HISTORY

Tõrva used to be a part of Helme parish, one of the oldest parishes in Estonia. The first written records of Helme date back to 1329, when there was a battle with the Lithuanians at the Helme church.
Helme parish was a part of the ancient Mulgimaa region.
The time of the first human settlement in Helme is not known, but there have been a few archaeological finds from the Stone Age. Some stone burial places are among the few finds of the Early Iron Age. Relatively more is left from the second half of the first millenium. The ancient stronghold on Tõrva Tantsumägi ('Dance Hill') dates back to that particular period.

The site of the ancient stronghold was discovered only in 1930 by the local teacher Ernst Karolin.
The Tantsumägi stronghold at Tõrva was the fort of ancient Estonians, one of the most important centres of Southern Sakalamaa region. The stronghold was most probably erected during the 12th-13th century.
The first written records of Tõrva go back 130 years in time and are about the inn at the crossing of Valga, Pärnu and Tartu roads. The inn has remained till today. It has been rebuilt and is the most important historical sight in the town.
According to a folk story there once was a man called Tõnis who made tar ('tõrv' in Estonian) from fir and pine cones in the local woods and this is how the place got its name. People have also called Tõrva mockingly a 'pitch town'.

Very little is known about Tõrva and Helme during the ancient fight for freedom in the 3rd century. As Helme was a part of Sakala county, the local people were baptized in 1215. Helme belonged to the Order of the Sword (later the Livonian Order) from 1224. Some of the battles of the Great Northern War were fought in this region.

The Russians, led by B. Seremetyev, defeated the Swedish army in the battle of Hummuli on July 18, 1702.
It took some time to recover from the war, but according to records there were schools in Helme in 1749. In the same year there were 352 farms in Helme and 48 in Taagepera. There was also a church in Taagepera, built in 1674. In 1774 Helme parish had a population of 7375.

In 1871 the lord of Helme and Patküla manors, von Stryk, who also owned the forest, started selling plots of land at clearings. The first houses were built at the crossroads of the present Veski, Viljandi and Tartu streets during 1875-1892. One of the oldest buildings that have preserved till today is the left wing of Veski 2, Tultsi windmill at Veski 9 from the 1880s and of course the inn at Valga 1, which was built in 1890 on the spot of a wooden building that was destroyed in a fire.
The buildings at Veski 1, 2, 4, 5 are from the same time.

The settlement grew larger when more farms were built. The village around Tõrva inn grew into an important market for the local farmers where farm hands were hired and country fairs were held.
Regardless of different occupations the real rulers of the peasants were still the Baltic landlords. Helme was first a part of the Livonian Province, of Pärnu county till 1888 and after that Viljandi county.

The life of peasants become slightly easier after the abolishment of serfdom in Livonia in 1819. The peasants could decide local matters in communal councils. Conversion to Orthodoxy in the 1840s was not very active in Helme - only 17.1 % of the population changed faith, which is very little compared to the other communes in the region. An Orthodox congregation was established in Tõrva only in 1880.
Administratively the part of Tõrva that was on the left bank of the River Õhne was in Helme commune and the left bank in Patküla commune.
Economic development brought about the social stratification among the peasants. Tõrva became the economic and cultural centre of the region, and also the market for farm hands and servants for larger farmsteads. The settlement grew around the old inn (the present inn is from 1890).
There were a number of different societies. The Society of Tõrva Voluntary Firemen was founded in 1892. The houses constructed by this society became the centres of local social life. Helme-Tõrva Educational Society was founded in 1908 and they also started the local library. In 1904 the Savings and Loan Association of Helme was founded, one of the first (the second in fact) co-operative financial associations in Estonia.

In 1890-1892 there are about 20 houses and appr. 400 people living in Tõrva.

There were no violent acts in Tõrva during the revolution of 1905.
In 1909 there were 150 houses with 1750 inhabitants in Tõrva.
During World War I many Latvians fled to Tõrva. A number of men were mobilised. Tõrva Secondary School was founded on Nov 15, 1917.

