The Daugavgriva fortress

This unique fortress was built during the Swedish era, and over the course of the ages it has been controlled by different forces, with different flags flying above its ramparts. After the restoration of Latvia’s independence, the fortress was turned over to the Navy, but eventually it waived its right to this historical and cultural monument, and after a bid for tenders, a private company took it over. The new owners promised to improve and restore the territory, but they didn’t. A conflict emerged with the Rīga local government and the National Inspectorate for the Protection for Cultural Monuments. The situation remains unclear, as does the future of the fortress. It’s been 10 years since it was put into private hands, but nothing has happened. If we look at recent history, then we see that before World War II, the fortress belonged to the Latvian Army. Soldiers were trained there, a tank brigade was located there, and there were cannon batteries alongside it. When the Soviets invaded, they immediately took over this important military and strategic object. Warships berthed alongside the fortress, among which the most significant one was the naval base ship Irtish. When the German offensive began, the Soviet forces fled. It was decided to blow up a warehouse of naval mines at the Daugavpils fortress so as to avoid a situation in which the Nazis got their hands on the mines. The blast was reportedly so massive that bits of earth flew above the treetops and windows were broken all around. It has even been suggested that the blast was heard all the way in Cēsis! The fortress lost one of its corners in the mighty explosion, and the Sea Gate was also destroyed. At the same time, people believe that some of the munitions did not explode and remained under the ruins of the fortress. This was the time when the tower of St Peter’s Church in Old Rīga was set on fire. A few pages from prayer books floated through the air all the way to Vakarbuļļi, and local residents watched the collapse of the tower. When the Soviet military returned, the Germans had already abandoned this corner of Rīga, and there were no battles there. A zenith artillery battery was installed at the market square of Daugavgrīva, as were four cannons, partly buried in the ground. The Germans never flew over the site, and so no shots were ever fired – apart from one incident when a drunken Russian officer fired in the direction of a stork, mistakenly believing that it was a small German plane. Luckily, the man was so drunk that he missed the stork, which was probably terribly scared, but survived. At the very end of the war, the Daugavgrīva fortress was turned into a place of incarceration for disloyal people who were interrogated there and then sent forward. The process was oversee by the KGB. There were also disobedient farmers who did not want to see collectivisation and ended up in the fortress – some for as much as two years. A military field hospital was installed at Birzes Street 54 in Daugavgrīva, and it remained open until 1994, when the Russian military withdrew from Latvia. It doesn’t look like much from the outside – two large stone buildings and two wooden barracks. A statue of Stalin, “father to all of the Soviet people,” used to stand on the pedestal that is still in the small park at the location. After the withdrawal of the Russian forces, his bust was taken down by local residents, who reportedly buried it right there on the grounds. A small bomb shelter has survived. Despite its shabby look, though, the hospital was very well-equipped, with soldiers from all over the USSR being brought there for treatment. Perhaps it was a special hospital, because one of the stone buildings had a vast operating room with various X-ray equipment. This is a remote location, near the Buļļupe River. Now the building is used to care for elderly people who cannot live on their own. In the autumn 1945, orders were handed down to house military families in the area and to give them housing. Daugavgrīva and Bolderāja were essentially turned into military territories, and civilians were moved elsewhere to reduce the number of eyes and ears in the region. Very few locals remained in the area. As late as 1964, people needed special passes to enter the territory and cross the bridge across the Buļļupe. No foreigner ever got such a pass. Immigrants flooded into the area, and many retired military personnel settled there. The micro-environment was new and unique, and the remaining local residents didn’t think much of it. Throughout the post-war era, the Daugavgrīva fortress was managed by a mine-seeking division of the Soviet Navy and also a submarine brigade. On October 18, 1983, the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR declared the fortress to be a cultural monument, but soon the “mistaken” decision was overturned, and naval personnel had no intention of leaving the very advantageous location. The fortress remained in the hands of the military right up until August 31, 1993. Five or six years ago, our naval ships still used wooden posts for berthing purposes that dated back to Soviet times and were quite unsafe. New piers have now been installed. Buildings dating back to the Swedish and tsarist eras were used by Soviet naval forces to store munitions and torpedoes. A few new buildings were put up, made of white silicate bricks. Nothing much else was done to improve or restore the fortress. If something collapsed or fell over, it was just left where it was. Perhaps the aim was to mislead NATO spy satellites or undesirable passers-by – nothing was there but a bunch of ruins, after all.