World War II battle sites at Pampāļi and the private collection of Arthurs Hartmanis
Museum
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The "Dzirnavas" in Pampali parish houses an impressive collection of antiquities, which the young collector started to build at an early age. The private collection includes many World War II relics found in the surrounding area.
Listening to the collector's enthusiastic narration, you can see the antiquities found in Pampāļi and its surroundings, from household utensils, dowry chests, radios and working pataphones to wartime relics and a wonderful stamp collection.
The history of Pampally began in 1835, when Ludwig von Stiglitz started building the estate. In 1837 and 1839 the new church of Pampally was consecrated.
War of Independence
During the Latvian War of Independence, Pampāļi was an important road junction between Lakes and Salda, and several battles took place in its surroundings between German units of the Dzelzdivision and Soviet Latvian troops. It was from Pampally that von Borke's battalion set out in the early hours of 6 March 1919 to carry out a joint mission, and later engaged in a misunderstood battle with the Separate Latvian Battalion, resulting in the death of Colonel Oskars Kalpaks.
World War II
Hostilities in the vicinity of Pampally began on 21 November 1944, when the Soviet 4th Shock Army, fording the Venta, launched an attack in the direction of Saldus. By 24 November, the situation stabilised and the front line remained unchanged until 21 December.
On 21 December 1944, the so-called 3rd Kurzeme Bolshoi began, during which the 4th Shock Army of the 1st Baltic Front with 4 Rifle Corps (12 Rifle Divisions) and the Mechanised Corps of the 3rd Guards attacked towards Saldus to link up with the units of the 2nd Baltic Front there. The German 132nd Infantry Division was defending in the Pampally area, with the 1st Battalion of the 436th Grenadier Regiment fortified in the vicinity of the manor and the church.
The attack on Pampally was carried out by the 357th and 145th Rifle Divisions of the 1st Rifle Corps, supported by the 39th Guards Tank Brigade, under massive artillery fire. During the first 24 hours of the battle, the Pampally garrison, commanded by Captain Eberard Coll, commander of the 14th (anti-tank) Company of the 436th Grenadier Regiment, was surrounded and virtually destroyed in fierce fighting.
As Pampally was directly on the front line, all the buildings suffered from artillery fire and are practically non-existent today. However, the outline of the former church, which was converted into a workshop during the Soviet period, has been preserved, as have the marks of shells on the wall of the former .. building.
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