Gulbene Railway Station Museum

Gulbene Station. Source: Gulbene Tourism and Cultural Heritage Center
Gulbene Station. Source: Gulbene Tourism and Cultural Heritage Center
Authentic Estonian Communist Party leaders' saloon car train with Soviet-era paraphernalia. Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Authentic Estonian Communist Party leaders' saloon car train with Soviet-era paraphernalia. Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Authentic Estonian Communist Party leaders' saloon car train with Soviet-era paraphernalia. Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Authentic Estonian Communist Party leaders' saloon car train with Soviet-era paraphernalia. Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Educational and interactive center "Railway and Steam". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Educational and interactive center "Railway and Steam". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Educational and interactive center "Railway and Steam". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Educational and interactive center "Railway and Steam". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Educational and interactive center "Railway and Steam". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Gulbene station building. Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Ltd. "Gulbenes –Alūksnes bānītis". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Ltd. "Gulbenes –Alūksnes bānītis". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Ltd. "Gulbenes –Alūksnes bānītis". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Ltd. "Gulbenes –Alūksnes bānītis". Source: Gita Memmēna, Vidzeme Tourism Association
Vecgulbene new station [194-?]. Source: National Library of Latvia digital collection "Lost Latvia".
The bombed-out Gulbene railway station building in the spring of 1944. Source: Collection of the Gulbene Regional Museum of Art and Local Lore
Gulbene railway station building. Photo by O.Priedītis. Source: GNVMM museum collection
Interior view of Gulbene railway station. Photo by O.Priedītis. Source: GNVMM museum collection
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 Dzelzceļa iela 8, Gulbene, Gulbenes nov., Latvia
 +37125448661
 Aleksandrs Lustiks
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The Gulbene Railway Station is located in the city of Gulbene. During World War I, in 1916 to 1917, the narrow-gauge railway line to Pļaviņas was reconstructed to 1,524 mm width to ensure that it can serve as a connection to the Rīga-Daugavpils line. In addition, a railway line to Ieriķi and to Sita was constructed, thereby establishing a connection with Pytalovo. As a result, Gulbene became a railway hub. The current station building by architect Pēteris Feders was constructed in 1926. During the War of Independence, on 31 May 1919, when Gulbene was liberated from the Bolsheviks, the 1st (4th) Valmiera Infantry Regiment collected a significant number of war trophies here. On 14 June 1941, both civilians and Latvian Army officers arrested in the Litene Summer Camp were deported from the Gulbene Railway Station. As a key hub, it was bombed in the spring of 1944. After the war, it was restored to its original form. An educational and interactive centre named ‘Railway and Steam’ was opened in 2018. Next to the Gulbene station is the company SIA Gulbenes – Alūksnes bānītis, which offers interactive lessons and tours. Visitors have access to the station building and platform, a memorial plaque and a monument to the repressed ones by sculptor Indulis Ranka.

Used sources and references:

GNVMM Museum Collection

Related stories

About the Latvian War of Independence and the events of 1919 in Alūksne

On March 27, 1919, the 1st Valmiera Infantry Regiment, together with the Estonian Guards (kaitselit) battalions of Tallinn (then Rēvele) and Tērbatas, as well as three armored trains, began the liberation of Latvia from the Bolsheviks from the banks of the Melnupe River.