Lubāna (; ) 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 ...

situated in

Madona Municipality Madona Municipality () is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The administrative center is Madona. The total area of the municipality is , and the population in January 2013 was 26,953.Madona municipality Population Register Of these, economically ...

in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) 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 north-centra ...

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 ...

, situated by the

Aiviekste river The Aiviekste is a river in Latvia.Latvian Soviet Encyclopedia, p. 1-99. It begins at Lake Lubāns (the largest lake in Latvia) and drains into the Daugava (the largest river in Latvia). The Aiviekste is the largest tributary of the Daugava in La ...

. It acquired a town status in 1992, and the current population is 1,453. Lubāna has a

Lutheran church Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

(built 1868-1872, succeeded wooden churches built in 1648 and 1788) and a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 1 nursery school and 1 secondary school.

History

The first mention of the name Lubāna () comes from the which was mentioned not later than the year 1455. After its destruction in 1577 during the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

, ruins remained, and by the 18th century the Lubāna Manor had been established nearby, around which the future town grew as a part of the Lubāna Kirchspiel (church parish). The owners of the manor include Heinrich von Kronstern, the and

Baltic German nobility The Baltic German nobility was a privileged social class in the territories of modern-day Estonia and Latvia. It existed continuously from the Northern Crusades and the medieval foundation of Terra Mariana. Most of the nobility consisted of Balt ...

families. After the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

, the manor was redistributed during the

Latvian Land Reform of 1920 The Latvian Land Reform of 1920 () was a land reform act expropriating land under the Republic of Latvia in 1920 (during the Latvian War of Independence shortly after independence). The agrarian reform law of 1920 sought to transfer most of the l ...

and the manor palace became the Lubāna Gymnasium (now - Lubāna Primary School). In 1935, the was completed, linking the town with

Madona Madona (; ) is a town with town rights in the Vidzeme region of Latvia and is the center of the Madona municipality. History The surrounding area of Madona had been populated in earlier times, which is confirmed by discoveries of old buria ...

and

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

by rail until 2007, when the railway was dismantled. The village of Lubāna was a part of , created in 1866, which was a part of

Cēsis county Cēsis county (, , ) was a historic county in the Swedish Livonia, in the Governorate of Livonia, and in the Republic of Latvia dissolved during the administrative territorial reform of the Latvian SSR in 1949. Its capital was Cēsis (''Wenden'' ...

(until 1924) and of Madona county (1924–1949). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

took over the manor palace in 1941. The central buildings of the former manor were destroyed during the

Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944 The Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944 refers to the military occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union in 1944. During World War II Latvia was first Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940, then was occ ...

when the vicinity of Lubāna was subjected to fierce fighting during the . The cellars, a threshing barn and horse stables of the After the restoration of Latvian independence in 1990, Lubāna received town rights in 1992, with the rest of the former Lubāna Parish becoming parts of Indrāni and Ošupe parishes within

Madona district Madona district () was an administrative division of Latvia from 1949 to 2009. it was located in the Vidzeme and Latgale regions in the country's east. Within the district is the highest point in Latvia - Gaiziņkalns. The district also bordere ...

. Lubāna became the center of Lubāna Municipality in 2007 when the town and Indrāni Parish were merged into it, and Lubāna Municipality became a first-level subdivision after the 2009 Latvian administrative reform. In 2021, Lubāna Municipality was merged into

, with Lubāna and Indrāni Parish being locally administered by the Lubāna Association.

Symbols

The coat of arms of Lubāna are a golden duck on a blue background in the top part and 3 waved lines (top part silver, bottom part blue) in the bottom part.

Notable people

Hugo Celmiņš Hugo Celmiņš (30 October 1877 – 30 July 1941) was a Latvian politician, a public employee, agronomist, twice the Prime Minister of Latvia (''19 December 1924 – 23 December 1925, and 1 December 1928 – 26 March 1931''). Arrested and deporte ...

Prime Minister of Latvia The prime minister of Latvia () is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a p ...

(1924–1925, 1928–1931) * Arnis Vīksna, medical historian * Aira Birziņa, choir conductor and musical teacher

References

Cities and towns in Vidzeme Populated places established in 1992 Populated places in Madona Municipality Cēsis county {{Vidzeme-geo-stub