Great Cemetery
Great Cemetery | |
---|---|
Latvian: Lielie kapi | |
Details | |
Established | 1773 |
Location | |
Country | Latvia |
Coordinates | 56°58′14″N 24°08′35″E / 56.97056°N 24.14306°E |
Type | Closed, 1957 |
Owned by | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia |
Size | 22 hectares (54 acres) |
Find a Grave | Great Cemetery |
The Great Cemetery (Latvian: Lielie kapi; German: Großer Friedhof) 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
The 22-hectare property is owned by the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Origins
Between 1771 and 1772,
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. Additionally, numerous Latvians of upper social status were buried there as well. The cemetery was divided into three section: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christian.
One of the first to be (re-)buried there was the founder of the city,
Final burials 1939–1944
Burials at the cemetery were drastically reduced after
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
In 1957 the cemetery was closed completely for any further burials and began to fall into disrepair.
In 1967 or 1969 the city council decided to
The
Current status
This section needs to be updated.(August 2017) |
A significant number of Baltic German and Latvian graves and family plots, including a restored crypt built in 1777 and the graves of Krišjānis Barons and Krišjānis Valdemārs, have survived the post-war destruction. However, many of these graves are in an abandoned or neglected condition.[1]
The city of Riga is currently discussing exchanging
Notable interments
- Albert of Riga, founder of the city (his remains were transferred here in 1773)
- Christoph Haberland, one of Riga's chief architects
- Johann Christoph Brotze, pedagogue and ethnographer
- Krišjānis Barons, Latvian folklorist
- Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis, Latvian architect
- Andrejs Pumpurs, Latvian poet and writer.
- Johann Daniel Felsko, architect.
- Jāzeps Grosvalds, Latvian painter.
- Kārlis Mīlenbahs, Latvian linguist and lexicographer.
- Wilhelm Ostwald, Baltic German chemist and Nobel laureate.
- Heinrich Scheel, Baltic German architect.
- Georg August Schweinfurth, Baltic German botanist, explorer and ethnologist.
- Krišjānis Valdemārs, leader of the Young Latvians movement.
- George Armitstead, Mayor of Riga from 1901 to 1912
See also
- Brothers' Cemetery (Riga)
- Kopli cemetery
- Nazi-Soviet population transfers
- List of cemeteries in Latvia
References
- ^ Rozenberga, Māra (May 6, 2016). "Graves of Latvia's greats see moss and decay at Great Cemetery". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
- ^ Rīgas dome cer mainīt Pēterbaznīcu pret Lielajiem kapiem, retrieved June 6, 2008.
Sources
External links
- Pastors' memorial Photos of memorial to German and Latvian pastors killed by communists in 1919 at sites-of-memory.de