Aizpute (; historically

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Hazenpot'') is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

South Kurzeme Municipality South Kurzeme Municipality () is one of the 35 Municipalities of Latvia, municipalities established in Latvia in 2021. It surrounds Liepāja, Latvia's third largest city. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is ...

in the

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, in the valley of the Tebra River, situated northeast of

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

History

Aizpute castle ruins 13th century - panoramio

The territory of modern Aizpute was inhabited by ancient

Curonians :''The Kursenieki are also sometimes known as Curonians.'' The Curonians or Kurs (; ) were a medieval Balts, Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in the 5th–16th centuries, in what are now western parts of Latvia and Lithuania. ...

since the 9th century. St. John Lutheran's church was built on the Curonian

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

. In the 13th century, during the

Livonian crusade The Livonian crusade consists of the various military Crusade, Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – modern Latvia and Estonia – during the Pope, Papal-sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12th–13th century. Overview Historic ...

, the territory of Aizpute was conquered by German crusaders. In 1248, the master of the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

Dietrich von Grüningen Dietrich von Grüningen (or ''von Groeningen'') (* around 1210, † 3 September 1259) was a Knights Templar, Landmeister in Livonia and Landmeister of Prussia and Deutschmeister of the Teutonic Order. One of the most outstanding figures of the T ...

ordered the building of a stone castle in Aizpute. The castle and the whole settlement became known as Hasenpoth. After the partition of Courland in 1253 Aizpute became part of the

Bishopric of Courland The Bishopric of Courland (, ) was the second smallest (4500 km2) Prince-bishopric, ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade. During the Livonian War in 1559 the bishopric became ...

. In 1260 Aizpute church was built.

Bishop of Courland The Bishopric of Courland (, ) was the second smallest (4500 km2) ecclesiastical state in the Livonian Confederation founded in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade. During the Livonian War in 1559 the bishopric became a possession of ...

Otto granted

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (, , ; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages gr ...

to Aizpute in 1378. In the second half of the 16th century, Aizpute experienced rapid development because the Tebra river was used as the main trade route for the merchants of Aizpute who shipped their cargo down to the sea. After the

Polish-Swedish war This is a List of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

, all trade and shipping infrastructure was destroyed and Aizpute started to experience decline. During the period of 1611-1795, it was under the power of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

as a capital of the semi-autonomous District of Pilten. In 1795, Aizpute and the whole of Courland was incorporated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and became part of the

Courland Governorate Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland or Governorate of Kurland, and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland, was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the ...

. During the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, Aizpute was one of the places where local revolutionists showed armed resistance to the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

punitive units. It led to the so-called ''Aizpute War''. During the period of the Republic of Latvia, Aizpute became the centre of a district, but in the Soviet period it became incorporated into Liepāja district. In 2009 Aizpute became the centre of Aizpute Municipality. Its current name is the Lettization of its German name, and is officially in use since 1917.

Notable people

* Heinrich Blumenthal (physician) (1804–1881), Baltic German physician * Eduard von Keyserling (1855–1918), Baltic German writer, born at nearby Tāšu-Padure Manor * Tatjana Barbakoff (1899–1944), ballet dancer *

Pēteris Vasks Pēteris Vasks (born 16 April 1946) is a Latvian composer. Biography Vasks was born in Aizpute, Latvia, into the family of a Baptist pastor. He trained as a violinist at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player wit ...

(born 1946), contemporary Latvian composer * Ingrīda Circene (born 1956), politician, former Latvian Minister of Health *

Mārtiņš Freimanis Mārtiņš Freimanis (7 February 1977 – 27 January 2011) was a Latvian musician, singer, songwriter, actor, and TV personality. Freimanis was born in Liepāja, but spent his childhood in Aizpute. Career Music Mārtiņš Freimanis was the le ...

(1977–2011), musician and actor, spent his childhood in Aizpute * Helvijs Lūsis (born 1987), bobsledder * Anton Zabolotny (born 1991), Russian footballer * Klāvs Bethers (born 2003), footballer

Twin towns — sister cities

Aizpute is twinned with: *

Schwerzenbach Schwerzenbach is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley (German: ''Glattal''). The municipality was first mentioned in year 1064 as ''Swerzenbach''. Geography Schwerzenb ...

, Switzerland *

Karlskrona Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...

, Sweden

References

External links

Photographs of the town in 2007
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Courland 1378 establishments in Europe Aizpute county Populated places in South Kurzeme Municipality

History

Notable people

Twin towns — sister cities

See also

References

External links