Pärnasaare Cemetery

About three kilometres from Rutikvere to Adavere there are the ruins of a former farm called Pärnasaare. A little farther, on a higher place in the middle of a field there is a spruce hedge and some trees. This is where the Pärnasaare Farm Cemetery – now the village cemetery – is situated.

Pärnasaare Farm was bought from the Lord of Rutikvere Manor. It belonged to the Limberg family. These were tough men who had wanted to live just like their landlord did. The master of Pärnasaare Farm had plans to make his surroundings beautiful. He planted decorative trees and bushes around his farmhouse. In addition, Hendrik Limberg founded a private cemetery on his lands.

He had purely practical reasons for founding it: the Põltsamaa cemetery was too small and too far away. Limberg planned his cemetery after the Pistolkohrs cemetery at Kütimäe. He measured off about a half acre plot for it. Later a gate was built, also after that at the Pistohlkors cemetery.

Hendrik Limberg, the old master of Pärnasaare, who founded the cemetery, died in 1888. He was the first to be buried there. It was at first designed as the burial ground for the Limbergs. However, the master is said to have sold the plots for a small fee to more distant relatives as well. This custom continued at the Pärnasaare private cemetery between the two world wars, too.

After the Soviet takeover in 1940 private lands were nationalised, and the private cemeteries, including the family burial ground at Pärnasaare were also appropriated. The state allowed all the villagers to bury their dead free of charge. While in 1920 seven people had been buried in the cemetery, now about 300 people have found their last resting place at Pärnasaare.

  

Pärnasaare Cemetery is situated in Koigi Parish and is of interest to many people from near and far. It is one of the few cemeteries founded by a peasant, and over the years it became a village cemetery. Hele-Mall Mõttus, a folk singer from Päinurme-Rutikvere is currently the caretaker of the cemetery.

Ründo Mülts

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