USSR army base in Marciena

History of formation

The history of the Marciena military base began in the 1950s, when the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR began to address the issue of transferring land to the aviation part of the 15th Army of the USSR. The construction of the new military facility was planned in the Madona district.

On June 5 and 6, 1957, at the general meetings of the collective farms "Zelta Druva" and "Darba Cilts", an agreement was signed on the transfer of several hundred hectares of land to the newly formed army. In total, about 477 ha of land were gradually allocated for military purposes. In order to free up space for a military facility, several residents of the Mārciena and Bērzaune areas had to leave their homes. The road Bērzaune - Vālēni was closed in the section from “Līči” to “Aizkalni” and Bērzaune - Mārciena in the section from “Saliņi” to “Patmalnieki”.

In March 1957, the first army machines arrived in Marciena. Major construction of the military base began in 1958. At the same time, an army training base, a residential town (located about 2 km from the training base), concrete access roads, an army railway, a helipad and other military infrastructure facilities were built. Until a barracks and service hotel were built in Mārciena, the officers lived in the Madona hotel, the rest of the construction workers settled in specially built wooden barracks in Mārciena. In total, about 5,000 people have been involved in the construction of the military base and army facilities. Delivery of construction materials and base supply took place by rail.

Suspension of a new military project

In 1960, work was carried out on the plans to expand the military base - additional land was allocated from the collective farm territories of Madona district and residents from several farmsteads in Bērzaune Parish were evicted. In the vicinity of Gaizinkalns, additional land was allocated for the construction of a rocket launch pad. The project also envisaged a afforestation plan for Gaizinkalns to hide a potential missile launch area. It is possible that part of the current spruce stand in Gaizinkalns was planted to mask the planned nuclear missile shaft.

Around afforestation, the area was afforested to hide access roads and the construction of a concrete access road from Mārciena through Bērzauna was started, because civil roads would not be suitable for transporting missiles due to their weight, therefore special road surface and railway would be needed to move missiles. The construction of a military railway connecting the base from Mārciena through Bērzauna was also started.

While Mārciena had already become the residence of Soviet military personnel, the Gaiziņkalns area remained intact, as an unexpected turn took place in 1961 - military plans in the Bērzaune area were revealed by US and British intelligence services. A Russian officer, American and British spy Oleg Penkovsky, was accused of passing the information to Western countries, who had informed the British intelligence service about the planned location and construction plans of the rocket launchers. The news was broadcast on Voice of America. Later, in 1963, a spy officer was sentenced to death, but the construction of a rocket launch pad was suspended.

Description of the army town and military base

The USSR army base in Marciena served as a location for unmanned aerial vehicles (reconnaissance aircraft) and a training center. There was an unmanned aerial pilot school with an army training base: unmanned aerial vehicles, training missiles, tanks, a shooting range. There were "Striž" aircraft in the march, in which 100-200 kg of explosives or nuclear warheads could be placed without filming, photo and radio equipment. These missiles flew low, at an altitude of about 50 m, so they could not be detected by radars. Residents of the area remember that training goals were set behind Bērzaune, in the territory of the army unit, in the 1980s. They were attacked by combat destroyers, the shooting took place electronically, without the use of ammunition. The training flights lasted until 1989.

In the army town of Mārciena there were residential houses, an officers' hotel, a culture house, a school, a shop, a canteen, barracks, barracks, and a sauna. There were 10 apartment houses in total. They were all inhabited and housed families of about 400 military personnel. In total, several thousand people from the Soviet Union settled in Mārciena, and since then Mārciena is no longer the old Mārciena.

The social life corresponding to the time and traditions took place in the officers' house - there was a dance group, choir, ensemble, billiards was available for recreation. Māris Briedis, a member of the Soviet army Latvian pop music ensemble “Zvaigznīte” from Riga, who had formed his own ensemble in Mārciena, served in the Mārciena service until 1966.

The soldiers serving in the march also took part in the help of the surrounding collective farms - formed mutual cooperation. Sports competitions were organized, for example, in winter - ski competitions between divisions.

Around 280 military children were studying at the military town high school, the school was held in two shifts, because at the same time everyone was short of space. There was a bus between the army base and the town, there were several stops: Pilot School, Training Point, etc. There were regular patrols in the village, dogs were kept to guard weapons and warehouses.

A separate building was also dedicated to medical care. There was a hospital, a pharmacy, a dentist and a gynecologist. Local workers from the Madona district also worked. After 1990, medical equipment was removed from Marciena by the army itself.

The military complex was heated with coal, which was delivered in train wagons to Marciena station and then loaded into cars. The people employed in coal loading were mainly representatives of Central Asian nationalities - Turkmen, Tajik.

Military objects in Mārciena influenced the planning and construction of the highway Pļaviņas - Madona. The road under construction should not be closer than 1 km to the army base. Despite the objections of the then Minister of Transport and Highways Eduards Liberts, the demands of the military were fulfilled and the section from the Castle Mound throws a larger circle closer to Bērzaune than the originally planned road variant.

Army base in Mārciena after the restoration of Latvia's independence

In 1994, the USSR army left the Marciena base. The equipment was planned to be exported in 9 echelons. The last echelon of the army left Mārciena on March 25, 1994, and since then there has been no part of the Russian army in Mārciena. Like other military facilities in Latvia, it was handed over to the state, then to the municipality. Later, most of the properties of the Marciena base came into the possession of private individuals.

Soon, residents of the immediate and distant neighborhoods, including from Riga, came to the freely available apartments on the army town. Most here lived up to utility debts and then disappeared. Passers-by treated the surrounding uninhabited houses as a place from which to take everything that could be taken - floor and window frames, plumbing, radiators or metal parts.

Mārciena's 9th year school from Patmalnieki moved to the former Mārciena Secondary School building on Meža Street, where the children of the army students studied. The gym of the officials' house was used by students. In turn, the school, where the main language was Russian, was moved to one of the apartment houses of the army town, allocating 6 apartments on two floors.

What has survived today

Currently, the base territory of the former army is not available for viewing, it has grown into a forest, some private properties are used for economic activities. Inscriptions have been preserved on the walls of some buildings, which testify to the residences of soldiers serving in Marciena: Ufa, Astana, Orenburg, etc. Part of the former base in Marciena was also used by NAF (National Armed Forces) soldiers and the National Guard, conducting military exercises with foreign allies.

The concrete access road has remained on the road Mārciena - Bērzaune and a small part also in the section Bērzaune - Gaiziņkalns, which was built on the planned rocket launch site. Driving through Bērzauni in the direction of Gaizinkalns, on the right side, about a hundred meters from Gaizina Street, the former railway embankment can also be clearly seen.

The army town is better preserved, it can be seen in Mārciena Meža Street. Former army officer service hotel - originally as a school and kindergarten, now a renovated building where a boarding house is located. The army has also left the house of culture (officers), which is currently used for cultural events in Mārciena. The residential houses of the former part of the army can also be seen, some of them have been inhabited, some have been abandoned, two multi-storey buildings have been demolished.