The Bolshevist coup in 1917 did not promise anything good: recruitment to the Red Army and the establishment of a tribunal. The German troops arrived here in February 1918 and put an end to all that. After the Germans left in October 1918, Helme and Tõrva had a peculiar status for some weeks - the Estonian Republic did not reach that far and the Bolsheviks had not yet arrived. Still, on the last days of December the Bolsheviks occupied Helme and Tõrva, but they could advance only as far as Kärstna.
The Estonians counterattacked, but had to fight hard and long - Tõrva fell three times in the hands of the Bolsheviks. The final liberation of Helme-Tõrva took place on Jan 30, 1919. In the later course of the War of Independence no battles were fought in the Helme region, though in 1919 the situation became quite threatening.

Several local men were awarded the Cross of Freedom. There was also one woman among the awarded - Salme Bergmann. The ones that fell were not forgotten either. A metal cross was erected on the grave of the men killed in the battle of Roobe on Jan. 22, 1919. The memorial (by A. Eller) to the fallen in the War of Independence was opened in the park of Tõrva Secondary School on Oct. 14, 1928. The money was collected from the people and the debt was finally paid in 1937.
A number of outstanding leaders of the war came from Helme and Tõrva - Major General T.Soots and A. Jaakson, Lieutenant General P.Löll, Lieutenant Colonel F. Pönka, who was also a commander of the scout battalion, and others.

The region of Helme and Tõrva developed rapidly during the years of independence. That was especially true for Tõrva, which was the fastest growing town in Estonia in the 1920s - almost 100 new inhabitants every year. Yet the living standard was not very high which had an effect on the results of the elections.

In the Parliament elections of 1929 the Socialists got 43.3% of the votes and farmers´associations 27.2% of the votes.
Tõrva became a separate administrative unit on Sept. 1, 1921. The introducing of national building loans gave a considerable boost to the development of Tõrva. Large scale construction works started in 1922 and just in the 1930s over 100 new buildings were erected.
Also the population of the town grew - while in 1922 it was 1810 (795 men and 1015 women), in 1932 it was already 2482 (1063 men, 1419 women).
On the request of the people Tõrva was officially declared a town on Jan 1, 1927. There were some disputes over the name of the town. People called it a " tar town" or "pitch town". Some suggested Helme, but finally they decided on Tõrva.
This opened up new opportunities for the town.

The local farms focused more on dairy cattle and meat production became less important. Helme Dairy Association made excellent butter - it was highly appreciated in the Berlin fair in 1937. Several country fairs, courses and contests were organized - including milking competitions.
Tõrva was the centre of Helme-Tõrva region. By 1940 its population was already over 3000. There were no large enterprises but a number of different craftsmen - about 20 taylors, 10 cobblers, 5 watchmakers, three or four photographers. There were 6-7 taxis and over 50 shops.
The town had two banks - Helme Union Bank (the present post office) and Tõrva Union Bank (the present hospital).
Tõrva had a secondary school (rebuilt in 1938), a new primary school and Patküla primary school (for children from Helme commune). Patküla school was founded in 1767 and in 1923 had moved into the building of a former parish school. There were some attemps to publish a local paper. The first one was called "The Tõrva Gazette" (1922), but all the attemps proved to be unsuccessful due to financial difficulties.
The town had a people´s court, a police station and the Communal Council of Helme (since Apr.1, 1939). There were 4-5 doctors and two retirement homes. There were no hospitals and the transport of patients caused a lot of problems. Tõrva had a bus connection with towns in the neighbourhood. There were plans of building a railroad from Valga, but it never materialized.
The main venue for social activities was the hall of the Fire Station. They even managed to stage operettas - "Victoria and her Hussar". There was a tennis club and people went gliding.
The foundation of the quick development of Tõrva were the successful farms of Helme, which gave work for traders and craftsmen. The town had its own power station. One of the most noteworthy mayors was M.Reisenbuk, who contributed a lot to the appearance of the town. Many parks and alleys were created in 1934.
The construction works of Tõrva Town Hall began on July 3, 1936. The construction of Helme Union Bank was completed on Dec. 1, 1938 and on May 14, 1939 Tõrva Union Bank received its foundation stone.
Tõrva was officially declared a summer resort on April 21, 1937.
The town had developed into a lovely garden town and a resort before World War II. In 1940 there were appr. 3200 inhabitants and 440 houses.

June of 1940 brought about a drastic change in the life of Tõrva. On June 23 there was the so-called "workers`demonstartion". The first year of Soviet occupation was not that long but resulted in nationalization, the confiscation of land of larger farms and terror. During the deportation of June 1941 13 people from Helme and a lot more from Tõrva were deported to Siberia. Majority of the men were shot or died in the camps, women and children came back.
When the war broke out on June 22, 1941, there were no major battles in Tõrva-Helme region. In July the "invincible Red Army" retreated so quickly the Germans could barely keep up with them.
Several people lost their lives.

