Libau/Liepāja
Libau/Liepāja
Etymology
Until the mid-16th century, Libau was referred to as ‘Liwa’. In 1560, the German name ‘Libawe’ appeared for the first time. Other early forms of the name include Liiw, Liva and Liba. In Livonian, ‘liiw’ means ‘sand’. The name Liepāja is associated with lime trees in Latvian, as the root of the word contains the Latvian word ‘liepa’ (=lime tree).
Location
Libau is situated at 56° 31' north latitude and 21° 1' east longitude, approximately 200 km south-west of Riga/Rīga.
Topography
Libau is situated in the far west of Latvia, on the spit of land between Lake Libau and the Baltic Sea.
Common symbolism
The coat of arms, dating from 1625, depicts, on a silver field, the red Courland lion with a double tail on a green field, supporting a green lime tree with its forepaws. It also appears in the centre of the flag of the city of Liepāja, dating from 1938, which features two horizontal stripes (red and green).
Since 1999, the town of Liepāja has had an official anthem: ‘Pilsēta, kurā piedzimst vējš’ (The Town Where the Wind Is Born). The music (1973) was composed by the Latvian composer Imants Kalniņš, and the lyrics were written by the Latvian poet Māris Čaklais (1940–2003).
Middle Ages
The origins of Liepāja can be traced back to the small fishing village of Liwa, situated on the small river of the same name – the Liwa (Lyva) – which has now silted up. The narrow strip of land between what is now Lake Liepāja and the sea was inhabited by the ancestors of the Livonians, a Finno-Ugric people, and, from the fourth century AD onwards, by the Curonians.
The village of Liwa (Lyva dorp) and the port of Liwa (Lyva portus) are first mentioned in 1253 and 1267 respectively in two partition treaties between the German Order and Bishop Heinrich of Courland (d. 1274), as a result of which the harbour was ceded to the bishop and the village to the German Order. In 1291, ‘castrum Lyva’ is mentioned as a possession of the Courland Cathedral Chapter.
In 1413, Liwa is referred to as a settlement for the first time. The Flemish knight Ghillebert de Lannoy (1386–1462), who travelled to Livonia via Prussia, wrote in his diary: ‘...I came to a town called Liwa, situated on the River Liwa.”[1] Five years later, the town was burnt down by Lithuanians; many inhabitants were killed.
Modern times
In the 15th century, the silting up of the small river and the harbour became apparent. When the harbour finally silted up in the first half of the 16th century, a new harbour was built, causing the settlement to shift southwards. In the 1560s, the market square next to the new harbour became the centre of public life.
Following the dissolution of the Livonian branch of the German Order in 1561, Libau saw a succession of rulers. In 1560, Gotthard von Kettler (1517–1587), the last Landmaster of the German Order in Livonia and, from 1561, the first Duke of Courland and Semigallia, pledged Libau, as part of the Grobina (Grobiņa) bailiwick to the Brandenburg Margrave and Prussian Duke Albrecht (1490–1568); in 1609, Libau returned to Courland as part of the dowry of his daughter Sophie (1527–1591).
On 18 March 1625, the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Kettler (1569–1642), granted Liepāja town privileges, which were confirmed a year later by King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland (1566–1632). Since then, Libau has developed into a bourgeois town, led by the merchant class. During the Swedish–Polish Wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, which were fought, amongst other things, for supremacy in the Baltic region, Libau was conquered by Sweden, Saxony and Poland. The town suffered severe losses in 1661, 1698 and 1710 as a result of plague epidemics and a major fire.
During the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), Libau was occupied by the Russians (1757/58). In 1794, clashes broke out in Liepāja between Polish insurgents and Russian soldiers, culminating in 1795 with the annexation of Courland by Russia. During the Crimean War (1855), the port of Libau was blockaded by British ships. In 1878, the Russian municipal code was introduced in Libau; in 1889, the municipal constitution was finally abolished.
