Great Cemetery (Riga)
Encyclopedia
The Great Cemetery was formerly the principal cemetery
of Riga
in Latvia
, established in 1773. It was the main burial ground of the Baltic Germans in Latvia.
Extensive damage and removal of many headstones and graves by the Soviet authorities governing the Latvian SSR
after 1945 led to the suspension of burials and the eventual conversion of the burial ground to a public park
. Despite this, a significant number of old graves have survived to this day.
The 22-hectare property is currently owned by the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church
.
, decreed that from that point onwards no-one, regardless of their social standing or class origins, was to be buried in a church crypt
or churchyard
; all burials were to take place in the new cemeteries to be built throughout the entire Russian empire, which were to be located outside town boundaries.
These measures were intended to overcome the congestion of urban church crypts and graveyards, and were prompted by a number of outbreaks of highly contagious diseases linked to inadequate burial practices in urban areas, especially the black plague which had led to the Plague Riot
in Moscow
in 1771.
Against this background the Great Cemetery in Riga was founded in 1773. It served as a burial ground for over 170 years for almost all Baltic Germans who died in the city between 1773 and 1944.
One of the first to be (re-)buried there was the founder of the city, Albert of Riga, whose remains were exhumed
from one of the city's main churches and transferred to the cemetery in 1773.
.
Burials at the cemetery continued on a much smaller scale until 1944, principally among those Baltic Germans who had refused Hitler's call to leave the region.
s and grave
s were removed or destroyed by the Soviet authorities during the second occupation of the Baltic states.
In 1957 the cemetery was closed completely for any further burials and began to fall in disrepair.
In 1967 or 1969 the city council decided to bulldoze large sections of the cemetery in order to transform it into a public memorial Park.
The Russian Orthodox section of the cemetery, later named Pokrov Cemetery
, is the only area which was not added to the territory of the Memorial Park and therefore was the only part to remain well preserved.
and Krišjānis Valdemārs
, have survived the post-war destruction.
However, many of these graves are in an abandoned or neglected condition.
The city of Riga is currently discussing exchanging St Peter's Church for the Great Cemetery so that the city can properly take over maintenance.
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
of Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, established in 1773. It was the main burial ground of the Baltic Germans in Latvia.
Extensive damage and removal of many headstones and graves by the Soviet authorities governing the Latvian SSR
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
after 1945 led to the suspension of burials and the eventual conversion of the burial ground to a public park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
. Despite this, a significant number of old graves have survived to this day.
The 22-hectare property is currently owned by the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988.The Church is governed by a...
.
Origins
Between 1771 and 1772, Catherine the Great, empress of the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, decreed that from that point onwards no-one, regardless of their social standing or class origins, was to be buried in a church crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
or churchyard
Churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
; all burials were to take place in the new cemeteries to be built throughout the entire Russian empire, which were to be located outside town boundaries.
These measures were intended to overcome the congestion of urban church crypts and graveyards, and were prompted by a number of outbreaks of highly contagious diseases linked to inadequate burial practices in urban areas, especially the black plague which had led to the Plague Riot
Plague Riot
Plague Riot was a riot in Moscow in 1771 between September 15 and September 17, caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague.-History:...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1771.
Against this background the Great Cemetery in Riga was founded in 1773. It served as a burial ground for over 170 years for almost all Baltic Germans who died in the city between 1773 and 1944.
One of the first to be (re-)buried there was the founder of the city, Albert of Riga, whose remains were exhumed
Exhumed
Exhumed may refer to:*Exhumation*Exhumed , a first-person shooter*Exhumed , a deathgrind band* Exhumed Films, a Philadelphia-based "organization* Exhumed river channel, a ridge of sandstone...
from one of the city's main churches and transferred to the cemetery in 1773.
Final burials 1939–1944
Burials at the cemetery were drastically reduced after Hitler's forced transfer, under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, of tens of thousands of Baltic Germans from Latvia in late 1939 to occupied areas in western PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Burials at the cemetery continued on a much smaller scale until 1944, principally among those Baltic Germans who had refused Hitler's call to leave the region.
Situation after 1944
Hundreds of headstoneHeadstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. In most cases they have the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on them, along with a personal message, or prayer.- Use :...
s and grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
s were removed or destroyed by the Soviet authorities during the second occupation of the Baltic states.
In 1957 the cemetery was closed completely for any further burials and began to fall in disrepair.
In 1967 or 1969 the city council decided to bulldoze large sections of the cemetery in order to transform it into a public memorial Park.
The Russian Orthodox section of the cemetery, later named Pokrov Cemetery
Pokrov Cemetery
Pokrov Cemetery is a wide cemetery in Riga built in 1773. The current owner of the cemetery is Shelter of Our Most Holy Lady Church who are renting the land....
, is the only area which was not added to the territory of the Memorial Park and therefore was the only part to remain well preserved.
