Monument to Kurzeme and Zemgale refugees of the First World War
Memorial site
89
Located in Bērzaine cemetery
Monument to refugees of the First World War of Kurzeme and Zemgale.
On February 17, 1933, a refugee committee met in Riga, which decided "to work as a unit at the Cēsis city parish with the aim of collecting and beautifying the graves of refugees, as well as erecting memorials in the cemeteries of Cēsis and the surrounding area".
By May 1935, 6,883.20 lats had been donated.
On February 11, 1936, he agreed with the sculptor Kārli Jansons on the construction of monuments in the Leja and Bērzaine cemeteries. Both monuments were opened on June 14, 1936, and they cost 4,600 lats.
The granite steps of the Bērzaine cemetery lead to a hill, where a stele rises above the two-step base. A bronze cross stands out on the smooth granite surface, under which the words in bronze letters:
MENTION HERE
MAY YOU REST IN THE PEACE OF GOD
472 KURZEMES AND
ZEMGALE REFUGEES
1915-1918
Used sources and references:
S. Upīte, P. Puķīte, 1 World War and Freedom Struggle memorial sites in Cēsi district, Cēsi Museum Association, 1989
Related topics
Related stories
Memorial sites and burials of refugees from Kurzeme and Zemgale in Cēsis
Before the First World War, 2552 thousand people lived in the territory of Latvia. people. The 1920 census registered 1,596 thousand people. people. This means that during this period the population of Latvia had decreased by 956 thousand. people or by 37.5%.
In the summer of 1915, German troops occupied Kurzeme and Zemgale. More than half a million refugees fled their homelands in an endless stream. The first refugees arrived in Cēsis in April 1915.