Cēsis Regiment Students' Decoration
I Wars of Independence

Izglītības ministrs Augusts Tentelis Cēsu pulka skolnieku rotai veltītā pieminekļa atklāšanas svinībās Cēsīs 1938. g. Avots: Cēsu Vēstures un mākslas muzejs

Cēsis Regiment Students' Company - a military unit formed on the eve of the Battle of Cēsis in May and June 1919 from the youth of Valmiera and Cēsis schools. Rota took part in the battles of Cēsis and all subsequent regiments.

On May 26, 1919, when the Estonian army liberated Valmiera from the Bolsheviks, the registration of volunteer students under the leadership of the local real school gymnast Alfreds Lukstiņš (later the chief sergeant) began to form a self-defense group based on the Estonian army student company. Around 70 young people applied in Valmiera, who were ready to join the parts of the 2nd Cēsis Regiment, which went from Rūjiena through Valmiera to the Latgale front. Following the example of the people of Valmiera, about 40 students from Cēsis had also started to form a voluntary unit for senior students. The initiative of Valmiera and Cēsis students was actively supported by the principals of Valmiera and Cēsis real schools Ludvigs Adamovičs and Longins Ausējs.

The unification of young people from Valmiera and Cēsis took place on June 5 in the premises of the former Cēsis German Progymnasium on Dārza Street. The students, a total of 108 people, were included in the 8th company of the 2nd Cēsis Infantry Regiment (the company continued to be called the Students' Company), and Lieutenant General Gustav Green was appointed commander of the company. Military training was scheduled to begin the very next day, but on the first night (June 5 to 6) some of the company's soldiers were seconded to the Estonian army train as connoisseurs of the local area. The others also received rifles and after a few hours they were ordered to go to the front in the district of Mācītājsmuiža - Meijermuiža, because the Germans had started the attack. After fierce fighting, however, Estonian and Latvian troops were forced to leave Cēsis and retreat in the direction of Liepa (Lode) and Rauna.

In the first battle, several students were injured, but Edgars Krieviņš from Valmiera died of a very serious abdominal injury the same day. During the War of Independence, the company lost 9 dead and dead. After his death, Edgars Krieviņš was awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order. The first Chief Sergeant of the company Alfreds Lukstiņš has also been awarded the LKO.

In 1929, approaching the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Cēsis and the company, a society of retired soldiers of the former company of volunteer students of the Cēsis Regiment was established, which was actively involved in the patriotic upbringing of the youth. An important tradition of the society is associated with the flag of the Cēsis Regiment Students' Association. The funds for making the flag were donated by students and teachers from nine gymnasiums in Northern Latvia, whose students were adorned in 1919. The flag design was drawn by the former soldier architect Kārlis Dzirkalis. The flag was made by seven handicrafts teachers of Cēsis State Gymnasium under the guidance of Anna Brinceva. On June 22, 1929, in Cēsis, on the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes, a solemn service dedicated to the consecration of the flag of the Cēsis Regiment volunteer students took place. The flag was kept in Cēsis for the first years, but in 1930 a tradition was started - the flag of the former Cēsis Regiment Students' Association was handed over for a year in one of the North Vidzeme gymnasiums. The flag was further kept with the consent of the Ministry of Education: in 1930 - in Valmiera, in 1931. - Limbaži, 1932 - Mazsalaca, 1933 - Rūjiena, 1934 - Valka, 1935 - Alūksne, 1936 - Gaujiena, 1937 - Smiltene, 1938 - again in Cēsis and in 1939. - In Valmiera. In 1940, the flag was transferred to Limbaži Gymnasium for the last time. With the unveiling of the restored Victory Monument in Cēsis in 1998, the traveling flag tradition of the Cēsis Regiment School Company was re-established.

More information sources

The sun jumped from the sword: a collection of memories and documents about the Cēsis Regiment Students' Jewelry in 1919. Memories and documents for publication have been arranged by Tālis Pumpuriņš.- Cēsis, Cēsis Museums Association, 1994-120.

