Jaunpils Castle (; ) is a castle in Jaunpils Parish,

Tukums Municipality Tukums Municipality () is a Latvian municipality situated partly in the region of Semigallia, partly in Courland and partly in Vidzeme. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Degole Parish, Džūkste Parish, Irlava Parish, Jaunsāti P ...

in the

Semigallia Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tri ...

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 ...

. More of a manor house than properly a fortified castle, it has now been converted into a hotel.

History

The castle in Jaunpils is first time mentioned in 1411. Most likely it's built in the end of the 14th century. The tower was added in the 15th century. In the first half of 16th century Jaunpils Castle was the place where many old and weak brothers of Livonian Order settled. In 1576 Jaunpils Castle became property of last

komtur Commander (; ; ; ; ), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval military orders, such as the Knights Hospitaller, for a member senior to a Knight. ...

Dobele Dobele (; ) is a town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is located near the center of Latvia on the banks of the river Bērze. It received town rights in 1917 whilst being a part of the German occupied Courland Governorate during the First ...

Matthias von der Recke. Castle was owned by his descendants until 1920. The castle was heavily damaged in war by

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

in 1625. Later a third floor was added and the old fortress became a manor with all conveniences in the end of the 17th century. The building was partly reconstructed in the 18th century. The castle was burned down 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 ...

. A year later it was rebuilt by architect

Wilhelm Bockslaff Wilhelm Ludwig Nikolai Bockslaff (, ; , Riga – 9 March 1945, Poznań) was a Baltic German architect working in Riga. He is considered one of the most important representatives of Eclecticism, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles in the city. He i ...

. From the 16th century until 1920 the castle belonged to the family of the

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

von der Recke. One of the family members who lived there in the 18th century was the poet Elisa von der Recke. After the Latvian agrarian reforms of the 1920s, the castle complex housed a

cattle-breeding Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

experimental station. During the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the interior of the castle was heavily reconstructed and for many years had typical Soviet interiors from the 1960s. In the 2000s, a team of Latvian designers refitted the interior of the castle. Today it features luxurious medieval style apartments which blend luxuries with glimpses of the castle's history.Jaunpils pils SIA. "Pakalpojumi". http://www.jaunpilspils.lv/index.php?lang=lat&n1=1&n2=1 Retrieved 7 October 2018.

References

External links

Jaunpils Castle
* * {{Castles in Latvia Castles in Semigallia Castles of the Livonian Order Tukums Municipality Tukums county

History

See also

References

External links