Garrison
I WW1, I Wars of Independence, II WW2, IV Soviet occupation

The school building in the city center is located on the left side of Ausekļa Street, next to Valka Jānis Cimze Gymnasium.

The building, named after teacher Adam Steel, originally housed the school and was completed in 1923. In 1946, the military headquarters of the army garrison was located here. Thus, a military center was established in the center of Valka, and Valka became an important nuclear weapons facility for the USSR army. The territory of the building was surrounded by a high fence and it was called a city within a city, because there had its own shop, hospital, boiler house and even a cafe for the needs of the army. The symbol of the Soviet power - the red star - was placed on the roof part of the building. The army left this place in the 20th century. In the late 80's, taking everything you could with you.

Right next to the Adam Steel School and the underground bunkers is the Swedish (Sheremetyevo) fortress. The artificial earthen rampart was built at the beginning of the Great Northern War, around 1702, to protect Valka from the Swedes. The steepest wall of Skansts faces Ērģemi, but the other side faces Ausekļa Street.

Today, the Adam Steel School is only visible from the outside.

Paplak Regiment. Barta - South, Barta - North. The base has been destroyed by man and nature. The buildings are taken back by the forest, the missile transport trucks and the missile hangars themselves are demolished. The communication centre has also been destroyed and most of the metal launch platforms have been dismantled. 

According to official information, the following Soviet army units were located in the municipality of Barta:

49028 - 279. BKF naval transmitting centre

25026, 49393 - 30th BKF ship missile and nuclear warhead depots

49281 - Communications Department

20480 - 523rd Communications Centre Sub-unit

1994, leaving Latvia (The last military personnel to leave Latvia, the Barta missile base equipment, left the port of Liepaja on 31 August 1994.), submitted by the North-Western Troops Group of the Russian Federation. During the survey of the Barta missile base area, we also found the launch sites of the R-5M (8K51M) ballistic missile (NATO classification - SS-3 Shyster) with its adjacent command bunkers. The R-5M (8K51M) missiles with nuclear warheads were the first to be deployed by the occupying forces in Latvia in 1954, in the Barta forest of the Liepāja district. By decision No 700-330 of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR of 2 July 1985 (!), 2 623 hectares of land were allocated to troop unit No 42341 (50th Rocket Army in Smolensk, k/d 55135) in the Barta Forest. Two divisions of the 117th Rocket Regiment are stationed there. Each division has 4 missiles. On 18 September 1959, the Army requests a further 385,25 ha for five sites near Barta Brienampurva. Gravel for the construction of the base and for filling and camouflaging the hangars was brought from the nearby Krute quarry. Farmers are evicted from the houses of Kalnāji, Placēņi, Purviči, Zemturu, Purvu, Knīpupju, Mazturu, Birzmali in the municipality of Barta. The losses for the liquidation of 8 farms shown in the archive documents are only 154 711 roubles. All the constructions of the bases were taken to Barta only at night, so that nobody would see them. But the inhabitants of Barta have always known: when the army starts grading the roads, they will be carrying something.In 1968, the surface-launch rocket divisions of Barta were disbanded. The modernised shaft rockets (R-12 and R-14) are not deployed in Barta because the site is located in a marshy area.
 

The former Soviet Army Missile Base is located in Medņukalni, Zeltiņi parish, Alūksne municipality. This nuclear missile base was a particularly secret military facility of the Soviet Army, and it operated in Zeltiņi, Alūksne municipality, from 1961 to 1989. The facility housed P-12 (8K63) and P12Y (8K63Y) surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missiles with 4 launch pads. Their travel distance was 2,200 kilometres. During this period the army used barbed-wire to secure an area of about 300 ha less than a kilometre from the Sinole-Silakrogs P34 national regional highway. The living and top-secret areas have remained a legacy even today. Concrete roads lead to places hidden from the eye at that time: hangars, launch pads and bomb shelters. Various structures for the maintenance and servicing of nuclear missiles are located on an area of dozens of hectares. Facilities providing the area with the autonomous supply of power, water and heat were destroyed with the withdrawal of the army. After the army left, some of the equipment was handed over to the local municipality. Visitors currently have access to 20 ha of the former territory of the missile base, the south-western part of which is a tourist attraction. Tourists visiting the base can choose between the core exhibit about the history of the missile base, which is located in the Zeltiņi Museum, and a tourist route in the base area. Friends in a group of up to 12 people can enjoy a game of laser tag here.

The former Soviet army base buildings are in a state of disrepair, but there is a motor track on the site. The area can be explored on foot, but good footwear against mud and sand is required.

The first coastal defence batteries for the defence of the Irbe Strait were built after 1912, when the Baltic Fleet Mine-Artillery Defence Position Plan was approved, which included several coastal defence batteries and sea mine-laying.

The Irbe Strait position was the furthest south, and its task was to block any enemy access to the Gulf of Riga. The main emphasis was on sea mines, tens of thousands of which were laid in the Irbe Strait during WWI by ships of the Baltic Fleet. It was not until 1916 that coastal defence batteries began to be built on the southern tip of the island of Saaremaa, Cape Sorve. Seven batteries were built in total, and Battery 43 was equipped with 305 mm guns. No defence batteries were built on the Latvian coast of the Irbe Strait.

