end
of the years, the average monthly income in Estonia was 60 kroons (for
comparison, in 2017 the average income in Estonia was 1221 euros). Food
supplies were provided to vacationers by residents of nearby villages
and several shops. 1930. in the years, 5 mixed stores, 3 meat Karns, 2
bakeries were open all year round in the Bush. Market days were held
twice a week. Next to the townspeople's summer residence, the village
also became an important service centre in the nearby area. In the Bush,
tailors and seamstresses could sew clothes, order furniture and caskets
from joiners, and shoemakers could make and repair shoes according to
size. A fine mechanic of the offshoot improved timepieces and made more
complex metalwork. A doctor and midwife lived on the Bush, a pharmacy
worked.
Before World War II, Karl August heige (1893-1942) was
one of the biggest employers in the area.
The table factory he
owned was located in the old Palmse brick building neighborhood. The
sawmill was powered by steam, boards and sleepers were produced from
logs, which were scattered not only by cars, but also by ships. The
table factory with the stored material was destroyed in 1940. a fire in
August. Karl Heige himself was deported to Siberia in 1941 and died in
1942 in the Sverdlovsk region.
In December 1930, the building of
the school burned to the ground. In addition to the school equipment,
the property of the headmaster was also destroyed and the damage was
estimated at 11,000 kroons. The building was insured in the insurance
company "Eesti Lloyd" for 10,000 kr. Already in 1932, a new school
building was opened, where the school still operates today.
Its
popularity as a summer resort grew shortly before World War II. In 1939,
for the summer season, Rakvere restaurateur Evald Laks Vysul opened a
beach cafe, on the upper floor of which, in addition to other rooms,
there were also 10 rooms for renting out to vacationers. To date, the
building has been completely destroyed. By the end of the war, the site
had become the 5th largest. resort in Estonia. Contemporaries of that
time describe how the main street of the summer shoot, Mere Street,
seems to be something like Tallinn's Harju or Tartu's Knightly Street,
where the annual summer visitors ' acquaintance parade takes place.
The development of the offshoot also did not go unnoticed and
without support from the state. 1939. in the summer of that year, the
Institute of Nature Conservation and tourism, which was located at the
then Ministry of social affairs, granted a grant of 1,000 kroons for the
renovation of the Summer Resort. Of this amount, a new swimming bridge
was built with 500 kroons and the old boat bridge was repaired. For 200
kroons, amusement products were made for adults and children. 300 kroons
left to clean up the beach.
There is a primary school in Vyzu (139 students in the 2002/2003
academic year, 61 students in the 2009/2010 academic year), a
kindergarten, a shop, a beach sports club, a post office. There are
several hotels and boarding houses in the village, and many dachas have
been built. Vyzu Beach is one of the most popular sandy beaches in
Northern Estonia, its length is about one and a half kilometers.
In Vyzu, on the mass grave of those who died in World War II (a
historical monument since 1997), in 1950 a monument was erected to the
sailors of the Baltic Fleet and Soviet activists (the inscription on the
monument: "Eternal memory to the sailors of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet,
Red Army soldiers and Soviet activists who died in the fight against the
Nazi invaders in 1941"). It was made according to the standard design of
Alar Kotli. By the decision of the Estonian authorities, the monument
was dismantled in 2022. During the excavations on July 14, 2022, the
remains of 3 civilians and 4 Red Army soldiers were found; they were
reburied at the Khalyala cemetery.