Kuusalu - a historical review

A good proof to the fact that Kuusalu must have been a very old settlement is
that tourist can visit the place of Pajulinn stronghold even nowadays. It`s about 300 metres from the Talinn-Narva highway to the left. It differs from other strongholds
in Estonia as that one was built in a very low place, almost in the bog. Its task was
to give protection for people during wars so that they could hide themselves there. And at the same time it was used as storage for foodstuffs like grain, potatoes,
meat etc. The stronghold was built at the beginning of the 11th c and it was burnt
down around the year 1100.
 
The most important sight in Kuusalu for tourists might be the church as it just strikes the eye of the tourist from the highway already. It can be seen from very far, day and night, as the top part of the spire is always lit.The Gothic church, built at the end of the 13th c, probably belonged to the Cistercian monastery of Gudswall,Gotland . It had a priory at nearby Kolga. The Kolga monks conducted services for the people of Kuusalu.While most Estonian churches have been erected at an elevated position; this church stands in a valley beside a spring once considered to be sacred. And this a clear reference to the Cistercian building tradition as there always has been a spring-fed pond next the church.    

Kuusalu Church is dedicated to St. Lawrence who died in a martyr`s death and was burnt on a stake on August 10, 258. There are only some churches in Europé dedicated to St. Lawrence - in Italy, in Germany and 3 of them in Estonia.  

The tenth of August is such an important day for people of Kuusalu that they say even grass doesn`t grow higher that day. The day is called LAURITSAPÄEV in Estonian. There is no strength all over the world to move that day or change it in any other way. This day has always been celebrated in Kuusalu , under different political powers and different governments- but it has always been celebrated.That day might be even more important to those people who don`t live in Kuusalu permanently  or have moved away.Very often you can meet people from distant places in Kuusalu on that day. Usually elderly people meet at the church; go to the cemetery and light candles on the graves of their very close people. Some new traditions have appeared for younger people: there has been a" Lauritsapäeva jooks" for about ten years, there is always a concert, some other competitions and a party in the evening. We can say that Aug.10 is the day of Kuusalu Commune. And all guests are always welcome!

And something else should be kept in mind - in Estonian mythology Laurits  is the fire-keeper and that knowledge warns you not to make any open fire on that day.A man can`t even light his pipe because Laurits might jump to the ceiling and it may cause a great fire. 
 
Now back to the church. Through centuries the appearance and interior of the church have considerably changed as a result of redecoration and rebuilding. The last Catholic priest to serve in Kuusalu was Johann Becker, who continued to preach in the Lutherian spirit after the reformation. In 450 years since his time there have been 26 pastors in service, their names having been recorded on a tablet on a church wall.
 
There have been 2 important pastors in Kuusalu I`d like to tell you more about. The first name is Eduard Ahrens (18.. -18...). He was a pastor and at the same time the first linguist who suggested writing the Estonian language as it was pronounced. In earlier days double consonants were used like “sinna" (there), but it was pronounced lke “sina" (you). One could understand the real meaning only by reading the text. But - at the same time he was deeply against any schooling of children in Estonia. You see, each problem has 2 sides... And another quite a peculiar fact has been connected with the name of this man. During the Russian time Kuusalu was the only place in Estonia that had a street named after a pastor. In those years it was almost forbidden to use names and facts connected with the church. Luckily Kuusalu had a very clever lady to be the head of the local municipality who could prove that Ed. Ahrens was a very famous linguist, not mentioning that his first and foremost profession was to be a pastor...And the highest authorities believed her.

The other name is also Eduard, but this time Eduard Salumäe (1919-1985). He served in Kuusalu for 31 years and did a lot to keep the congregation working during those gloomy years of 1950-ies and 60-ies. He was a very clever man and had read a lot. Once he told us the story about St.Lawrence churches. He had read that all these churches were supposed to be yellow. For many years our Kuusalu church has been painted white. But all the time, here and there you can notice the yellow colour to appear underneath the white colour. Should we believe in legends or not?  

Still one more very important name connected with Kuusalu Church. We cannot forget the name Stenbock. The von Stenbocks, owners of the Kolga estate, have had very close reations with this church. Baron Erich Friedrich Magnus Dietrich von Stenbock visited the church many times. It had impressed him so much that according to his last wish his heart was taken from Germany to Kuusalu ,Estonia. Now it has been immurated into a wall of the church. It is not a simple story only, it is reality!  

As it was already mentioned, the church has been maintained and repaired throughout its history. Organ sounds have been heard in Kuusalu for more than a hundred years now. In the recent times major work was undertaken in 1939, 1979 and 1992. At Christmas 1947 the church sparkled with electric lights and by Christmas 1957 central heating was installed. It made Kuusalu one of the first among Estonian country churches to have it. Now gas heating has been installed.  

The church is located in its historical environment and the complex is comparatively well preserved - the church, the baroque pastorate (more than 200 years old), the confirmation classes house (now rebuilt into the pastor`s residence), the sauna, storehouse and shed. There is a small board on the wall of the pastorate put up only last year,1999. It says that in 1844 Elias Lönnrot, the author of the Finnish epic “Kalevala" visited Eduard Ahrens in Kuusalu and spent a day there. It proves that there might be many hidden news we don`t know yet.

There is one place that is closely connected with the church. That is the graveyard.Until the ends of the 18th c burials were conducted in the churchyard, but in 1802 a new cemetery was laid out at the end of the former village. The Kuusalu cemetery is somehow special and specific thanks to its numerous different statues and special stones having been brought and erected there during very many years. There is one more significant fact about that place. There is a statue, standing in the central part of the cemetary, dedicated to those people who were killed in the Estonian War of Liberty. It was the first of that kind to be erected in Estonia. Later numerous statues were put up all over Estonia. It sounds like a miracle but it was not demolished during Russian times, again the only one in Estonia. We still cannot say that nothing was changed : the small boards with names were taken away. The statue itself stayed there.