Lielvārde (; german: Lennewarden), population 5885, is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Ogre Municipality Ogre Municipality ( lv, Ogres novads) is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2002 by merging Ogre town and Ogresgals Parish. In 2009 it absorbed Krape Parish, Ķeipene Parish, Laubere Parish, Madliena Parish, Maz ...

in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

region of Latvia, on the right bank of the

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic ...

river, 52 km southeast of Riga.

History

The area was a contact zone between the Finnic

Livonians The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...

and the

Balts The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

, and many prehistoric artifacts have been uncovered there. A Baltic hill-fort named Lennewarden being taken in

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

Albert of Buxhoeveden Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia or Albrecht (german: Albert von Buxthoeven, lv, Alberts fon Buksthēvdens; c.1165 – 17 January 1229) was the third Bishop of Riga in Livonia. In 1201 he allegedly founded Riga, the modern capital of Latvi ...

in 1201 is mentioned in the

Chronicle of Henry of Livonia The ''Livonian Chronicle of Henry'' ( la, Heinrici Cronicon Lyvoniae) offers a Latin narrative of events in Livonia (roughly corresponding to today's inland Estonia and the northern part of Latvia) and surrounding areas from 1180 to 1227. It was ...

. This site is called ''Dievukalns'' (Hill of the Gods) in Latvian. A stone castle was constructed by the Riga diocese in 1229; its ruins are still accessible today. A parochial school was established when the area was part of Swedish Livonia, but ca. 70% of the population perished in the Great Plague of 1710. The opening of the Riga–Daugavpils Railway in 1861 led to the expansion of the town around the railway station ''Ringmundhofa'' later named Rembate. The town was entirely destroyed in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

but was swiftly rebuilt after Latvia achieved independence. After the

occupation of Latvia Latvia has been occupied by military forces from other nations from time to time. Military occupations of Latvia have included: * Livonian Crusade (13th century) * Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 * Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany (1941� ...

and its incorporation into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

as the Latvian SSR, Edgars Kauliņš (1903–1979), the local

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

secretary, was able to save all of the farmers in the district from deportation during the period of forced

collectivization Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

, declaring that there were no

kulak Kulak (; russian: кула́к, r=kulák, p=kʊˈlak, a=Ru-кулак.ogg; plural: кулаки́, ''kulakí'', 'fist' or 'tight-fisted'), also kurkul () or golchomag (, plural: ), was the term which was used to describe peasants who owned ove ...

s in the area and he would rather be deported himself. In 1948 Kauliņš became the founding chairman of the

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

Lāčplēsis ("The Bear Slayer"), now part of Lielvārde. The kolkhoz became famous for its beer, still brewed by AS Lāčplēša alus, part of the Scandinavian

Royal Unibrew Royal Unibrew is a brewing and beverage company headquartered in Faxe, Denmark. Its brands include Ceres, Faxe, Albani, Thor, Karlens and Royal. Royal Unibrew also has a strong presence in the Baltic region, where it owns Vilniaus Tauras, Ka ...

brewing group since 2005. Beer is no longer brewed in Lielvārde, the company has only kept the brand.

Lielvārde air base Lielvārde is a military air base in Rembate Parish, Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is located north of Lielvārde and southeast of Riga. It was built in 1969 for an attack aircraft regiment. In spring 1980, the 899th F ...

was built by the Soviets in 1970; the largest in the Baltic States, it was taken over by the

Latvian Air Force Latvian Air Force ( lv, Latvijas Gaisa spēki) is the aviation branch of the National Armed Forces. The first air force (AF) units were established 1992. It has no air combat capability, thus the defense of Latvian air space is maintained by NATO ...

in 1994.

Cultural traditions

Lielvārde is renowned as the area that inspired the prominent Latvian poets

Auseklis Auseklis is a Latvian god, a stellar deityLurker, Manfred (2004). ''The Routledge dictionary of gods and goddesses, devils and demons''. Routledge. p. 25. . that represents a celestial body, but possibly not the same as Venus (Rīta zvaigzne) - ...

and

Andrejs Pumpurs Andrejs Pumpurs ( on the left bank of the Daugava, in Lieljumprava civil parish, now Birzgale Parish – in Riga) was a poet who penned the Latvian epic Lāčplēsis (''The Bear Slayer'', first published in 1888) and a prominent figure in th ...

, author of the epic '' Lāčplēsis'' (''The Bear Slayer'', 1888), and for the ''Lielvārdes josta'', a traditional woven belt with 22 ancient symbols. Portions of the belt's design are featured on Latvian banknotes, and its symbolism has inspired many artists and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

enthusiasts, especially those associated with the pagan revival,

dievturība Dievturība is a neopagan movement which is a modern revival of the ethnic religion of the Latvians before Christianization in the 13th century. Adherents call themselves Dievturi (singular: Dievturis), literally "Dievs' keepers", "people who l ...

Schools

* Edgara Kauliņa Lielvārdes Vidusskola * Lielvārdes Pamatskola * PII Pūt Vējiņi

References

*Arveds Švābe, ed.: ''Latvju enciklopēdija''. Stockholm: Trīs Zvaigznes, 1952-1953. *Guntis Zemītis, ''Ornaments un simbols Latvijas aizvēsturē''. Rīga: Latvijas vēstures institūta apgāds, 2004.
Ogres rajona pašvaldību vortāls.
Retrieved 25. II. 2006. *James A. Brundage, ''The Chronicle of Henry of Livonia''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1961.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lielvarde Towns in Latvia Populated places established in 1992 Castles of the Teutonic Knights Kreis Riga Ogre Municipality Vidzeme

History

Cultural traditions

Schools

See also

References

External links