Manor · Viljandi County · Viljandi
Viljandi Fellin
Viljandi manor grew out of an ancient hillfort taken by the Sword Brethren in 1223, where one of Estonia’s largest Order castles then rose. After centuries of war damage, a single-story Baroque timber house was finished in 1749 between the castle and the town, and was later torn down. In 1880 the von Ungern-Sternbergs built a new stone house on the edge of the ravine, and it still stands.
See it in the 3D flight
Built / first recorded 1749
Style Baroque (timber)
Condition Lost 1938
German name Fellin
Today
Nothing is left of the old timber house; the 1880 stone house beside the Order castle ruins is now the Schloss Fellin hotel.
Owners de la Gardie1624 von Ungern-Sternberg1860–1919
Good to know A tower about 40 m tall, “Long Hermann,” stood at the castle’s northwest corner. In Soviet times the NKVD used the 1880 stone house, with cells in the basement. The last owner, Heinz von Ungern-Sternberg, loved flying; the family left in 1939.
Photos through time 1900 · Viljandi's “new castle” Wilhelm Staden · Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 5638:60 · ©1906 · Viljandi manor, 1906 Unknown · Public domainarchive · The old wooden main house at Viljandi Viljandi Muuseum, VM VM 4736 F · ©archive · Viljandi manor (the old house) Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 5638:100 · ©archive · Viljandi manor (the old house) Jaan Kristin · Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 5638:101 · ©archive · The new main house at Viljandi Viljandi Muuseum, VM VM 4486 F 156:788 · ©archive · The main steps of the new house Viljandi Muuseum, VM VM 4610 F 154:892 · ©archive · Viljandi manor, stereo photo Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 5634:14 · ©archive · Viljandi manor, the so-called Uus castle Jaan Kristin · Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 5638:84 · ©archive · Viljandi manor, the so-called Uus castle Eesti Ajaloomuuseum, AM N 44651:1 · ©2010 · The Order castle ruins beside the manor Ivo Kruusamägi · CC BY-SA 3.0 EE2012 · The 1880 stone house, 2012 Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 3.0 EE
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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