Taagepera Castle

File:Taagepera mõisa peahoone2.jpg

The Taagepera Castle.

File:Taagepera mõisa peahoone1.jpg

The Taagepera Castle.

The Taagepera Castle (German name: Wagenküll) is a mansion in Taagepera village, Helme Parish, Valga County, Estonia.

History

The mansion was first mentioned in the 16th century.

During the Polish rule and Swedish rule of Estonia, the mansion belonged to the Rehbinder family. In 1674, the mansion was sold to the Swedish major Otto von Stackelberg.

In 1819, the almost bankrupt mansion was sold to Bernhard Heinrich von Stryk (1746-1829), who married Anna Elisabeth von Oetting (1763-1825) in 1782. The last owner of the mansion was Bernhard Heinrich von Stryk's great-grandson Hugo von Stryk, who lost the mansion in the 1919 land reform.

Mansion complex

Mansion house

The current mansion house was designed by the Estonian architect Otto Wildau in the early 20th century. The western corner of the house includes a 40-metre tall tower. Because of the large size of the mansion house, it is commonly called a castle instead of a mansion house.

After the Estonian War of Independence in 1919, the mansion house was converted into a sanatorium. In the late 1930s, a new sanatorium house was built, designed by the architect Alar Kotli. The mansion house served as a sanatorium until 2000. From 2002, the mansion house serves as a hotel.

Graveyard

In the late 19th century, a family graveyard was constructed near the mansion house. Among those buried there are:

• Katharina Mathilde von Stryk (née Rogge), born 15 July 1815 - died 13 April 1892
• Bernhard Heinrich Konstantin von Stryk, born 29 July 1827 - died 5 January 1912

Stamps

In 1933, the Eesti Post designed a series of four stamps with an anti-tuberculosis thema, of which the blue/red 10 cent stamp and the dark blue/red 20-cent stamp depict the Taagepera mansion house (at that time a sanatorium). A new stamp depicting the Taagepera mansion house was designed in 2006.

See also

• List of palaces and manor houses in Estonia

Gallery

• Taagepera Castle 00.jpg

  Exterior view.

• Taagepera Castle 01.jpg

  Lobby.

• Taagepera Castle 02.jpg

  Lobby.

• Taagepera Castle 03.jpg

  Lobby.

• Taagepera Castle 04.jpg

  Stairway to the second floor.

• Taagepera Castle 05.jpg

  Billiards room on the second floor.

• Taagepera Castle 05a.jpg

  Jahisaal.

• Taagepera Castle 06.jpg

  Jahisaal.

• Taagepera Castle 07.jpg

  Jahisaal.

• Taagepera Castle 08.jpg

  Jahisaal.

• Taagepera Castle 09.jpg

  Jahisaal.

• Taagepera Castle 10.jpg

  Jahisaal - a chess board in the hall.

• Taagepera Castle 11.jpg

  Anna Sophie restaurant.

• Taagepera Castle 12.jpg

  Anna Sophie restaurant.

• Taagepera Castle 13.jpg

  Anna Sophie restaurant.

• Taagepera Castle 14.jpg

  Anna Sophie restaurant - castle cat.

• Taagepera Castle 15.jpg

  Hugo Saal.

• Taagepera Castle 16.jpg

  Hugo Saal.

• Taagepera Castle 17.jpg

  Rüütli Saal.

• Taagepera Castle 18.jpg

  Rüütli Saal.

• Taagepera Castle 19.jpg

  Stairway in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 20.jpg

  Observation room in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 21.jpg

  Stairway from the second-last floor to the last floor in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 22.jpg

  Last floor in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 23.jpg

  View from the last floor in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 24.jpg

  View from the last floor in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 25.jpg

  View from the last floor in the tower.

• Taagepera Castle 26.jpg

  View from the last floor in the tower.

External links

• Official site
• A postage stamp depicting the Taagepera Castle in 2006
• Wagenküll