Karuse

58.61722223.692222Koordinaten: 58 ° 37 'N, 23 ° 42 ' E

Karuse ( German Karusen ) is a village (Estonian küla ) in the Estonian Lääne. It belongs to the rural community Hanila. The village has twenty inhabitants ( 31 December 2011) ..

Description and History

Karuse was first mentioned as Cozzo in 1218. As a parish Karuse was 1267 under the name Karissen mentioned in a document. It is one of the oldest parishes in the area of present-day Estonia. From 1242 to 1561 the area was majority owned by the Livonian Order, the first commander of Leal, then to the Commander of Pärnu.

Church

With the construction of the St. Margaret 's Church of Karuse Master of the Order of Otto Lutterberg († 1270) was started in the second half of the 13th century under the rule. Characteristic of the stone building, which was similar to the church of Hanila built as a fortified church, were the cross vault and a half built tower. It was later rebuilt several times, in particular 1858/59. From 1895 comes today's West Tower, which replaced the earlier, free-standing bell tower. The nave church is now under the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church ( EELC ).

Important preserved works of art inside are cer baptismal font from the 13th century, the pulpit of Christian Ackermann (1697 ), a chandelier from the 16th century and the altar of 1787. The organ dates from 1866.

In addition, some trapezoidal grave slabs have been preserved from the 13th century. In the church there is probably also the Chapter Master Otto von Lutterberg even buried, who died on February 16, 1270 in the battle against the Lithuanians on the frozen Baltic Sea near Karuse. The church is now located on the territory of the neighboring village Kinksi.

Cemetery

In the cemetery of the village there are numerous stone crosses from the 13th to the 17th centuries. There is also the historic grave chapel of the noble German Baltic family Wistinghausen.

Station

The train station of Karuse is no longer in operation since the closure of the railway line between Rapla and Virtsu 1968. In the historic building now houses a small museum.