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Latvia
(Latvija)
The Teutonic Knights, German crusaders intent on the conversion of Baltic tribes to Christianity, had completed their conquest of Latvia and southern Estonia — then known as Livonia — in 1290.  Seeking access to the Baltic Sea, Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible instigated the Livonian War in 1558, defeating the Teutonic Knights in 1561.  The free city of Riga was incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1581, while the western portion of modern-day Latvia became the autonomous Duchy of Courland. 
Russia ultimately lost the Livonian War in 1583, and Sweden conquered much of Livonia in the 1620s, but lost this territory to Russia during the Great Northern War (1700-21).  Latvian coat-of-arms By 1795, Russia controlled all of modern-day Latvia.  Despite the abolition of serfdom in Latvia, German and Russian landowners continued to dominate the political scene.
In World War I, Latvia was overrun by the German army, which continued to exercise political control after the end of the war.  Latvia declared independence from Russia, and repelled a Bolshevik invasion in 1919, only to succumb to a German-sponsored coup.  Latvian autonomy was reestablished only in 1920.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Soviets occupied the Baltic states, and annexed them to the USSR in 1940.  More than 30,000 Latvians were deported or executed in the first year of Soviet occupation.  Nazi German forces invaded Latvia the following year, and began systematically exterminating the Jewish population.  The Red Army resumed control in 1944, and at least 100,000 Latvians suspected of opposing the Communist regime were executed or sent to Siberia by 1949.
Latvia was rapidly industrialized under Soviet rule, and became one of the most urbanized Soviet republics.  Latvia achieved independence in 1991, but Russia maintained a radar facility on its territory until 1998.  Latvia has also had difficulty coming to terms with its large Russian-speaking minority, which has found citizenship hard to obtain despite making up about 30 percent of the population.

Memorial to Latvian riflemen from the First World War, with the Occupation Museum in the background

Riga (Rīga) UNESCO World Heritage List

 Statue of Roland in front of the House of the Blackheads, reconstructed in 2001 to honor the city's 800th birthday

Latvia's capital — and the largest city in the Baltic region — began as a medieval German colony.  In fact, Germans made up the majority of the population as late as the 19th century.
The "reconstruction" of Riga's town hall based on brand-new plans proved controversial

St. John's Church, with a copy of a famous statue from Bremen

 Rātslaukums (Town Hall Square) View of St. Peter's Church from Town Hall Square

St. Peter's was rebuilt after a 1677 fire
Bishop Albert von Buxhoevden of Bremen — founder of the Knights of the Sword, a crusading order bent on converting the local Letts and Livs to Christianity — established a fort here in 1201.
17th-century Baroque portal of St. Peter's Church
View from the tower of St. Peter's towards the south German merchants soon transformed the settlement into an important commercial center. View west towards the Daugava river, with the town hall and cathedral
  Looking down from the tower towards St. John's  

 
The city became one of the first members of the Hanseatic League in 1282. In 1237, the local Livonian order was absorbed by the powerful Teutonic Knights.
Heading towards the Calvinist church on Alksnāja iela (street), south of St. Peter's Building a castle in 1330, the knights competed with the church for control of the city, until reaching an agreement to share power in 1452. 17th-century warehouse building on Vecpilsētas iela
  17th-century house of Johannes Reitern on Mārstaļu iela  

 
The German merchants resisted this domination, and repeatedly revolted against the authorities.

Like other northern German cities, Riga adopted Lutheranism during the Reformation.
Doma laukums (Cathedral Square) Riga stock exchange (left) & Latvian state radio building (right), on Cathedral Square View of the cathedral from the corner of Smilšu & Jēkaba streets
Riga was finally declared a free city in 1561, but soon came under Polish-Lithuanian authority.  Sweden preserved its autonomy after gaining control of the city in 1621.
Krāmu iela near the corner of Jauniela, with the cathedral spire in the background Stained glass exhibition inside the cathedral cloisters 18th-century steeple of the 13th-century cathedral
  14th-century Pulvertornis (Powder Tower), the last remaining tower of the original city walls  
Jēkaba kazarmas (Jacob's Barracks), along Torņa iela Inside the city walls along, Trokšņu iela
Russia made repeated attempts to capture Riga, first in the 1650s and again in 1701, before Peter the Great finally secured the city in 1710.
The Swedes built this gate into the city walls in 1698, when they controlled the city Entrance to St. Jacob's Cathedral, seat of the Catholic archbishop Museum of Architecture on Mazā Pils iela, part of a trio of buildings known as the "Trīs brāļi" (Three Brothers)
  Steeples of the cathedral, St. Peter's, and the Anglican Church, as seen from the Vanšu Bridge  
View from the Vanšu Bridge of the Riga Castle, built by the Knights of the Sword in 1330 Entrance to the Riga Castle, home to the Latvian president
Anglican Church, built in 1861 on a foundation of earth brought from England Dome of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral Orthodox iconostasis inside the cathedral The cathedral was built in the late 19th century, during Russian rule
Riga eventually developed to be the third largest city in Russia, after St. Petersburg & Moscow.
Monument to Jānis Rainis on the Esplanade, wth the Orthodox cathedral in the background Freedom Monument on Brīvības Boulevard, erected in 1935 Laura in Bastejkalns park, along the foundations of the old city walls
Detail of an Art Nouveau house on Šķūņu iela

The city became an important manufacturing center, and the world's busiest timber port. 

Feline finial atop the "Cat House" on Meistaru iela
View of the National Opera House across the Pilsētas kanāls Riga Congress House
Art Nouveau entrance on Jauniela The Great Guild on Meistaru iela was remodelled in the 19th century Fanciful facade at Smilšu iela 2
Art Nouveau entrance on Meistaru iela Riga also boasts some of the best Art Nouveau architecture in Europe, which dates from this period. Office building at Smilšu iela 8 (note our reflections in the window)
Detail of the building at Smilšu iela 10 Corner of Smilšu & Jēkaba streets Elizabetes iela 10b was built by Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the famous Soviet filmmaker
Detail from Elizabetes iela 33, across the street from 10b     Elizabetes iela 10a is another Eisenstein creation
Eclectic entrance on Antoniļas iela, also by Eisenstein
Occupied by the German army during the first world war, Riga emerged as the capital of an independent Latvian republic in 1918.
Eisenstein constructed this building at Alberta iela 13, on the corner of Strēlnieku iela, in 1904 Detail of Alberta iela 13, now a graduate school of law Strēlnieku iela 4, around the corner from Eisenstein's law school building
Soviet troops occupied Riga in June 1940, but were expelled a year later by German forces.  The Red Army reoccupied the city in October 1944.
The house at Alberta iela 12 by K. Pēkšēns is now a museum dedicated to painter Jānis Rozentāls Eisenstein is responsible for at least half a dozen buildings on Alberta iela, including this house at #4 Alberta iela 6
  Detail of the entrance to Alberta iela 4  
Alberta iela 2a features a false upper storey Another look at Strēlnieku iela 4
During the Soviet occupation, Riga attracted numerous Russian and other Slavic immigrants, who now make up the majority of the population.  In the meantime, the proportion of native Latvians has declined to about 40% of the city's residents.

We visited Riga in August 2004 — during our "Baltic Adventures" to Poland, Latvia & Lithuania — staying in the empty apartment of a fellow Olmsted scholar who happened to be traveling in Bulgaria at the time.

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Craig & Laura Chronicles in store!

This page was first published 14 February 2005, and last updated 27 October 2005.

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