Juris Ciganovs. The ornament of the students in the battles of 1919. SARGS.LV 31.05.2011. https://www.sargs.lv/lv/latvijas-neatkaribas-kars/2011-05-31/skolnieku-rota-1919-gada-kaujas

Related objects

Monument for students of the Cēsis Regiment

The monument to the soldiers of the Cēsis Regiment Students’ Company who died in the Battles of Cēsis is located in the city of Cēsis, near the intersection of Palasta and Bērzaines streets. The construction of the monument was proposed by the Soldiers’ Association of the Cēsis Regiment Students’ Company. The monument was unveiled on 26 May 1938. The monument is based on the idea sketched by artist Jānis Rozenbergs, a former soldier of the company. Placed on a metre-high limestone pedestal, the 1.8-metre copper sculpture of a soldier dressed in a school student’s uniform was created by sculptor Rūdolfs Āboltiņš and coppersmith Jānis Zibens. An owl, a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, lies at the soldier’s feet, squatting on and protecting the books of a student who went to war. The sculpture was demolished during the Soviet re-occupation in 1952. A monument named the Komsomol Flag Bearer by sculptor Kārlis Jansons was erected near its former location in 1957. Placed near its historic site, the restored monument was unveiled on 11 November 1992. At the same time, in 1992, a monument to the Komsomol, which had been erected by the occupation regime, was taken down.

Monument to the students' ornaments at the battlefield

On the side of the Cēsis-Āraiši highway, near the former Livu parish.

A monument dedicated to the ornament of volunteers of the Cēsis Regiment, who took part in the battles of Cēsis in 1919, can be seen.
The monument was unveiled on May 29, 1930 near the former Livu parish.
The project of the monument was developed by the former volunteer of the school ornament K.Dzirkalis, the installation works were performed by A.Sproģis firm in Cēsis.
Bronze details according to the author's drawing were created by M.Pluka, they were cast at V.Minūta's factory in Riga. After World War II, the monument was destroyed.
Restored on June 6, 1989, the authors of the restored monument are sculptors A. Jansons and M. Balttiņa, architect I. Timermanis.
Later, the bronze sword and plate were removed for safety reasons and replaced with wooden parts.

Monument to the first fallen soldier of the Schoolmen's Company, Edgars Krieviņas

Located in the Central Cemetery of Valmiera, near the chapel (Miera Street 1/3, Valmiera)

A soldier of the 8th (Skolnieki) company of the Cēsi regiment, LKOK Edgars Krieviņš (1899-1919), died on June 7 from injuries sustained in the battles of Cēsi on June 6, 1919, when he covered the retreat of the rest of the units when the Landsweer attacked.

Memorial sign at the founding site of the Cēsis Regiment School Company

Located at Leona Paegles Street 1, next to the red brick facade.

The author of the memorial is the artist Solveiga Vasiljeva, and the idea is based on a flower bud motif. According to the artist, it symbolizes the newly formed personalities - students who have to make an important, responsible and harsh decision in their still short life.
In the form of a memorial, the outer petals of the flower bud are made of geometric, sharp corners, in contrast to the gentle, rounded inside of the bud. The height of the memorial is up to 1.5 m. The memorial was unveiled on May 26, 2011 in Valmiera, the place where the orchestra of the Cēsis Regiment was formed in 1919.

The contours of Latvia are made of artificial cobblestones, on which a plate with the flag and text of the Cēsis Regiment Students' Association is placed:

"At this place on May 26, 1919
Cēsis Regiment Student Company was founded "

Cēsis history and art museum in the New Castle of Cēsis

The Cēsis History and Art Museum is located in the very centre of the Old Town of Cēsis, in the New Castle. The museum holds a permanent exhibit of history and interiors named ‘Cēsis, a Symbol of Latvian History’, with two thematic sections: the exhibit ‘Red-White-Red Flag in the History of Cēsis and Latvia’ explains the history of the Latvian national flag from the 13th to 20th centuries, the approved national symbol, the flags of Latvian rifle battalions and the traditions of using national colours during the Latvian War of Independence. The exhibit ‘Cēsis and the Latvian War of Independence’ focuses on the founding of the Cēsis Company in December 1918, the joint battle efforts of Estonians and Latvians in the 1919 Battles of Cēsis, the time when, during the Bermondt Affair, Cēsis served as the temporary capital of Latvia for a short time, as well as the history of the Cēsis Victory Monument. In an escape room named ‘Legends of the Battles of Cēsis’, the participants have one hour to find their way out by solving puzzles, making connections and finding hidden objects. The Cēsis Company, one of the first units of the Latvian Armed Forces, was established on 8 December 1918 in Cēsis Castle by Senior Lieutenant Artūrs Jansons. The museum’s exhibit features a memorial plaque dedicated to the Cēsis Company, unveiled on 8 December 1933 at the Cēsis New Castle, which, at the time, served as the headquarters of the 8th Daugavpils Infantry Regiment and the garrison officers’ club.

