Cēsis New Castle - walls where the security of the Latvian state has been created and identity documents are still protected
Cēsis New Castle was built on a military fortification - the ruins of a medieval castle. However, this is by no means the only military significance of the building.
The beautiful residence of Count Zīvers has taken care not only of the safety and well-being of its owners and builders, but has also experienced the birth of the first formations of the Latvian Armed Forces in its walls. On December 8, 1918, the Cēsis company was formed there, which took part in the first battles of the Latvian Liberation War. These are the earliest battles, for which several participants have been awarded the Lāčplēsis War Order. Later, the jewelry was included in the so-called Kalpaka Battalion, which fought in 1919 for the liberation of Latvia in Kurzeme.
In 1919, Cēsis New Castle served as a refuge for the Latvian Provisional Government of Kārlis Ulmanis - the castle only houses the Civil Administration of Northern Latvia. This is the time when the city of Cēsis acquires the significance of the capital scale for three days.
Since 1949, historical witnesses collected by the Cēsis Museum of History and Art have found a safe haven in the walls of Cēsis New Castle. Thanks to the student association "Līdums", the Cēsis Museum has been an important custodian of the history of the Latvian flag since 1933. The museum staff not only kept this evidence, which is so valuable to our country, but was brave enough to protect it from destruction during the Soviet occupation: shortly after the end of World War II, Erna Berkholce, a researcher at the Cēsis Museum, participated in the removal of flag history materials from the museum collection. She takes the materials to be destroyed to the house and saves them. In 1997, she returned them to the museum.
After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the museum staff is constantly working on researching and popularizing the history of the flag. In 2000, the museum's historian, dr.hist. The voluminous work “Red-White-Red - Colors of the Latvian Flag. Research, memories, documents on the history of the Latvian national flag ”. Since 2012, a special space has been dedicated to the history of the flag in the museum's exposition - the Flag Hall - where the first Latvian national flag created by Jānis Lapiņš can also be seen. 2016 is special because 100 years have passed since the creation of the flag.
Cesis History and Art Museum, 09.11.2016
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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.
Memorial place of J. Lapiņš, the author of the first flag of Latvia
It is located in "Lejas Pintuli", Veselava parish, Priekuļi district.
A memorial to Jānis Lapiņas, the author of the pre-flag of Latvia, can be seen.
The Latvian national flag was created during the First World War. In 1915, when creating the flags of the Latvian rifle battalions, some artists offered red and white colors to the flag throwers. In the second half of 1916, the red-and-white flag thrown by the pedagogue and journalist Jānis Lapiņa was made by his student, Marianna Straumane, a teacher at the refugee shelter in Valmiera.
It is the first known and actually made Latvian national flag, which has survived to our days.
In 2014, a memorial to Jānis Lapiņas, the author of the pre-flag, was opened in "Lejas Pintuulis" of Veselava Parish, Priekuļi County.
The first known authentic Latvian national flag, which passed through the refugee corridors in Russia, was carefully hidden during the Soviet and German occupation, and is currently kept in the Cēsis Museum of History and Art . It was given as a gift in 1997 by their daughter Lija Poga.
