No. 12A Atmodas Street

No. 12A Atmodas Street around 1930

No. 12A Atmodas Street in 2014

In the 18th century, it was one of the houses of the physician Johann Gottfried Falke (he is also Falk), behind which, as the District Councilor (Landrat) of the Piltene District Friedrich Ewald von Fircks wrote in December 1796, the foundations of St. John's Church still remain. This is the Church of St. John the Evangelist (Ecclesia Parochiale Sancti Iohannis Evangelistae), first mentioned in a legislative act of granting town’s rights to Aizpute in 1378.

On August 24, 1804, the Civil Governor of Courland Nikolai Iwanowitsch Arsenjew (1760–1830) wrote to the Riga War Governor, Count Friedrich Buxhöwden (1750-1811), that upon arrival in Aizpute, together with the Land Council Landrat [elected nobility self-government body with both administrative and judicial powers and acting as the Piltene District Court (Landgericht), which heard the members of the district’s civil and criminal case] examined the building of the College Secretary, Babst's House (built in 1802 on the current № 26 Atmodas (Awakening) Street), where the Crown rents space to the Land Council Landrat (since January 1804) and which the Governor of the War has already suggested in 1802 to examine for possible purchase. Arsenjew admits that the building is quite good, but as there is no suitable architect in Courland who could provide a proper assessment of the property, Arsenjew announces that he has asked the governor of Vidzeme to send the architect of his province, Schons, to perform the respective task. At the same time, he considered it necessary to consider other options and found the brick house of the Jewish merchant Solomon Wulff (now № 12A Atmodas (Awakening) Street) to be the best and most convenient not only for the Landrats' College, but also but also for arranging space for guards and a prison, which have so far been in the rather poor and inappropriate premises for the detainees in the Magistrate's House (№ 3 Atmodas (Awakening) Street).

During a meeting with Wulff, the Governor found out that the merchant was not only willing to sell his house, but had already offered to buy it for 10,000 Albert Talers for the purposes of the Landrat by sending a letter to Count Buxhöwden.

On September 30, 1804, the Architect of Vidzeme province Matthias Schons inspected the newly built stone house and a wooden building next to it on Lielā (Big) Street, about which the following self-signed information was provided.

The massive residential house consists of two living floors and heated attic rooms.

The exterior walls of the first floor are 3 feet thick, the interior walls are 2 feet thick. On this floor there are 7 living rooms, which are partly used for shops and warehouses, two hallways, one kitchen, two vaulted basements. All doors have strong hinges and lockable keys, all windows and shutters – have the necessary locks. Most windows have iron bars for safety. Stoves, floors, walls and ceilings are in a condition suitable for living.

The living floor has 9 spacious rooms, 2 hallways, 1 kitchen with 2 separate apartments, mostly with double doors, all with decorations, hinges and keys. All windows with internal shutters are in working order. Stoves, floors, walls, ceilings and stairs are in good condition.

At both ends of the attic there are 2 heated pediment rooms with 4 lockable warehouses.

Chimneys and the whole roof of the house are in the best condition.

In the yard there is a wooden barn for carriages on a stone foundation, covered with tiles, as well as the second larger wooden building built on a stone foundation with a tiled roof. It has a horse stable, a carriage, a granary, a public entrance and a cellar.

There is also an empty garden area behind these buildings. The yard and garden area are fenced with a board fence and with the main and garden gate.

All of the above has been carefully inspected, measured and, according to special calculations, valued at the then value by the architect on 11,786 Albert Reichsthalers.

On the same day, the architect Matthias Schons prepared a second document, in which he writes that the two-storey building with a residential roof floor, if the Crown decided to buy it, would be easily furnished as a courthouse for a small cost.

In the hallway on the first floor to the left of the entrance there would be a guard room, but two rooms connected to it - for detainees. In the hallway on the right - a fireproof room for archives. The other rooms on this floor could be reserved for a guard officer or a ministerial (lower court clerk, served subpoenas) apartment.

The five interconnected rooms on one side of the living or second floor could be used as court and party (complainant and accused) rooms. There are also three spacious rooms, two hallways and a kitchen on this floor as a spare apartment for high standing visitors.

