Monument to the Liberators of Jelgava “Lāčplēsis”
Memorial site

The Monument to the Liberators of Jelgava “Lāčplēsis” is located in Jelgava, at Station Park, opposite the Railway Station building. It was opened on 22 June 1932, with the participation of the Pre sident of Latvia A. Kviesis, and was built to commemorate the liberation of Jelgava on 21 November 1919, during the Latvian War of Independence. In 1940, during the first period of Soviet occupation, the monument was not affected by changes. In 1941, when the Soviet occupiers were replaced by the German occupation forces, the head of the German occupation administration, von Medem, who had retur ned to Jelgava (his ancestors were the original builders of Jelgava Palace), did not like the unequivocal symbolism of the monument. On 31 October 1942, the German occupation authorities ordered the author of the monument, Kārlis Jansons, to remove the image of a German knight from the monument. In 1950, the Soviet occupation authorities gave the order for the monument to be destroyed. With the help of a tractor, Lāčplēsis was torn off its pedestal, smashed, and an attempt was made to destroy it in a stone crusher. However, Lāčplēsis proved to be so hard that the crusher broke. The unbroken middle part of the monument was secretly buried in the grounds of a kindergarten. In 1988, a fragment of the monument was found and is now lo cated in front of the Jelgava History and Art Museum of Ģederts Eliass. The monument was restored and inaugurated on 21 No vember 1992. It was created by sculptor Andrejs Jansons, who restored the monument created by his father, K. Jansons.