The cemetery of the brothers of the Latvian riflemen who fell in World War I and the soldiers who fell in the War of Independence
Memorial site
107
Located in the Valmiera City (Center) Cemetery, Lillijas Street 7.
A granite obelisk can be seen, the details of which were forged by sculptor Wilhelm Trey.
The monument was unveiled on June 22, 1923. About 150 soldiers are buried in the fraternal cemetery.
Several fighters of the First World War and the War of Independence are buried in the city cemetery, including the first casualty of the Cēsis Regiment's School Company, LKOK Edgars Krieviņš.
Currently, the section of the fraternal cemetery contains 14 groups of graves of various lengths, on which 139 white wooden crosses have been installed, but the plaques with the names of the fallen, which used to be on the crosses, are no longer there. One black granite cross has survived.
During the communist occupation, intensive civilian burials were carried out in the section of the fraternal cemetery. After the restoration of independence in 1994, the burial layout in the fraternal cemetery was changed, and the grave groups are now arranged crosswise, with only one retaining its former orientation.
Used sources and references:
Lismanis, J. 1915-1920. In memory of battles and fallen soldiers: Memorial sites of the First World War and the Latvian Liberation Struggle. Riga: NIMS, 1999
https://www.historia.lv/raksts/cepurite-dace-skolnieku-rotas-kareivis-lacplesa-kara-ordena-kavalieris-edgars-krievins-1899
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In the first battle, several schoolchildren were wounded, but Edgars Krieviņš, a Valmiera native, died on the same day from a very serious wound to the stomach. He was buried with military honors at the Valmiera City Cemetery on June 13. Edgars Krieviņš was posthumously awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order.
The unusual story of the monument to the Cēsis Regiment's School Company
The Cēsis Regiment volunteer schoolboy company participated in the 1919 Cēsis battles, which formed as a combat unit from 108 young people from Valmiera and Cēsis schools on June 5 in the former Cēsis German Progymnasium premises on Dārza Street (now Bērzaines Street 4). Already on the night of June 5 to 6, about an hour after midnight, there was an alarm and the company was ordered to go to positions. The company went out to the Mācītājmuiža – Meijermuiža line, which was considered the most important battle area.