The time of German occupation was a comparatively peaceful period. Helme and Tõrva suffered severe losses in September 1944 when there were fierce battles at the River Väike - Emajõgi which lasted some weeks. Retreating Germans destroyed over a third of all the buildings in Tõrva. A number of farms were destroyed in Helme.
Almost a half of the town was destroyed during the autumn of 1944 (only 214 buildings were left).
Most of the brick buildings in the town centre could be restored. Tõrva was a regional centre during 1950-1959. The local cinema is from that period. Tõrva Consumers` Co-operative was in charge of most of the commerce.

Arrests started soon with the new Soviet occupation. 127 people from Helme were deported to Siberia during the mass deportation of 1949. The stronger ones came back after the death of Stalin.
Johannes Ustal, a long-time pastor of Helme congregation, was arrested in 1948 and died later far away from Estonia. He was accused of communicating with the partisans
As the church was destroyed, the services were held in the chapel of the Fraternity of the Moravians. Tõrva became a religious center and Helme congregation with the parish Valter Vaasa stayed active during the whole Soviet era.

The situation in farms was rather depressing after the mass deportation. The production decreased, people were paid virtually nothing for their work.
The reconstruction work of the town started soon after the war was over.

Life became slightly better when Khrushchev became the leader. People started to get money for their work and more goods became available in shops. Helme-Tõrva region became the most prosperous part of Valga region. There were large construction and agricultural enterprises, which gave work for hundreds of people. There was large scale construction in those years - like the new living districts at Ritsu and Riiska. Due to Soviet red tape the construction was scattered - e.g. the gyms were built at inappropriate places. There was an active social scene with a number of societies. Patriotic spirit had not died - somebody hoisted the national blue-black and white flag in the tower of the town council on May 1, 1962.
Cinema Koit was built in 1954. During 1950 -55 Tõrva was the administrative centre of a region of the same name. Valga Construction Centre of Collective Farms was formed in 1956 and was the largest enterprise in Tõrva. In 1963 Valga Dairy Factory was founded in Tõrva on the basis of Helme Dairy.
There were developments in educational sphere - the secondary school got an annex, two childcare centres were built. One of the most popular societies was the Gardening and Apicultural Society, led by L.Tangsoo and L.Nagelmaa. The society members helped to found a heritage museum at the former Helme vicarage in 1979. In the Soviet system the local governments in Helme and Tõrva had very little power and even fewer financial resources.

With Gorbachov and perestroika the political scene became much more active. Helme-Tõrva Heritage Society (chairman A.Parts) was founded in 1987, a support group of the Popular Front in 1988. They organized a meeting in the hall of Tõrva Secondary School on Oct. 16, 1988. The meeting was chaired by P.Laipaik and after several speeches the participants went to the former Patküla communal council to reopen a memorial tablet to the fallen in the War of Independence and the victims of the Red Terror. The tablet had been hidden there on Feb. 24, 1939. Local authorities supported this.
People took an active part in the Baltic Chain (a human chain from Tallinn to Vinius) on Aug. 23, 1989. All companies and organization provided transport for that. Locals participated in the Citizens' Committees Movement. S.Orgse and A.Parts were elected delegates to the Congress of Estonia. The Defence Union and the Estonian National Independence Party were founded. One of the major national events was the restauration of the memorial to the War of Independence. Only one foundation stone had remained of it. The restauration was initiated by H.Villemson, P.Laipaik, A.Parts and J.Loorits and supported by the whole community.

Local companies and organizations provided financial support and the sculptor A.Ennet and the stonemason Ploom reconstructed the monument. It was opened on June 23, 1990. Several memorial stones and tablets were opened on the initiative of the Heritage Society. Financial support came from local organizations. The memorials in the park at the town council and Helme Vocational School were in memory of the the people who faught for the independence (J.Soots, P.Lill) and for the people murdered in July 1941.
The coup of 1991 passed peacefully in Helme-Tõrva. Nobody had any wish to defend the Soviet regime and on Aug. 20, 1991 the Estonian independence was re-established.
The status of the local government of Tõrva was certified on Jan. 30, 1992.

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