The Rihula forestry farm and its history

February 4, 2024 - Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Rihula is located in the county of Lääne-Viruma in north-eastern Estonia and belongs to the village of Männikvälja. The farm consists of a main house, a barn, a stable and a sauna. It is located directly by a river, the Kunda jõgi, and is surrounded by state forest. To the east of the farm is Sirtsi soo, a large moorland area that is the subject of many legends.

The area around Rihula has been inhabited since at least Viking times, as traces of iron mining from this period can be found nearby. The first references to the Rihula farm are found on maps of the Tsarist Empire (1884), where the German name Rihola is still used. Rihula probably belonged to Põlula and/or Ulvi mõis, two manors in the vicinity. It was used as a so-called “karjamõis”. A “karjamõis” was a farm that was under the management of a farmstead, but was somewhat removed from the main farm and was used more for agriculture/forestry. These farms changed hands more frequently, which is probably where the contradictory information about Rihula’s ownership comes from.

Today’s main house was built around 1910 as a forester’s lodge and belonged to Põlula mõis at the time. There was also a smithy nearby, of which only ruins remain today. Jüri Aalemann lived at Rihula as a forester until 1919 and after his death, Alexander Malmi (Malmberg) and his family came to live on the farm. In the course of the expropriation of the Baltic Germans, the forest belonging to Põlula mõis was nationalized in 1920, together with the Rihula district. However, the district was preserved until 2001 and the forester’s lodge continued to be used as such. Alexander Malmi worked here until his death in 1943, after which his son-in-law Villem Talli and his wife Helge took over the district, who in turn handed it over to their son-in-law Jaan Ruut in 1970. His wife, Helge’s and Villem’s daughter Marju, also worked as deputy forester in various districts. Jaan Ruut managed the district until it was dissolved in 2001.

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