The unusual story of the monument to the Cēsis Regiment's School Company

As soon as news of the outbreak of hostilities was received, the battle headquarters or “regiment operational headquarters” immediately moved closer to the front to the house of Dr. med. Vilhelms Lencs at Heermeistera Street No. 16 (now Gaujas Street No. 16). In the early 1930s, this building was purchased by the Cēsis Craftsmen’s Association, but after World War II, the building housed the editorial office and printing house of the newspaper “Padomju Druva” (from March 1990, the newspaper “Druva”). When entering the battlefield, the soldiers of the Schoolboy Company, who had come along Palasta Street from their formation place in the German progymnasium, received grenades at the regimental headquarters. Near the headquarters, the soldiers of the company on Heermeistera (Gaujas) Street had also received a short military briefing. In turn, the command post of the commander of the 2nd Cēsis Infantry Regiment was located just across the street – Heermeistera Street No. 11 (now Gaujas Street No. 11). At the end of the 19th century, this was the “Villa bei Wenden” of the prominent Baltic German archaeologist Georg von Sievers.

A participant in the events on the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Cēsis in the newspaper “Pēdējā Brīdī” (JA“10 years ago the Cēsis Regiment of Students against the Landeswehr.”; 06.06.1929) described what he experienced as follows: “On the night of June 6th, around 1 o’clock, there was an alarm. Everyone quickly got dressed and the regiment of students in 2 platoons stood on Dārza Street, divided into special units, and distributed live ammunition. At the intersection of Rīgas Palasta, Vaļņu and Gaujas Streets, Lieutenant [Gustavs] Grīns showed a short combat maneuver on how to surround a known place. At Dr. Lenčs’ house, hand grenades were distributed, and they were familiarized with their use on the spot. From this place, the company went in the direction of Kalnamuiža, Juruģumuiža and Mācītājmuiža, occupied the central combat zone of the Cēsis Regiment and protected the Meijermuiža – Mācītājmuiža line, turning on.”

On May 26, 1938, approximately 100 m from the former Cēsis German Progymnasium, at the intersection of Dārza and Palasta (now Bērzaines and Palasta) streets, a monument dedicated to the School Company was unveiled. On the night of June 5-6, 1919, students from the progymnasium, untrained in martial arts, went to their first battle. This was symbolized by the student's clumsily grasped rifle, sculpted in bronze. The owl and books at the student's feet also reminded us that school supplies had temporarily been replaced by weapons. The author of the monument's design was the former soldier of the School Company, artist Jānis Rozenbergs (1901-1966), but the idea was realized by sculptor Rūdolfs Ābol(t)iņš (1909-1944) and metalsmith Jānis Zibens (1909-1967).

In 1950, the monument was dismantled as undesirable to the Soviet regime.

When the Awakening began, the first to express the idea of restoring the monument was a group of exiled graduates of the Cēsis State Gymnasium, class of 1942, during their visit to Latvia in 1989. They also began raising the necessary funds for this. However, the Cēsis City Council made the decision to restore the monument and install it in its original location only after Latvia regained its independence on September 24, 1992.

Although an official agreement on the restoration of the monument had barely been reached, in reality work on it had already begun. On September 26, the regional newspaper "Druva" reported that travertine had been prepared for the base of the monument, and sculptor Maija Baltiņa, together with architect Imants Timermanis, had begun creating the bronze statue.

However, on September 30, 1992, a Cēsis resident, Ādolfs Cābulis, who had established contacts with exiles at the beginning of the Revival, seeking support for the installation of the monument, applied to the State Cultural Monuments Protection Inspectorate (VKPAI) and the Committee for the Brothers' Graves (BKK) with an application. He claimed that now the initiative for the restoration of the monument had been taken over by other individuals, who were acting for selfish purposes and had not received the necessary permission from the authorities. Representatives of this group, among whom was also the sculptor Andrejs Jansons, had planned to unveil the monument already on November 11, 1992, placing it approximately 15 meters from its original location. The monument was also planned to undergo significant visual changes, as the soldier designed by J. Rozenbergs held his rifle with his left hand, thus emphasizing the military unpreparedness of the hastily formed Schoolboy Company, while the young man designed by M. Baltiņa held it with his right hand. The material also differed – initially the monument was made of copper, but now it was cast in bronze. In turn, the former bronze plate was replaced with a copper plate.

In order to conduct additional historical research, the Cēsis City Council decided on October 4, 1992 to stop the restoration of the monument, but the creators of the monument did not take this into account and installed a base with steps in the newly chosen location. The need to place the monument there was explained by the changes introduced during the communist occupation in the movement of transport along Bērzaines Street, which were no longer possible to refuse. Although the municipality suggested waiting until next year, when they could try to make a model in nature at the historical location of the monument, the city council's actions were limited by a lack of funds. The already installed base and the made bronze statue had been paid for with funds collected from donations from the Cēsis branch of the Daugava Hawks, exiled Latvians and the Latvian Popular Front. Therefore, a decision was made to unveil the restored monument on November 11, 1992, installing it near the historical location. On November 11, 1992, a monument created by sculptor Maija Baltiņa (1941-2016) was unveiled.

At the same time, in 1992, the monument "Komsomol Flagbearer" by sculptor Kārlis Jansons, erected by the occupation regime, was dismantled.