Käesalu (Käsall, varem ka Kuhsal Hof) rüütlimõis

The village of Käesalu was separated from the Keila manor village and granted as a lifetime fief to Hans Hansson (documented on August 23, 1628), before 1624. When King Gustav II Adolf confirmed Hans Hansson Elvering’s fiefdom of Tuula village on June 23, 1624, the same document also confirmed the lifetime fief of Käesalu, Keelva, Sitpeksi, and Wasaläpi villages for him for a sum of 500 thalers. The later territory of Käesalu manor was for a time part of the Tuula manor, which was based on the mentioned villages. By 1627, the manor was already in the possession of Hans Hansson Elwering’s widow, who was responsible for the manor until her sons came of age. Given that the village of Käesalu, with its 6 ploughlands, was located more than ten kilometers away from the newly established Tuula manor center, wooden farm buildings were soon erected there, forming the basis of Käesalu (Kaesall), Keelva (Kelwaby), Sitpeksi (Sippis), and Pihelga (Wihesläpp) villages as a livestock manor.

It is likely that the establishment of the manor was accompanied by the partial liquidation of the existing farms. For example, on June 24, 1629, *Tari Hans* died in Käesalu. No further mentions of *Tari* farm exist in any documents from later periods in Käesalu. However, a farm named *Tari* appears in connection with Tuula manor. It can be assumed that after the death of the farm owner, the farmstead, which was in the way of the manor’s fields in Käesalu village, was liquidated, and the family was resettled within the manor’s boundaries, likely due to the lack of free land, now on the lands of Tuula village. However, there remains a toponym dating back at least to this period – "Tari kaiwo ase" – located at the edge of the manor field in Käesalu, along with a stone-walled well.

On July 8, 1648, the ploughlands of the Käesalu area were conditionally separated from Tuula. The estate was to be given to the second wife of Hans' (senior) son Gabriel and Hans' (junior), with the condition that after her and her new husband’s deaths, these ploughlands would be returned to Tuula. In the same transaction, Gabriel Elwering renounced his inheritance share in favor of his brother Hans for 2,000 thalers. It is likely that it was around this time that the first manor house was built in Käesalu, where the widow of Hans Elwering (senior) and her new husband moved to live.

After the death of Hans Hansson Elvering the Younger, the owner of Tuula Manor (elevated to the nobility by the Swedish king on October 12, 1652, under the name "Elffring," but without a formal introduction), which likely occurred after 1663 and before 1678, the estate was officially divided among his sons. The manor farm established in Käesalu became independent and a noble manor around the late 1670s as a result of the division of Hans Hansson Elvering the Younger’s inheritance. Käesalu was then granted to Hans’ son, the Swedish royal cornett Ebert Elffring (documented in 1698, buried in the Keila church tomb). According to the tax register ("pro 1685"), the manor was likely independent before 1685, but in any case, it was officially recognized as an independent manor on April 20, 1686.

In 1688, the Käesalu and Tuula manors were reduced from the heirs but were leased as tertiary estates to the former owners. As such, Käesalu is referred to in the 1695 revision. On the 1697 map, the manor center is shown in the same location where it still stands today. After the death of Ebert and his wife, the estate reverted to the crown, which, on August 8, 1708, first leased it for a short term for 800 state thalers to the Tallinn citizen Thomas Duncker. Soon after, the new lessee was Jacob von Erdtmann, for whom the crown specified that the heirs of Ebert Hansson had the right to buy out the manor’s leasehold from the current tenant for 800 thalers. The heirs exercised this right.

Starting from 1710, the manor was managed by Ebert's aunt, Anna Gertruda, the widow of Heinrich Göbel, a Swedish royal knight from the Swedish royal cavalry and the leaseholder of Kumna manor. She was naturalized into the Swedish nobility on July 1, 1693, without being introduced. From 1712, after the inheritance division, the manor passed to the husband of Ebert's aunt, Franz Sigismund Lindtmeyer (born in 1723), the son-in-law of Ebert's uncle. In 1725, Susanna, Ebert's aunt, remarried Magnus Heinrich von Nasacken, a Swedish royal lieutenant and the hereditary lord of Rooküla manor, on October 14. The manor was formally transferred to his name on November 3, 1726, by the restitution commission. He later also acquired Uniküla manor. He is still listed as the owner of Käesalu manor in the revision records from 1725 and 1732. Since the Nasacken family had no male heirs, they decided to relinquish the ownership of this peripheral manor estate.

The next owner of Käesalu manor was Friedrich von Teucher, a Bavarian-born Imperial Rentmeister of the Russian Empire in the Duchy of Estonia. He became the manor's owner by marrying Anna Elisabeth Lindtmeyer, the daughter of the previous owners. Friedrich von Teucher was granted nobility in the Holy Roman Empire on November 5, 1743, and he is listed as the owner of the manor in both 1739 and 1750. On March 17, 1748, he bought the inheritance of his mother-in-law for 6,500 imperial riksdaler (approximately 6,240 silver rubles) from the heirs. According to the land revision records, by 1750, the manor employed a carpenter, a mason, and a blacksmith, with the latter two brought from Vahastu manor. This suggests that significant construction work took place at the manor during Teucher's ownership.

His widow, Anna Elisabeth, sold the manor on March 8, 1759, to Karl Gottlieb Gernet, the leaseholder of the neighboring Lehola Manor. Gernet was raised to nobility in the Holy Roman Empire on October 1, 1761, in Vienna, and his noble status was recognized by the Russian Empire on March 4, 1773.

