Manor · Lääne-Viru County
Kunda
Kunda was mentioned as early as 1443. Adam Olearius drew it in 1647, after survivors of the Holstein embassy’s shipwreck were sheltered here. In 1870 its owner, John Girard de Soucanton, founded a cement works on manor land. Retreating Soviet troops set the main house on fire in 1941.
See it in the 3D flight
Built / first recorded first mentioned 1443
Style Manor and industrial ensemble
Condition Lost 1941
Today
The main house is a ruin. The park, watermill, distillery and Estonia’s first hydroelectric plant (1893) survive.
Owners Johann Möller17. saj von Schwenghelm18. saj lõpp Girard de Soucanton1840. a–1919
Good to know The early classical main house was built in the 1770s. After the railway opened in 1870, Baron John Girard de Soucanton built a seaside cement works, one of the first in the Russian Empire. Kunda town grew up around the works; the manor lies 2.5 km to the south.
Photos through time 1647 · Kunda manor in Adam Olearius’s engraving Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 1413 · ©1894 · Kunda manor, pencil drawing by Theodor Albert Sprengel, 10 July Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:600 · Public domain1900 · Ruins of the old Kunda watermill Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:261 · Public domain1912 · Front of the Kunda main house Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:258 · Public domain1912 · Kunda main house front Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:259 · ©before 1940 · Kunda manor, Gothic-style boudoir corner before the war Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:260 · Public domainbefore 1940 · Kunda manor interior with John Karl Girard de Soucanton and his wife, before the war Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:601 · Public domainarchive · The Kunda manor park and river Eesti Rahva Muuseum, ERM Fk 887:262 · Public domainarchive · The Kunda main house Mihkel Leetmaa · Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum, EVM N 400:6 · ©archive · Kunda manor Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, EAM _ 13469 Ar 19.4.51 · ©archive · The Kunda main house Mihkel Leetmaa · Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum, EVM N 400:7 · ©2011 · The ruins of the main house, 2011 Ilme Parik · CC BY-SA 3.0
Nearby
The buildings are stylized impressions, not surveyed models. Facts: mois.ee, Museum of Estonian Architecture, ERR, Wikipedia. Photos: MuIS and Wikimedia Commons, credited with each photo.
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