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The former name of the house was “Forstei” (Forester’s House). It was built using logs of the old Bīriņi Castle. The first owner of the building was Alexander Alexei von Pistohlkors, the baron of Bīriņi Manor. It used to be a house of the manor’s chief forester Pauls Moltrehts. The building served as the chief forester’s work place and residence, as well as the Manor’s hunting base. The building was rebuilt several times. It obtained its current appearance and also the symbolic deer antlers in 1891. During the times of the Independent State of Latvia the house obtained a Latvian name – “Meža māja” or “Forest House”. Ownership of the house has repeatedly changed. In the 1930s, the house became a recreation place for cultural professionals and artists. In 1937, the composer Alfrēds Kalniņš spent the summer in the house working on an interpretation of the score for the second staging of the first Latvian opera “Baņuta”. During the post-war period – from 1945 to 1956 – the building housed Saulkrasti Village Council, and during the times of Saulkrasti District it was the location of the People’s Education Department. Later the children’s sanatorium “Ugunskurs” was transferred from Jūrmala to this building and was renamed “Saulkrasti Children’s sanatorium”. Now the building is privately owned. |
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A monument to the founders and
directors of the Ķemeri spa (1861) on the
banks of the Vēršupīte.
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During the latter half of the 19th century, one of the largest ship building facilities was located here between the Dzeņi and Lielkalni homesteads. It was known as the Ķirbiži and then the Vitrupe shipyard, though nothing remains of it. 28 ships were built here between the 1860s and 1929. |
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The Rudbārži Estate was built at the request of Baroness Thea von Firks from the aristocratic dynasty. After a reconstruction in 1883, the building became an ornate example of Mannerism and Renaissance architecture, with decorative finishing and a larger size. On December 15, 1905, the building was torched by revolutionaries. The restoration began three years later under the leadership of architect L. Reinier. The castle has a holiday hall with two marble fireplaces, the parquet in some of the rooms dates back to the early 20th century, and the outdoor doors have metal engravings. The castle was reconstructed in 1938. It housed a German field hospital during World War II, while after the war it housed a school for forestry workers. In 1962, the Rudbārži school moved into the building, which is now named after Oskars Kalpaks. A commemorative plaque outside the building is devoted to the Kalpaks battalion. During Latvia’s liberation battles, on January 22, 1919, the Bolsheviks occupied Skrunda, and seven days later, Kalpaks’ battalion attacked from the direction of the Rudbārži Estate. After a three-hour battle, the victory was won, with the battalion taking over a strategic line near the banks of the Venta River. This was the first victory for Kalpaks’ men after many retreats, and that inspired the rest of the liberation battles. |
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The Cemetery of the Brethren. A wood
pathway leads from the RīgaVentspils highway
(A10) to a memorial rock dedicated to men who
fell during World War II.
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