Koondanud mitme mõisa näol enda kätte üsna suure valduse, tellis Karl Gottlieb v. Gerneti praeguseni säilinud mõisa härrastemaja ehituse, mis esialgsete plaanide kohaselt pidi arvatavasti jääma selleks hetkeks juba üsna laiaulatuslike perekonnavalduste keskuseks.

The free carpenter master Jacob Friedrich Strandel, who came from the city, had been working at the manor with his family since April 5, 1767, and he was still mentioned in the 1782 census. K.G. v. Gernet was just one of the Gernets involved in construction. His brother, Tallinn's mayor Wilhelm Heinrich Gernet, left a notable architectural legacy in Tallinn – a building on Uus Street, now serving as the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania, whose Rococo-style façade still bears the Gernet family coat of arms today.

K. Gtl. v. Gernet transferred the ownership rights of the manor for 9,000 silver rubles to his second adult son, Lieutenant Christian Wilhelm (documented in 1819 at Käesalu manor). Although the transaction was recorded in the land register on June 12, 1775, the new owner signed documents related to the manor already on September 22, 1774, and had been living with his family (he married on November 3, 1767) at the manor since the 1770s. At his commission, a new French-style garden section was added to the previously developed manor center. The project was likely assisted by an architect from Central Europe, invited by the Stackelbergs of Vääna, who arrived by 1784, and a gardener who came a little later. The latter, Friedrich Grosmeyer, was originally from Hanover but had worked in Vienna before coming to Estonia. Both in Vääna and Käesalu, the general design of the terraced part of the park was inspired by the park between the Upper and Lower Belvedere palaces in Vienna. In Käesalu, the terraced structure of this garden section has been preserved to this day.

Belvedere aed Viinis.

Having mortgaged the manor, v. Gernet moved to Idavere Manor, taking with him his coachman Jaan and six male peasants from the manor’s tenant population. On February 25, 1797, the new owner mortgaged the manor for 40,000 silver rubles for a period of 90 years to Otto Hermann v. Mohrenschildt. However, the latter transferred his mortgage rights just two weeks later, on March 11, for 45,000 silver rubles to his nephew, Count Peter Douglas (documented on May 30, 1808, at Vao Manor in Järvamaa), whose widow Sophie Helene (née Countess Bielsky) was granted the manor as a hereditary possession on April 8, 1810. Count Peter Douglas commissioned a partial classical redesign of the manor house. This redesign included replacing the hanging balcony above the main entrance with a balcony supported by four columns in the exterior architecture. On January 15, 1816, the widow mortgaged the manor to the aforementioned O. Hrm. v. Mohrenschildt’s brother’s middle son, Gustav Reinhold (from 1821 a hereditary owner; documented on March 2, 1834, at Käesalu Manor), who was also the nephew of Count Peter Douglas.

Gustav Reinhold von Mohrenschildt married Anna Alexandra Louise Wilhelmine von Doerper on February 26, 1815, and likely moved into the manor with his young wife soon after. All of their descendants were born at Käesalu Manor. Gustav Reinhold's heirs sold the estate on November 18, 1837 (registered on September 20, 1838) for 125,000 bank rubles to Count Konstantin Alexander Karl Wilhelm Christoph Benckendorff, the owner of Keila-Joa and Meremõisa manorial estates. The handover of the estate was agreed upon for April 23, 1838. From that time onwards, it shared ownership with Keila-Joa Manor. Before April 21, 1844, the estates were merged into a majorat (entail) formed from these properties.

Krahv Alexander Benckendorff ja tema abikaasa Elisabeth Donetz-Sacharshewski

According to the Swedish Kingdom’s measurements, one Swedish ploughland (adramaa) was equivalent to 10 acres. This included ½ ploughland, which was later incorporated into the Karjaküla manor. In 1765, the manor was recorded as being only 5 4/5 ploughlands in size. By 1881, it had grown to 6.61 ploughlands, equivalent to 444/0 tiinu. In 1910, 848 tiinu of farm and 14 tiinu of manor land were separated.

In 1627, the area that would later become Käesalu Manor was home to approximately 5 farm households. By 1687 and 1697, the manor encompassed 16 farm households, six of which (Juurika, Tulitäku, Kulasmäe, Koerna, Vaia Siimu, and Vaia Mardi) were scattered homesteads. In 1732, the manor consisted of 18 households, with both male and female inhabitants. By 1782, the manor had 69 male inhabitants, and in 1816, there were 94 registered individuals. In 1912, the manor estate had 279 inhabitants, including 133 male and 146 female inhabitants.

Under the law of 1919, the manor was expropriated from the magnificent Prince Grigori Petrovitš Volkonski. The estate was officially transferred to the Republic of Estonia on February 6, 1926.

Hiilgavaim vürst Grigori Petrovitš Volkonski

The manor land was divided among thirteen farmsteads and a few saunas, with one approximately 22-hectare piece created as a result of land division ("Kooli") allocated for the maintenance of the village school, which had been relocated to the manor's former estate buildings. In the 1950s, tractor courses were held in the manor during the summer. During the 1970s and 1980s, the manor house hosted a pioneer camp. Today, about 75 hectares of the manor land, along with most of the buildings, is privately owned.

The manor center was already located in the same place in the last decades of the 17th century.

 

The oldest known farms by name are "Taari" (Käesalu: 1628) and … (Sitpeksi: 1628). The peasants whose male-line descendants are still alive today include Wosa Claes (1681), Juricka Hans (1682), … Mart (1683), and Korane Matz (1685).