Kuremaa

Kuremaa
Kuremaa manor windmill
Kuremaa
Coordinates: 58°44′12″N 26°31′21″E / 58.73667°N 26.52250°E / 58.73667; 26.52250Coordinates: 58°44′12″N 26°31′21″E / 58.73667°N 26.52250°E / 58.73667; 26.52250
Country	Estonia
County	Jõgeva County
Population (2009)
• Total	367
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
Website	http://www.kuremaa.eu/

Kuremaa is a small borough (alevik) in Jõgeva Parish, Jõgeva County in eastern Estonia. It lies 10 km from Jõgeva, near the northern shore of Lake Kuremaa, the 11th largest lake in Estonia. Kuremaa features an estate that was owned by the von Oettingen family until the early 20th century. Part of the estate's manor house is now a museum, its windmill is a popular landmark, and its terraced gardens reach down to the shore of Lake Kuremaa.

The first known mention of Kuremaa is in historical records dated 1582, where it is referred to as Korymek. Other names used in historical texts include Kurremois, Jensel, and Jenselhof. According to , a noted Estonian historian, Johann Wrangel established a manor at Kuremaa in the middle of the 16th century. The region fell to the Polish at the end of the Livonian War and the manor was passed to Andreas Chotkowsky, but later returned to the Wrangel family when Fabian Wrangel bought it in 1598. The manor farm went through a number of possessions in the following centuries, and during its most successful periods supported a large number of peasants.

Estimated population in 2009 was 367 inhabitants. The lake's beach is the only public one in the county and draws many visitors, so many of the residents of Kuremaa today are employed in the tourism and hospitality industries, such as running guest houses, operating water sports on the lake, and managing and maintaining the manor house and its grounds for visitors.

After returning to the Wrangels at the end of the 16th century, the manor farm came into the possession of the notable Ungern-Sternberg family around the middle of the 17th century, presumably by purchase. Moritz Wilhelm then bought the farm in 1766 after having been severely wounded in the Seven Years' War. He let the farm until his death in 1783, bequeathing it to his son. Ill-managed afterwards, the estate eventually went bankrupt and was acquired in 1810 by Liivimaa Krediidiühing to pay off the farm's debts. Eleven years later it was sold to Reinhold Wilhelm , and in 1828 it was inherited by his grandson Karl Eduard von Liphart.