Aaspere is a village in

Haljala Parish Haljala Parish () is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne-Viru County. It has a population of 4297 (2021) and an area of 549 km2. Populated places Small borough Haljala - Võsu Villages Aaspere - Aasu - Aasumetsa - Aaviku - ...

Lääne-Viru County Lääne-Viru County ( or ''Lääne-Virumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is in northern Estonia, on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. In Estonian, ''lääne'' means western and ''ida'' means east or eastern. Lääne-Viru borders Id ...

, in northeastern

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. It is about 20 kilometres from Rakvere.

Name

Aaspere was attested in historical sources as ''Katkantagus'' in 1241, ''Kattentacken'' in 1498, ''Aastwerre'' in 1732, and ''Haasper'' in 1913, among other spellings. The original name of the village, *''Katkutaguse'', has been preserved in the German name of the manor, Kattentack (from ''katk'' 'quagmire, low marshy place, swampy area' + ''tagune'' 'located behind'). ''Aaspere'' is an Estonianized form of the family name ''Hastferite'' (or ''Hastever''), dating back to the Danish period. According to

Paul Johansen Paul Wulff Johansen (December 23, 1901 – April 14, 1965) was an Estonian and German historian of Danish origin. Early life and education Paul Johansen was born in Tallinn to Jens Christian Johansen, a Danish land improvement engineer. He was ...

, the Hastferite family originated in

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, and the name refers to a place called ''Haversvörde''.

Aaspere manor

Aaspere manor () was mentioned for the first time in the 16th century. The current building received its appearance around 1800. The manor is one of the finest examples in Estonia of neoclassical manor house architecture. The manor was damaged in a fire in 1966. The manor is surrounded by a grandly designed park. The last owner before the Estonian

land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...

in 1919 was , who was a strong supporter of the idea of creating a German-dominated

United Baltic Duchy The United Baltic Duchy (; ; ), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name of a short-lived state during World War I that was proclaimed by leaders of the local Baltic German nobility. The attempt to establish a new client state ...

after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Notable residents

Aaspere was the birthplace of physician and botanist Bernhard Saarsoo (1899–1964).

References

External links

Aaspere manor
at Estonian Manors Portal {{Manor houses in Estonia Villages in Lääne-Viru County Manor houses in Estonia Kreis Wierland