Contemporary History
During the First World War, Libau was the first major fortress in the chain of Russian border fortifications to be captured by German troops – in a simultaneous attack by land and sea in May 1915. In the same year, Libau was incorporated into the German occupying power’s military state of Ober Ost. However, a wave of refugees had already begun in Courland by the end of 1914 – around 400,000 inhabitants left their homes. From 6 January to 8 July 1919, following the Soviet occupation of Riga, Liepāja served as the seat of the Latvian government, which had declared its independence in November 1918. On 16 April 1919, German Balts staged a coup in Liepāja, and the Latvian government under Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942) was violently overthrown. The government and the Prime Minister managed to escape aboard the British battleship ‘Saratov’.
After the Second World War, Liepāja became a military town, home to the USSR’s largest military base, with 26,000 soldiers – a third of the total population.[2] Furthermore, Liepāja was declared a ‘closed city’; entry was only permitted with special authorisation. In 1967, the commercial port was closed; following Latvia’s independence in 1992, it was reopened.
Population
In the 13th century, there were no more than 100 inhabitants in Libau; in the 16th century, the population stood at between 400 and 500.[3] In 1897, of the 64,489 inhabitants, 24,918 were Latvians, 11,627 Germans, 9,461 Jews, 7,492 Russians, 6,007 Poles and 3,587 Lithuanians; 1,397 fell into the ‘Other’ category. By 1914, the population had risen to 94,000 (excluding the naval base). In 1920, 51,583 people still lived here: 26,927 Latvians, 5,864 Germans, 9,758 Jews, 1,773 Russians, 2,904 Poles, 3,777 Lithuanians, 580 others. In 1935, the population stood at 57,098, comprising 38,845 Latvians, 4,520 Germans, 7,379 Jews, 1,943 Russians, 2,261 Poles, 1,587 Lithuanians, 107 Estonians and 356 others. In 1967, 86,100 people lived in Liepāja,[4] by 1990 the population had risen to 114,337, and by 2013 it had fallen to 73,469.[5]
Economy
Libau’s location on the Baltic Sea, between the seat of the German Order in Marienburg/Malbork and the seat of the Livonian Grand Masters in Riga – which was, in fact, strategically favourable – had no impact on trade during the Middle Ages. By the end of the 15th century, only meat, fish, butter and timber were being exported to towns in north-eastern Germany. It was not until the 16th century that the port of Libau began to grow in importance for trade in Courland.
The collapse of the German Order brought the town not only new owners but also an economic boom. Its incorporation into Prussia stimulated trade with Poland–Lithuania. When its greatest commercial rival, the city of Riga, was incorporated into Sweden in 1621, Libau and Windau/Ventspils developed into new commercial centres of the Duchy of Courland. Around 1625, the new harbour also became silted up. Duke Jakob (1610–1682) undertook a further attempt to expand the harbour; between 1697 and 1703, the harbour was extended once more, which ultimately led to a renewed economic boom in the 18th century. In 1737, the harbour was dredged and breakwaters were constructed, which led to a revival in shipping. In 1783, Russia imposed a ban on all foreign trade. In 1858, the ice-free harbour was expanded once more, attracting trade. Towards the end of the 19th century, the outer harbour, the commercial harbour, the winter harbour and the naval harbour (1890–1899) were constructed. At the beginning of the 20th century, steamship services operated to Windau, Riga, Saint Petersburg/Leningrad, Stettin/Szczecin, Lübeck, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, Hull, Antwerp and New York. After the Second World War, cargo was shipped to Finland, Sweden, Denmark, both German states, England, France, Cuba, Brazil and the United Arab Republics.
The railway link to Liepāja greatly boosted trade. In 1871, the Liepāja–Mažeikiai (Lithuania)–Romny (Ukraine) line was opened. In 1900, the Liepāja–Aizpute line was added, in 1915the Libau–Preekuln/Priekule–Memel/Klaipėda (East Prussia, now Lithuania) line, as well as the Libau–Goldingen/Kuldīga line, and in 1917/29the Libau–Mitau/Jelgava line. In 1899, the first electric tram in the Baltic States was launched in the city.
