Simuna, Estonia

59.04777826.4025Koordinaten: 59 ° 3 ' N, 26 ° 24' O

Simuna ( German Sankt Simonis ) is a village (Estonian alevik ) in the Estonian Lääne- Viru. Since 2005 it belongs to the municipality Väike- Maarja. Simuna has 383 inhabitants (as at 31 December 2011).

Description and History

Simuna located in the southeastern region of the ridge Pandivere, near the survey Kellavere Mägi (156 m). In the vicinity are the Katku sources in which the longest river Estonian who Pedja ( Pedja Jõgi ) arises.

The original name of the place was Katkuküla. To the local St. Simon and Jude Church formed the parish was founded in the early 13th century Simuna ( Simuna kihelkond ).

Church of Simuna

The original three-nave church was from the 15th century. It was 1728/1729 (after destruction in the Great Northern War ) and 1885/1886 completely rebuilt. A characteristic feature is the 53.3 m high tower. From the publicly accessible observation deck offers a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area.

Among the important works include the baroque altar of Christian Ackermann ( 1684), the Baroque pulpit ( 1724) and the organ of the Estonian master Gustav Normann (1889 ). The altarpiece from the early 19th century is the work of the Dresden-born painter Carl Sigismund Walther.

The church and the late classical pastorate are under monument protection.

Simuna is the hometown of many scholars, like the mathematician Georg Magnus Paucker (1787-1855), the legal scholar and historian Julius von Paucker (1798-1856), the theologian Richard Hugo Paucker (1807-1872) and of the politician and financial expert Leo Sepp (1892 -1941 ).

In the cemetery of Simuna the Baltic German painter Carl Timoleon von Neff (1804-1877) is buried. Also, the Baltic German priest and Protestant martyr Paucker Walther (1878-1919) was buried here.

Struve Memorial

Approximately 800 m east of Simuna there is a memorial for the German astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve ( 1793-1864 ), was measured under whose leadership the globe. One of the important measurement points was at Simuna.