The Trakehnen stud farm served as a supply facility for the entire province. Its history began as a reconstruction aid after the plague years at the beginning of the 18th century. The Prussian king ordered the foundation of the "Royal Stuutambts Trakehnen" in the northeast of the province. In 1732, 1,101 horses were brought together here. They formed the basis of a stud farm initially privately owned by the Prussian kings. It was not until 1786 that the state took over the establishment and ran it as the "Royal Prussian Stud Farm Trakehnen".
In its heyday after 1920, Trakehnen was a self-sufficient major agricultural enterprise on over 6,000 hectares with 16 outlying estates. About 3,000 employees and their families lived together like in a village. The centre of social life was the country stable master’s house. Today Trakehnen lies in the Russian part of East Prussia and is called Yasnaya Polyana. There is no horse breeding there anymore. The country stable master’s house now serves as a school.
Illustration:
Portrait of Wilhelm von Burgsdorf (1775-1849). Lithography by A. Schamberg, 1839. As the chief stable master in Trakehnen (1808-1814) he brought the horses of the stud farm to safety in Upper Silesia in 1812/13 protecting them against the great army of Napoleon I. From 1815 to 1842 he rebuilt the Trakehner horse breeding as the country stable master, improved stallion breeding e.g. by buying thoroughbred horses in England, established depots for military horses and enlarged the estate of the main stud by four outlying estates.