Even after the establishment of the Republic of Latvia, the Latvian army and navy did not establish artillery positions to defend the Irbe Strait.

The situation changed after the mutual assistance pact between the Republic of Latvia and the USSR of 5 October 1939, which provided for a contingent of the Red Army and the Baltic Naval Fleet to be stationed in Kurzeme. Soviet plans also included the establishment of a coastal defence system based on the 1912 plan, with improvements. The plan was to build coastal defence batteries on the site of the Liepaja fortress, with new batteries south of Ventspils (Battery No 46) and two batteries in the narrowest part of the Irbe Strait near Mikeltornis. Already after the occupation and annexation of Latvia, the coastal defence plans of the Baltic Navy were supplemented and by June 1941 the 207th Artillery Division with five batteries was planned to be established in the northern part of Kurzeme. Two batteries were to be set up in the vicinity of Mikeltornis - Battery 40 at Lūžņa with 130 mm B-13 guns in reinforced concrete fortifications, and Battery 117 at Olmani (a place designated on Latvian army maps as Ķesteri) with 152 mm MU-2 guns. As the development of the 152 mm guns was not completed, temporary wooden platforms were built on the reinforced concrete fortifications of the battery and four more 130 mm guns were installed. Both batteries were completed by June 1941, but the batteries could not be traced in the war against the German 291st Infantry Division, and their crews moved to the island of Saaremaa.

At the end of WWII, the German Army Group "Courland" was quite serious about possible Soviet landings in northern Courland, especially after the ice melted in the Gulf of Finland and on the west coast of Estonia. Improvised coastal defence batteries were deployed all along the Kurzeme coast. The Soviet Battery No 40, Gerate Batterie Sommer of the 289th Artillery Division with two 122 mm Soviet howitzers, was stationed in reinforced concrete positions near Luzhne. In the area of Battery 117's position was Battery 2 of the 530th Artillery Division with three 152 mm Soviet trophy guns, three 37 mm zenith drones, one 20 mm four-barrel zenith drones, two 75 mm anti-tank guns and two mortars for illumination.

After the end of active hostilities in May 1945, the USSR began to rebuild the coastal defence system on the Kurzeme coast. In the autumn of 1945, a temporary Battery 456 with 152 mm guns of the Kane system was deployed near the Olmaņi farm, which was renamed "Krasnoflotskaya".

In 1952, the temporary guns of the battery were replaced by the latest 152 mm MU-2 weapon systems. The battery consisted of four reinforced concrete gun emplacements, a reinforced concrete command post with a range-finder turret and technical buildings. The construction of the battery was completed in 1958.

In 1958, after the dismantling of the Lūžņa coastal defence battery, it was replaced by a mobile 130 mm SM-4-1 gun Battery No 343. The mobile guns did not have reinforced concrete gun emplacements, but several log and sand structures were built.

Battery 343 operated until the early 1960s, and Battery 456 until 1975, when it was preserved. The battery positions were used to deploy S-125 air defence missile complexes, as well as the 10th Coastal Defence Artillery-Missile Regiment with CP-2 Sopka missile complexes, and the infrastructure was modified accordingly.

The Soviet Army transferred the infrastructure of the Olmaņi and Lūžņa batteries to the Republic of Latvia in 1993.

The exhibit of Ādaži garrison history is located in the territory of the National Training Centre in Ādaži, Kadaga. In this exhibit visitors can get acquainted with military equipment and learn more about the everyday life of a soldier. The largest firing ground in the Baltic States and a unique training area is located in the vicinity of Ādaži. The history of the firing ground dates back to the 20th century. At the end of the 1920s it was set up near Riga in the vicinity of Lilaste. After World War I and the Latvian War of Independence the Latvian Army was formed in a war-torn country. Latvian people had lived through war and seen the indifferent attitude of foreign armies. In a relatively short period of time the army became a large force with extensive reserves. Firing grounds and summer camps were made to resemble war conditions thus allowing the soldiers to improve their skills and knowledge. The Riga-Saulkrasti railway line, built in the early 1930s, became an important factor in the development of the Lilaste (also known as Gauja) firing ground, because it allowed easy transportation of ammunition and equipment, and it could also be used for coastal defence operations. During the Soviet occupation the firing ground was significantly expanded symbolising the military might of the Soviet Army.

Garrison – a group of military units that have been indefinitely or temporarily stationed in a certain administrative territory.

Firing ground – a place for testing equipment and training troops.

During the Soviet era, a border guard unit was located here, other Soviet army units - liaison officers and a surface-to-air missile base were located several kilometres away in the forest. After independence, the Latvian army was stationed there.

The former Soviet army military base is now a recreation, leisure and camping centre - for personal development in interaction with nature and the people around. 

A place for recreation and accommodation for both tourist groups and families. Rooms, showers, WC, fireplaces, spacious area for activities, sounds of nature. Book in advance by calling +371 26314505.