The first battle of Lielauce Castle and the Oskars Kalpaks battalion
Memorial site

The Lielauce Manor with its park is an object that is associated in Latvian history with the First Battle of Kalpaks, which took place during the War of Independence in January 1919, and its victory. The current manor building ensemble was basically formed at the beginning of the 19th century. The manor house was originally built in the Empire style as a two-story building with a tiled roof. The farm buildings of the complex are located further away from the manor park. The manager's house, which was later rebuilt into a cultural center, stables, a servants' house, and an ice cellar on the pond side, have survived. Only the foundations of the granary built in 1801 remain, but the volumes of the cone kiln, although rebuilt, have been well preserved. The manor's cart house or soldiers' barn can also be viewed.

After the establishment of the Latvian state, the Lielauce Manor building with the adjacent lake, park, buildings and a certain area of forest was first transferred to the establishment of an orphanage, but it was not established. In November 1926, the Forestry Department of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Latvia took over the Lielauce Castle, granted by the Central Land Committee for the organization of training practices, with its park and land of 59 hectares. After the Second World War, until 2009, there was a Lielauce Primary School here, but at the same time also a LLU service hotel. Currently, the manor and park are owned by SIA “Mudia”. Until the technical condition of the manor is improved, it is not available to visitors.

On the night of January 15, 1919, the Kalpaks Battalion fought the first battle at Lielauce, repelling the Red attack. It was the first significant battle of the Kalpaks Battalion, when the victory gave the soldiers a particularly strong morale boost.

During the retreat, on January 12, the Latvian separate battalion reached the Lielauce Manor Castle and settled there to rest, setting up guard posts on the surrounding roads. Early in the morning of January 16, the guards noticed the enemy approaching along the Dobele highway and managed to warn those in the castle. The first to engage in the battle was the Officers' Reserve Company, which had taken up positions near the manor building. The Cēsis Company, divided into two parts, tried to surround the enemy. At first, the Bolsheviks retreated, but then they launched a counterattack, which the Cēsis Company managed to repel. The enemy was forced to retreat. The first victory against the Bolsheviks had been won. Although the Kalpakians suffered four casualties (Lieutenant Kārlis Dambītis, Lieutenant Fridrihs Liepa, War Clerk Vilis Cīrulis and Instructor Jānis Būvmeistars) and eight wounded, the outcome of the battle encouraged the soldiers to continue fighting the enemy. Unfortunately, on the same day, the Latvian Separate Battalion was forced to abandon its positions, as the German Raeden Company lost the battle at Vecauce and retreated.