Monument to the fallen heroes of Gulbene parish for the freedom of Latvia
Memorial site
Located in the historical center of Gulbene, opposite the Gulbene Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Monument to the victims of the 1905 riots, the members of the Gulbene congregation who fell in World War I and the Latvian War of Independence, and the victims of the Maliena Tribunal. The monument was designed by E. Ābeltīns and was unveiled in 1929 opposite the Gulbene Evangelical Lutheran Church. After World War II, a five-pointed star was placed on the monument, then - on its base - a plaster image of a Soviet soldier painted in bronze, and a cemetery for fallen Soviet soldiers was established behind the monument. When in 1969 the new cemetery for Soviet soldiers who fell in World War II was opened in Spārīte Park, the remains of the fallen were transferred there, but the site of the monument was leveled with the ground. In the autumn of 1989, the foundations of the monument were excavated and the capsule with the text, which had been walled in them in 1928, was brought out. The monument was restored in 1992 (sculptor O. Feldbergs).
Between December 24, 1918 and May 31, 1919, when the 1st (4th) Valmiera Infantry Regiment liberated Gulbene from the Bolsheviks, the church housed the Maliena (Vecgulbene) Revolutionary Military Tribunal and Workers' Club. Its activities were notable for the severity of its decisions and the large number of death sentences, often for minor offenses - 349 cases were investigated, in which 606 persons were accused.
A memorial sculpture is visible.
Used sources and references:
Zudusilatvija.lv, GNVMM Museum collection