Current status
A significant number of Baltic German and Latvian graves and family plots, including a restored crypt built in 1777 and the graves of Krišjānis BaronsKrišjanis Barons
Krišjānis Barons is known as the "father of the dainas" thanks largely to his systematization of the Latvian folk songs and his labour in preparing their texts for publication in Latvju dainas. His portrait appears on the 100-lat banknote, the only human face of a living person on modern Latvian...
and Krišjānis Valdemārs
Krišjanis Valdemars
Krišjānis Valdemārs was a writer, editor, educator, politician, lexicographer, folklorist and economist, the spiritual leader of the first Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvia...
, have survived the post-war destruction.
However, many of these graves are in an abandoned or neglected condition.
The city of Riga is currently discussing exchanging St Peter's Church for the Great Cemetery so that the city can properly take over maintenance.
Notable interments
- Albert of Riga, founder of the city (his remains were transferred here in 1773)
- Christoph Haberland, one of Riga's chief architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
s - Johann Christoph BrotzeJohann Christoph BrotzeJohann Christoph Brotze was a famous German pedagogue and ethnographer.Brotze was born in Görlitz, Electorate of Saxony. He studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, and was also skilled at technical drawing...
, pedagogue and ethnographer - Krišjānis BaronsKrišjanis BaronsKrišjānis Barons is known as the "father of the dainas" thanks largely to his systematization of the Latvian folk songs and his labour in preparing their texts for publication in Latvju dainas. His portrait appears on the 100-lat banknote, the only human face of a living person on modern Latvian...
, latvian folklorist - Jānis Fridrihs BaumanisJānis Fridrihs BaumanisJānis Frīdrihs Baumanis was first professional Latvian architect. Baumanis designed the Riga Circus in 1888. He was responsible for a number of important Eclectic public buildings constructed in the second half of the 19th century in Riga.- Biography :Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis was born in 1834 in...
, Latvian architect - Andrejs PumpursAndrejs PumpursAndrejs Pumpurs was a poet who penned the Latvian epic Lāčplēsis and a prominent figure in the Young Latvia movement.Growing up on both banks of the Daugava river, he was one of three children from the civil...
, Latvian poet and writer. - Johann Daniel FelskoJohann FelskoJohann Daniel Felsko , was an architect, urban planner and the chief architect of Riga for 35 years in the period 1844—79...
, architect. - Wilhelm OstwaldWilhelm OstwaldFriedrich Wilhelm Ostwald was a Baltic German chemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities...
, chemist, awarded with Nobel prizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895... - Jāzeps GrosvaldsJazeps GrosvaldsJazeps Grosvalds was a Latvian painter from Riga. He is now regarded as one of Latvia's finest painters and has several works on display in the Latvian National Museum of Art. His style is a combination of European Modernism and Abstract with a distinctly Latvian influence...
, Latvian painter - Georg August SchweinfurthGeorg August SchweinfurthGeorg August Schweinfurth was a Baltic German botanist, traveller in East Central Africa and ethnologist....
, botanist, ethnologist - Krišjānis ValdemārsKrišjanis ValdemarsKrišjānis Valdemārs was a writer, editor, educator, politician, lexicographer, folklorist and economist, the spiritual leader of the first Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvia...
, leader of the Young LatvianYoung LatviansYoung Latvians is the term most often applied to the intellectuals of the first Latvian National Awakening , active from the 1850s to the 1880s. "Jaunlatvieši" is also sometimes translated as "New Latvians," but "Young Latvians" is the more accurate term because it was modeled on the Young Germany...
movement. - George Armitstead, MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Riga from 1901 to 1912
See also
- Brothers' Cemetery (Riga)Brothers' Cemetery (Riga)The Brothers' Cemetery or Cemetery of the Brethren , also sometimes referred to in English as the Common Graves or simply as the Military Cemetery, is a military cemetery and national monument in Riga, capital of Latvia....
- RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
- Kopli cemeteryKopli cemeteryKopli cemetery was Estonia's largest Lutheran Baltic German cemetery, located in the suburb of Kopli in Tallinn. It contained thousands of graves of prominent citizens of Tallinn and stood for over 170 years from 1774 to shortly after World War II when it was completely flattened and destroyed by...
- Baltic Germans
- Nazi-Soviet population transfersNazi-Soviet population transfersThe Nazi–Soviet population transfers were a series of population transfers between 1939 and 1941 of tens of thousands of ethnic Germans and ethnic Russians in an agreement according to the German–Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Demarcation between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.-...
Sources
External links
- Present-day photo of the cemetery
- Present-day photo of one of the large old mausoleums at the cemetery
- Another photo of surviving mausoleums
- Series of photos of the former cemetery in the winter 2007
- Great Cemetery 360 degree panorama
- Pastors' memorial Photos of memorial to German and Latvian pastors killed by communists in 1919 at sites-of-memory.de
