100 stories from the hiking route

1978 – Simisalu hikers’ hostel is established

Information

Topic

Hiking and hiking trails

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 59.10521389

Longitude: 25.562475

L-EST 97

x: 6552878.1
y: 589518.1

Location

Ähijärve-Aegviidu Hiking route

Brothers Jüri and Hans Grossthal from Sürgavere in Viljandi County bought the large farm, the majority of which was formed by pastures, on the Kõrvemaa bog island in 1871. Hans Grossthal was the godfather of the writer A. H. Tammsaare and the prototype for his character Hundipalu Tiit in his book “Truth and Justice”.
Karl Mihkla writes in his 1938 article, “Realistic types of people and motives in A. H. Tammsaare’s works”:

“Similarly to the wise Hundipalu Tiit, H. Grosthal was also a fervent supporter of C. R. Jakobson’s radical views. When word about the publication of Sakala reached Simisalu, he went to relay the good news to everyone, stating with a heart full of joy, “Our people can only now start living. Look, soon Sakala will be published under Carl Robert Jakobson’s leadership”.”

In 1911, Hans Vielemann bought the farm. His son Gustav was killed along with his wife Rosalie on 24 June 1941 by a destruction battalion because they were considered supporters of the Forest Brothers. The farm buildings were burnt down.
In 1978, the cowshed and threshing barn of the farm were built into a hikers’ hostel. The path leading from Simisalu to Tammsaare’s hinterlands by the former bog bridges through true wilderness to Matsimäe had already been marked down in 1972. It had been designed as a circular path, going back by the bog islands on the right bank of Jägala river in order to show the hikers a comparison of drained bog landscapes. However, redesigned nature was not enticing and the other side of the path was taken over by nature.