July 1976 military-patriotic game "Orlenko" at the landfill near Irbene
July 1976 military-patriotic games "Orlenok" at the tank training ground near Irbene, in which 17-year-old Evalds Krieviņš participated and secretly photographed the games, equipment and even the Irbene antenna with a Sme8M camera
This story is about the time when the closing of the Latvian SSR "ĒRGLĒNA" took place in Ventspils. The directors of the house were instructed to go to the end of the Latvian SSR "ĒRGLĒNA" as an observer in Ventspils.
The commander of the Republic "ĒRGLĒNA", Major General N. GROŠEVS, presented Ē.Krieviņš with the USSR meaning "Друг Зарницы" (in Latvian: a friend of the "pioneer military patriotic game" Kāvi ").
The final training battle took place at a tank landfill. E. Russian was in the BTR-60P "cabin" behind the machine gunner, the captain of the army. Antenna was visible in the distance above the pine trees. A nuclear explosion fungus appeared in its direction. The attack stopped, but after a few minutes the tanks started to move. As he approached the Antenna, BTR turned sharply to the right and left the column .... Photography was prohibited.
Relatively new tanks T-64 were demonstrated .... Ē.Krieviņš had finished 10th grade. and was the commander of the state "Kāvu" (pioneer) battalion for 4 years. Knight of "Kāvu" and "Ērglēns" "excellent".
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Zvaigznīte - Irbene military buildings
The 200-hectare site was once a top-secret military base occupied by military unit 51429.
Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre
Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre, also known as the Irbene Radio Telescope, is located in the former Soviet Army town of Irbene. The Space Intelligence Station ‘Zvaigznīte’ (Little Star) was once the army unit No. 51429. The total area of the object was 200 ha, but information about the object became publicly available only in 1993. Initially there were three antennas here, which the army used to intercept and listen-in on phone calls of the “hostile West”.
The radio astronomy centre in Irbene is currently the eighth largest in the world. It has a 32 m rotating parabolic antenna RT-32, which is the largest in Northern Europe and the eighth largest in the world, as well as a second 16 m antenna RTs-16. The centre studies space signals, and it has received a signal from as far as the Cygnus constellation. The tour includes a walk around the territory of the former army town of Irbene and a visit to an underground tunnel and the memorial place of the rocket designer Friedrich Zander in the building called ‘Kristāls’ (Cristal).
Oviši Lighthouse and Soviet border guard
Oviši Lighthouse is located in the Tārgale parish in a village called Oviši on the coast of Kurzeme. It was built in 1814 and it is the oldest lighthouse in Latvia. The height of Oviši Lighthouse tower is 37 m. The lighthouse has a double-cylinder design: its diameter is 11.5 m, but within the stone wall there is a second tower with a diameter of 3.5 m. Such double-cylinder lighthouses were used also as defensive structures in the 18th-19th century Europe in case of enemy attacks. The Oviši Lighthouse Museum is considered to have the largest collection of lighthouse equipment and maritime navigation items among all Latvian lighthouse museums. When the weather is right the Irbe Lighthouse can be seen from Oviši Lighthouse.
At the end of World War II, the headquarters of the Beminger Battalion of the German Army was located near the Oviši Lighthouse along with the 4th Battery of the 530th Naval Artillery Division with several anti-aircraft guns. It is said that there was a radio direction finder and an infrared ray detection station Donau Gerät located at the foot of the lighthouse. A Soviet border guard post was once located near the lighthouse, but none of the Soviet-era buildings have survived. The Oviši station building is still located in the territory of the lighthouse.
