"The Council of Ministers Building"
Come join "TheCeļotājs" visit to the outside area of The Council of Ministers Building located at Brīvības bulvāris 36 and the District Courthouse "Rīga Regional Court" located at Brīvības bulvāris 34 which share a common area between them.
Built in 1936 by Frīdrihs Skujiņš 1890-1957, during the Soviet occupation, the Council of Ministers building was the office of the Baltic Military District of the USSR. It is on the site of the cemetery of the church of Saint Gertrude "which stood on the site of the Riga Cinema in Elizabetes iela". Guntis Ulmanis, the first president of Latvia after renewed independence, has an apartment in the building.
Born in Riga in 1939, Guntis Ulmanis, grandson of Karlis Ulmanis, studied Economics at the Latvian State University after which he worked on the board of the Bank of Latvia. He was a member of the Communist Party from 1965 to 1989 and a member of Riga City Council. In 1993, Ulmanis was appointed President and served two terms.
That Guntis Ulmanis had a notoriously shaky grasp of English was seen when he addressed a prestigious lawyers' conference in the United States beginning his remarks with: "I'm pleased to be in the company of such distinguished liars." He of course meant lawyers!
The District Courthouse "Rīga Regional Court"
Come join "TheCeļotājs" visit to the outside area of the District Courthouse "Rīga Regional Court" located at Brīvības bulvāris 34
The District Courthouse was built in 1888 to the designs of Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis. It was designed so that from the air the building looks like the Tsar's crown. On the building are two plaques; one to Baumanis "who was granted a rent-free apartment on the top floor" and the other to Gunārs Astra
Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis 1834-1891, who became the first professionally qualified Latvian architect, was the son of a river pilot. He began his working life at the age of 11 learning his father's trade, however eight years later he became a carpenter and within three years, he was managing 40 workers.
Ever wanting to improve himself he then worked for four years with the architect Heinrich Scheel. In 1859, he was noticed by the St Petersburg architect Ludwig Bohnstedt, who encouraged him to enroll in the Berlin Royal Building Academy and later in the Saint Petersburg Academy of Art.
Gunārs Astra, 1931-1988, whose only crime was the defense of human rights, was arrested by the Soviets in 1961 and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. On his released in 1976 he returned to Riga, but seven years later was rearrested and imprisoned again, only to be released a few weeks before his death. Astra was a light in the darkness, whose spirit proves that there is no power on earth that can strangle the desire for freedom and the aspiration of people to live in a democratic country based on the rule of law.
The plaque on side of the District Court, which includes a quote from his second trial, reads:
In this building on 15 December 1983 the fighter for the freedom of Latvia Gunārs Astra was sentenced.
"I believe that this time will disappear like a nightmare. This gives me the strength to stand and breathe here."
He went on to say "not included on the plaque" "Our people have suffered beyond belief and therefore have the experience and we will survive this dark stage as well."
While still a student, together with Robert Pflug he won the contract for what is now the Saeima "Parliament" building. Outside his profession, he was involved in the 1861 Berlin festival of gymnastics and was one of the founders of the Saint Petersburg Association of Architects. In 1868, he helped found the Riga Latvian Society of which he was chairman (1872-65).
He also constructed three temporary timber concert halls in Riga for the song festivals of 1873, 1880 and 1888. In total Baumanis built over 150 buildings in Riga, He also built 17 Russian Orthodox churches in Livland province.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia
Brīvības bulvāris 36
Rīga, LV-1520, Latvija
Phone: +371 67082934, +371 67082800
Fax: +371 67280469
Email: vk@mk.gov.lv
Website: [ Ссылка ]
