This much-loved icon features a female statue holding three stars aloft, representing the unity of Latvia’s historical regions. The memorial initially commemorated those who fell in the fight for independence, but since then it’s been a cornerstone and talisman for those pushing for political change. Because the irony is that Latvia’s much celebrated peace and self-governance of 1918 didn’t last long, as the country was promptly engulfed in a War of Independence. The battle raged until 1920 when Latvia controlled her own destiny once more, but by 1940 the USSR was in control again, and so started 50 years of upheaval.
Riga is an attractive city but its history is notably complex and often dark. To begin to understand the bigger picture beyond its elegant streets, the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is an excellent first stop.
This often haunting museum candidly highlights key events in Latvia’s decades of occupation. On June 13-14, 1941 a mass deportation occurred under Soviet rule, when over 15,000 people were transported. Families were split up, with many men sent to Russian gulags, women and children resettled in distant regions of the USSR.
Then suddenly, within a month, the Nazis were in charge. A total of 17 prisons and several internment camps were established: Jews, Communists, Soviet supporters, gypsies and the mentally ill were targeted. In September 1941, 29,000 Jews were interned in a Riga ghetto, and in November and December of the same year 25,000 were systematically killed in the nearby Rumbula Forest. In total the museum states that during the Nazi occupation some 70,000 Latvian Jews were killed. All the city’s synagogues were destroyed, except the Peitav-Shul.
It’s chilling reading, punctuated by occasional glimmers of hope as ordinary individuals undertook extraordinary risks to protect Jewish families and friends. But within a few years the political pendulum swung once more.
In 1944 the Red Army captured Riga, and life radically changed again. Soviet rule was a long-term experience, lasting until the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. Latvia is a country, and Riga a city, of extreme upheaval.
In the museum visitors get a clear sense that nobody really knew, from year to year, who would be next in the firing line. Thousands lost their lives to the Holocaust, political murders and war, in the gulags, camps, prisons and ghettos, and many simply fled.
History is always told from one point of view, often the victor’s, but this museum was careful not to elevate or denigrate anyone’s suffering, be they Jew, Russian, German, Gypsy or Latvian.
It’s a powerful place, and walking out onto the streets of Riga with this context at your fingertips gives the city and its people greater depth. For more on Latvia’s Jewish heritage, there’s also a separate Jewish museum tracing the community back to the 16th century.
Perhaps such dramatic history explains why festivals and celebrations are so important here. It’s a cultural capital, a city that now appreciates the beauty and rich tapestry of life. The colourful Riga Festival in June mixes concerts, theatre, art and multimedia events, a Jazz Festival takes place in July, while the Riga City Festival in mid August offers multiple concerts across the city’s parks and gardens. In September, the White Night festival holds free cultural events in quirky spots such as abandoned factories, the Staro Riga Light Festival illuminates the capital in November, and in winter, the European Christmas Festival offers classical music in historic locations.
Dining out in Riga is an equally civilised affair, from affordable treats at the bakeries to more indulgent meals. The likes of Rigensis bakery (at Tirgonu 8) offers a heart-stopping array of cakes, pastries and biscuits.
Nearby Black Magic chocolate emporium is set in a beautiful building of vintage decor and chocolate-coloured dark wood. Here, not only is it possible to indulge in truffles and chocolates, but to down a vodka or a shot of the traditional Latvian herbal liqueur Black Balsam. And even at three in the afternoon, ordering vodka and chocolate seems perfectly reasonable in Riga.
For a slick imaginative menu with excellent vegetarian options, Neiburgs has a raw food menu as well as raw cocktails. Or the city’s kosher café has everything from latkes and gefilte fish to shakshuka; Kafe 7:40 is set in the Jewish community centre on Skolas iela.
The city’s architecture also bears testament to the inhabitants’ ability to rebuild and endure. Heading through Riga’s graceful main squares, many buildings and statues were destroyed in the Second World War and have been painstakingly reconstructed. Walk between Ratslaukums (Town Hall Square), Dome Square and St Peter’s Square to see see the medieval House of the Blackheads, a 14th century guild building reconstructed in the 1990s, along with Dome Cathedral, its foundations dating to the 13th century, and the equally ancient St Peter’s Church.
Strolling between the cafes and pop-up beer tents in the historic squares, these informal gathering points ensure the party atmosphere has started early. Riga certainly has a troubled past, but its future looks far brighter.