Libau’s numerous factories produced aniline and other chemical goods, as well as roofing felt, wire, nails, cardboard products, metal goods, tools, shoes, matches, oil presses, corks, tinned goods, liqueurs and soap, and processed tobacco. The main export goods were grain and timber. During the First World War, industry was largely destroyed; reconstruction was largely funded by foreign capital.
In the late 1950s, the airport in Libau was expanded.
Special cultural institutions, education
There are five museums in Liepāja, including the City Museum (Liepājas muzejs), which opened in 1924, a theatre and the oldest philharmonic orchestra in the Baltic States, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra (Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, known since 1883 as: Liepājas simfoniskais orķestris).
In 2008, the Liepāja Pedagogical Academy became Liepāja University (Liepājas Universitāte).
Art History
St Anne’s Church was first mentioned in 1509 as a half-timbered building. The Baroque altar, created by Nikolaus Soeffrens the Younger (1662–1710), is particularly impressive. The altar, pulpit and confessional, dating from 1611, are among the oldest items of church furnishings in Latvia.
The Church of the Holy Trinity is the largest Protestant church in Latvia. It was built between 1742 and 1750 to a design by the Königsberg architect Johann Christoph Dorn (born 1671), featuring elements of palace architecture and finely crafted sandstone details in the façade ornamentation, pilasters and sculptures. The bright interior, measuring 18 by 44 metres, is adorned with secular splendour. The organ, built in the Rococo style by the Riga organ builder Heinrich Andreas Contius (1708–1792/95) in the Rococo style, which was expanded to 131 stops in 1885 by the Stettin organ builder Barnim Grüneberg (1828–1907). The largest organ in the world until 1912, it remains one of the most impressive organs in Europe to this day.
Also worth seeing in Libau are a number of town houses and granaries dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Culture of memory and remembrance
In 2009, Liepāja applied to be the European Capital of Culture for 2014, but had to give way to Riga. Liepāja and Darmstadt have been twin towns since 1993.
Bibliography
- Imants Lancmanis: Libau. A Baltic port city between the Baroque and Classical periods. Translated from Latvian by Ursula Reimers. Cologne 2007.
- Libau. In: Hans Feldmann, Richard von Kymmel, Dagmar Lydike, Heinz von zur Mühlen, Clara Redlich, Sigrid Weikert-Girgensohn: Historical Encyclopaedia of Baltic Places. Vol. 2: Latvia (Southern Livonia and Courland). Cologne 1990 (Sources and Studies on Baltic History 8/II), pp. 344–346.
- C[onstantin] Mettig: Baltic Cities. Sketches from the History of Livonia, Estonia and Courland. 2nd, expanded edition. Riga 1905, pp. 298–310.
- Ādolfs Šilde: Latvijas vēsture [History of Latvia] 1914–1940. Stockholm 1976.
- Alexander Wegner: History of the City of Libau. Libau 1878. (Reprinted 1970).
Web links
- www.liepaja.lv/page/30 (Libau City Council website)
- www.filmportal.de/video/oesel-genommen (Historical film footage of military transports in the port of Liepāja)
- www.herder-institut.de/bildkatalog/wikidata/Q167668 (Images of Liepaja in the Herder Institute’s image archive, Marburg)
Notes
[1] Quoted from: Lancmanis: Libau, p. 6.
[2] www.liepaja.lv/page/1510 (accessed 8 December 2014).
[3] Lancmanis: Libau, pp. 6, 8.
[4] Libau. In: Feldmann et al.: Baltic Historical Gazetteer, p. 345.
[5] Database of the Latvian Statistical Office: www.csb.gov.lv/ (accessed 6 February 2014).
Citation
Anda Godlinski: Libau/Liepāja. In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2014. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32308 (as at 30 July 2021).
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