For lesser known works by Latvian sculptor Kārlis Zāle in the old cemeteries of Dīvals and Trikāta
One of the little-known works of the sculptor Kārlis Zāle (1888-1942) is a sculpture made of limestone "Roses Roses", which was created between 1939 and 1940 and is related to the creation of the Brothers' Cemetery Ensemble.
During the establishment of the Brothers' Cemetery Ensemble, a proposal to create a pool in the central part of the cemetery was discussed. The sculptor prepared for such a solution and cut out these two similar sculptures, intending to place them at the entrance to the pool. However, the idea of creating a pool was rejected and a lawn was installed in its place. Thus, the “Rose Rose” Brothers Cemetery did not find its place and was installed separately, near the cemeteries of private cemeteries: one in the 1st Forest Cemetery in Riga, the other in the Dīvāli Cemetery in Valmiera. Both sculptures depict a woman kneeling and grieving for the departed. Broken roses and an overturned water tank tell of a broken life. The sculptures are made in limestone and installed on a low base.
The sculpture has been located in the Diva cemetery in Valmiera since 1950.
The second lesser-known work of Kārlis Zāle is a monument to the folk teacher Jēkabs Mūrnieks (1865-1926). Located in the old cemetery of Trikāta. "Noble work leads to eternity" - this is the teacher's motto on the back of the monument.
The relatively complex architectural composition includes a large sub-basin, which apparently depicts a teacher with an open book sitting under the school limes in accordance with the wishes of the customers, and a boy cuddling him. This tab is almost the only work by Kārlis Zāle that has an illustrativism. Unusually, his handwriting has image detail.
Jēkabs Mūrnieks worked continuously at the Trikāta parish school for 42 years and during his time the parish school has educated many well-known Latvian state, army, public and various professions - Minister of War, General Jānis Balodi, Generals Kārlis Gopper and Roberts Dambītis, Colonels Pēteris Silenieks, Mārti Kamols, Jēkabs Gustavs and many others.
In 1928, grateful students erected a monument to Jēkabs Mūrnieks in the Trikāta cemetery, created by the sculptor Kārlis Zāle.
http://trikatasvesture.beverina.lv/index.php/pieminekli
https://www.vestnesis.lv/ta/id/59018
http://trikatasvesture.beverina.lv/index.php/sakums/arhivs-2020
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Memorial places for generals and knights of the Lāčplēsis War Order in Trikāta Parish
The memorial stele is located next to the Trikāta cemetery chapel.
Trikāta Cemetery preserves the memory of three outstanding Latvian generals - Roberts Dambītis, Kārlis Goppers and Jānis Balodis. Jēkabs Mūrnieks, a teacher of all these generals, is also buried in Trikāta cemetery.
The generals and the knights of the Lāčplēsis Military Order are commemorated every year with torchlight processions to the Trikāta cemetery, where there are two memorial statues, in which the names of 17 knights of the Lāčplēsis Military Order associated with Trikāta parish are engraved.
Stela was opened on November 11, 2018.
Video story about the Lāčplēsis War Order and the set of orders that belonged to General Jānis Balodis.
Military heritage monuments in Dīvaliņš cemetery in Valmiera
Located in Valmiera Dīvala (Jāņa) cemetery in Valmiera.
A monument made in the Allaži limestone by sculptor Marta Lange was unveiled on September 26, 1937.
The pillared monument is closed by an inclined altar, on which there is an oak wreath and a helmet made of limestone.
Approximately 80 soldiers who died in the Latvian War of Independence, as well as those who died from injuries and illnesses, are buried.
Nearby is one of the lesser-known works of Kārlis Zāle - a monument “Broken Roses”, which is connected with the establishment of the Brothers' Cemetery Ensemble.
There is also a memorial to the victims of communist terror - a stone with the inscription: "The assassins of the 1941 communist regime" and white crosses.
Brothers' Cemetery in Riga
Riga Brothers’ Cemetery is located in the northern district of Riga. The cemetery extends over an area of 9 ha and is the most outstanding and significant memorial ensemble in Latvia dedicated to the fallen Latvian soldiers. About 3,000 soldiers are buried here. The Brothers’ Cemetery was created during World War I after the first three Latvian Riflemen, who fell in Tīreļpurvs in the battle against the German Army, were buried here. Later Latvian soldiers who had died in other battles and wars would also be buried in the Brothers’ Cemetery. The memorial is based on the design of the sculptor Kārlis Zāle, and is the first memorial ensemble in Europe with such landscape, architecture and sculptural value. It uses elements typical to the Latvian landscape, traditional farmsteads, Latvian folklore and history that praise the characteristics of soldiers and tell the story of the way of the soldier. The memorial was unveiled in 1936 and it has three parts: ‘The Road of Though’ which is a 250 m long alley, ‘Terrace of Heroes’ with the Altar of the Sacred Flame and ensemble the Sacred Oak Grove, and the burial ground with the Latvian wall and a memorial of a mother with her fallen sons.
The Freedom Monument in Riga
It is located in the center of Riga, on Brīvības Square.
The Freedom Monument is one of the most outstanding monuments of Latvian history, architecture and art. It was built according to the project of Kārļis Zaales based on public donations. Opened in 1935 as a symbol of Latvian people's freedom and love of the fatherland. Together with the Riga Brothers' Tomb ensemble, it belongs to the most valuable examples of monumental architecture and sculpture.
The Freedom Monument expresses the ethical and aesthetic values of Latvian culture. The symbols reflect the philosophical nature of freedom and the Latvian nation's historical ideas about the stages of the struggle for independence. Indicates the embodiment of physical and mental strength. The heroic language tells about the Latvian nation as a self-reliant, active maker of history and a determiner of its own destiny.
In its place, there was originally a monument to the Russian Tsar Peter I. In World War 1, it was dismantled to be transported by ship to Petrograd. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank off the island of Worms in the Estonian territory. The Soviet occupation regime planned to demolish the Freedom Monument several times, but it did not materialize.
Nowadays, you can see one of the symbols of Latvia and observe the traditions of the army honor guard.
