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National partisans commanded by Rihards Pārups were very active during World War II between Vietalva and Jaunkalsnava. The team was disbanded in 1946. The dugout is at a location that is hard to find and access. It is in the nature reserve of the Veseta Wetlands Swamp. The wood pathway that leads from the East is often hidden by reeds during the summer. During the fierce winter of 2010, the roof of the dugout collapsed, but local enthusiasts plan to reconstruct it. Alongside the dugout is a white cross inscribed with the names of the partisans who lost their lives here.
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The Staldzene Zenith Missile Brigade used a large territory and a number of major buildings. Some of these are now privately owned, and a fish smoking facility has been installed at one of them.
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The Soviet Border Guard arrived at Lapmežciems (its border with Ragaciems) in the mid-1960s and left in 1991. Some 50 military personnel were stationed here. The military personnel and local residents organised various events and celebrations. The only thing that worried locals was a radar which was said to cause various problems. The zenith missiles were dismantled and taken away in 1991. An apartment building is still on what was then the military base. |
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This is the rumoured location of a military aviation engine testing laboratory. The territory is now industrial and locked off, and nothing remains to suggest that such a lab was ever really there.
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Few Soviet military objects are associated with more legends than this one. During Soviet times, this was a reserve airfield, as well as a storage site (just 50 kilometres from the republic’s capital city) for nuclear weapons. These were hidden in two cement hangars that were covered with soil and vegetation. Public information suggests that an RX-24 nuclear bomb weighing 430 kg and a RX-26 nuclear bomb weighing 1,030 kg were stored here, as were air-to-land missiles equipped with nuclear explosives. If there had been an accident here, what would have happened to Rīga, to Latvia, to the Baltic States and to Northern Europe? The airfield is a closed territory today.
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The Lūžņa radio equipment company was part of the Naval Border Guard in Soviet Times. The car park in the centre of Lūžņa offers a fine view of the former military complex. Some buildings are used as apartment buildings at this time.
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A memorial to Finnish soldiers in
Klapkalnciems – five such soldiers from
World War I are buried here. The memorial
was first installed in 1929, but it was
destroyed by the Soviet authorities. It was
recreated in May 2004. The Lapmežciems
Museum features photographs and more
information about the Finnish soldiers.
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This coast guard facility was housed in a building that used to be a maritime school. In the post-Soviet era, accommodations were offered at the building. The coast guard tower is one of the best-preserved objects of its kind along the Latvian shoreline.
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The first Dnyestr-M radar station was opened here in 1969 to calculate the trajectories of ballistic missiles. The trajectories of satellites were also calculated here. The range of the radar station was 5,000 km. In 1972, construction began on a second, more modern radar, the Dnyepr-M. In 1977, it was ready for use, and the first radar was modernised at the same time. The two radars were located in buildings that were 250 m long and 17 m high. During a 24/hour period, they could identify the height, speed and flight trajectory of up to 750 space objects. In 1985, work began on a third, even more modern radar – the Daryal-YM. This was a radar that could “peek” across the horizon. The antenna building was 117 m high (19 stories), 80 m long and 80 m wide. It had a planned range of 6,000 km, but it was not completed. After the withdrawal of the Russian army in 1995, the building was blown up. That cost LVL 6,172,311 and used up 360 kg of explosives. The territory of the radar stations took up 1,072 hectares, with barracks, a hotel, 551 apartments, a medical facility, a water tower, a war hospital, a bomb shelter, etc. The aim of the facility was to monitor space above Western Europe and North America, as well as to “intercept” any ballistic missiles that were fired at the USSR. The territory is closed to visitors, but it is an important part of Latvia’s military heritage. The abandoned territory can be viewed from the outside. The nearby bus stop is called “Kombināts.” This was the only facility of its kind in the Baltic States. !!! Since March 2018 the Skrunda army base is closed for visitors. |
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This former training route runs through the shoreline forests from the northern part of Ventspils (there was once a tank division in Ziemeļu Street there) all the way to Ovīši. Today it is a wide, sandy and overgrown track.
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One of the largest tank bases in the Baltic War District was located during Soviet times just South of Gardene. The territory has largely been abandoned, and there are just a few remnants of the buildings that were once there. If you drive down the Dobele-Annenieki road, you will find a paved military road splitting off from it. It is still used today. The buildings and urban planning of Gardene are also of interest – during the Soviet era, soldiers and their families lived there.
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There are several partly preserved buildings here, but there is a lack of information as to what they were used for. The reason why the buildings are in such sad shape is that people have removed parts of them to use as building materials.
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Metsavenna Farm organises forest brethren (or brothers) expeditions for visitors to search out forest brothers in their hideouts, visit an underground bunker, hear true stories of life after WWII, have a taste of home-brew and sing old songs along with the master. The more adventurous can stay a night in the bunker, while in winter a sledding hill is opened for snowy downhill rides. |
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Viens no parka neparastākajiem vēstures objektiem, kas apvīts ar daudzām leģendām un noslēpumiem, par kuriem vēl joprojām nelabprāt izsakās ar to saistītie cilvēki. Zināms, ka bāzi laikā no 1960. – 1962. g. ļoti stingrā slepenībā cēla ~ 10 000 kareivji no citām padomju republikām. Pazemes ejas bija būvētas tā, lai pa tām varētu pārvietoties tikai maza auguma cilvēki. Zem zemes atradās 4 šahtas, no kurām varēja palaist vidējā rādiusa ballistiskās raķetes R – 12 U ar kodolgalviņām. Blakus atradās apkalpojošā personāla telpas, elektrības ģenerators, sakaru centrs u.c. Līdz 2010. g. bāzi varēja apskatīt vietējā gida pavadībā. Tagad to rekonstruē un 2012. g. plāno atklāt Aukstā kara muzeju. Bāze atrodas austrumos no Plateļu ezera, liela meža masīva vidū. |
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This battery is easiest to find if you walk on the beach, because one of its four positions is right there, rinsed by the waves of the sea. Other positions, including a telescope tower, are in the pine forest not far from the coast. The battery was installed in the 1940s, and you can see the Northern Forts from here.
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Ein am Ende des 19. Jh. gebautes Teil der Festung. Ein Museum, das Verbrechen totalitäre Regimes gegen Menschlichkeit wiederspiegelt. |
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A rare monument survives in Skulte – a Soviet-era jet bomber, the IL-28, which supposedly was equipped to carry winged missiles. The airplane is on three cement pedestals.
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The zenith missile brigade and its communications headquarters were used for the provision, planning and co-ordination of radio communications. The object is all but abandoned, but it is owned by the Latvian Repatriation Centre and the Christian Mission.
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The communications facility in the forests of Bārta has been abandoned and is not being used other than for dismantling of buildings to obtain building materials.
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The air defence radar facilities at the Liepāja airport in Cimdenieki are gone now, although the man-made terrain in the area remains interesting today.
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