Cesis Brothers Cemetery

Located in Cēsis Lejas Cemetery, Lenču Street 15, Cēsis.

One of the most important memorial sites of the First World War and the War of Independence in Cēsis is the Brothers' Cemetery in the Lower Cemetery.
The cemetery is the monument of the Brethren's Cemetery, built in 1927 by the artist and thinker of Cēsis Augustus Julla (1872-1958), dedicated to the soldiers buried in the Brothers' Cemetery from 1915 to 1920.

About 200 soldiers are buried in the Brothers Cemetery of Cēsis Lower Cemetery. Among them, an unknown number of Latvian riflemen and Russian soldiers killed in the First World War, as well as soldiers of German (10), Polish and other nationalities. During the Latvian Liberation War, 22 fallen soldiers of the 5th (2nd) Cēsis Infantry Regiment, as well as 11 freedom fighters who fell in other Latvian army units, were buried in these cemeteries. 2 Estonians, 15 victims of Bolsheviks and also Latvian Red Riflemen are buried in the Brothers' Cemetery.

Railway bridge over Amata

Located in Drabešu parish, Cēsis region, near the recreation place "Meža kaujas".

There is a railway bridge over Amata.

The railway bridge over Amata played a very important role throughout the War of Independence, because on June 5, 1919, the first battle of the Estonian army's armed trains with the Baltic Landesver units took place here. Landeswehr, knowing that an armed train was approaching, nominated a railway bridge and took a position at the Amatas home on the river bank, ready for possible warfare. The bridge over Amata was the border between Estonian forces and the Germans.
Historical evidence of the events at the Amata Bridge has not been preserved. As Latvians did not take part in these events, there are no narratives of their memories, there are memories from Estonian soldiers and other sources. It can be said that this was an Estonian-American joint battle against the Landeswehr, because there was an American officer on the Estonian armored train, who later fought in World War II as well. In general, many future World War II officers and commanders took part in the battles of Cēsis, especially on the German side.

The Estonian armed train arrived in Cēsis on June 2, 1919, a day later went to Ieriķi, where talks took place with the landlord, which was unsuccessful, and on June 5, when the armed train approached the Amata bridge again, a collision with the Germans began. A day later, the armed train also took part in the battles near Cēsis, where it helped the soldiers of the Pupils' Company who were threatened with siege. Although the Germans tried to dismantle the rails to cut off the train's retreat, it managed to retreat across the Rauna bridge.

On the night of June 23, 1919, during the battles of Cēsis, the landesver left Cēsis and retreated to the Amata river line. When they retreated, the Germans burned down the house of the Cēsis Latvian Society and blew up a bridge over Amata.

Related stories

The unusual story of the Cēsis Regiment Students' Jewelry Monument

In the Cēsis battles of 1919, a group of volunteers from the Cēsis Regiment took part in the battles of the Cēsis Regiment. Already on the night of June 5 to 6, an hour after midnight, there was anxiety and the ornament was ordered to go into positions. Rota went on the line Mācītājsmuiža - Meijermuiža, which was considered to be the most important battlefield.

A monument dedicated to the ornamentation of students of the Cēsis Regiment at the former Livu Parish House

The company of volunteers of the Cēsis Regiment took part in the battles of Cēsis in 1919, which was formed as a battle unit of 108 young people of Valmiera and Cēsis schools on June 5 in the premises of Cēsis Progymnasium. Already on the night of June 5 to 6, an hour after midnight, there was anxiety and the ornament was ordered to go into positions. Rota went on the line Mācītājsmuiža - Meijermuiža, which was considered to be the most important battlefield.
In the first battle, several students were injured, but Edgars Krieviņš from Valmiera died from a very serious abdominal injury on the same day. On June 13, he was buried in a military honor at the Valmiera City Cemetery. After his death, Edgars Krieviņš was awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order.

The beginning, course and end of the battles of Cēsis

The victory in the battles of Cēsis was destined to become a turning point in the struggle of Latvians and Estonians for the independence of their country. This victory crossed the line between Andriev Niedra's government and German General Riediger von der Goltz's plans to conquer the Baltics. Instead, the Provisional Government of Kārlis Ulmanis resumed its activities in Liepāja.