In addition, there are four more rooms on the mansard floor that could be reserved for unmarried clerical officials.

Next, the architect lists what repairs should be done on each floor. Their total cost - 280 Reichsthalers.

On December 9, 1804, a Purchase and Sale Agreement was signed with Solomon Simon Wolf for 6,000 Talers, and by order of Governor Arsenyev, in 1805, the Land Council (Landrat) meetings were to be held in the purchased house, as the Crown would no longer be allocating money for rent.

In the spring of 1805, a fire broke out in the building. The damage was severe and the building needed major repairs, which were completed in September.

On September 2, 1813, the architect of the Courland province H. Dicht drew up a new estimate for the repair of the Aizpute Courthouse, the total amount of expenses - 7291 Rubles and ¾ kopecks.

The report of the technical inspection of the house on June 21, 1814, signed by three Aizpute town Councilors, the Court Bailiff, as well as the Architect of the Courland province, shows that the building was in bad condition. The inspection revealed that the masonry building equipped for the needs of the seat of Piltene Land Council with premises for the panel meetings, archives, chancellery, with a room for both parties (accuser and accused) and two rooms for chancellors on duty was extremely old and threatened to collapse.

After the liquidation of Piltene Land Council, its house was intended for the Aizpute Supreme Court and the Aizpute Landlord Court, therefore, on the recommendation of the Treasury, the Civil Governor of Courland in the autumn of 1819 set three auction dates for the necessary reconstruction of the building. The plan and estimate of the reconstruction works had been developed by the architect of the Courland Province Dicht, and they were approved by the Governor General himself on July 20, 1819. However, no applicant applied for the repair of the building for the estimate set by the previously mentioned gentlemen.

In the summer of 1821, the Council of the Courland Province ordered the architect of the Province, Schulz, taking into account the request of the Courland Construction Committee, to go to Aizpute to inspect the condition of the court building - the former Piltene Land Council (Landrat) as well as to develop a new project for the repair of the building.

On April 9, 1824, the Governor General of Courland ordered the collapsing house to be repaired or sold and a new one bought instead.

On December 23, 1824, the Aizpute Magistrate informed the Council of the Courland Province in Jelgava that a strong hurricane had completely destroyed and rendered unusable the adjacent building next to the Crown house at night from December 20 to 21. The middle chimney of the Crown house is also in danger of collapsing, thus threatening to knock down not only people on the street, but also those in the prison in the basement of this house. Therefore, the Aizpute Magistrate and Mayor asked the Provincial Council to order the demolition of the middle chimney.

From December 1824 to December 1829, the Architect of the Courland province Schulz developed several projects for the expansion of the former Land Council (Landrat) building and the installation of the Supreme Court and the Governor’s (Hauptman's) Court, the apartments for judges of both courts and the prison with the necessary back yard buildings. The Baltic Governor General, Marquis Paulucci, has also taken an active part in planning the building.

On May 22, 1826, the Department of State Economy and Crown Buildings of the Russian Interior Ministry informed the Governor-General of the Baltics that the funds allocated for the capital reconstruction of the Crown building - the two-storey building of the former Piltene Land Council (Landrat) for the needs of the Supreme and the Governor's (Hauptman's) Court and prison in Aizpute were insufficient. As the building has continued to deteriorate over time, 49,378 Rubles are needed for repairs, according to an estimate made by the provincial architect Schulz in March 1826.

Paulucci's report was sent only in 1829.

Although a specific project had not been approved by December 1829, it was planned as a prison for 40 people on the ground floor of the building, a prison infirmary in the newly built wing of the building and a separate steam bath building for prisoners. In 1830, a total of 78 detainees were held in the prison, which had not been renovated yet. On January 7, 1831, the arrests of the Aizpute Governor’s (Hauptman's) Court "Jannis Willis" and "Mazais Janka" arrived. Both are assigned no. 2.

In 1830, the Governors-General of the Baltics had already changed - Marquis Paulucci was replaced by von der Pahlen, but the repair of the courthouse had not yet begun. In December, a new auction was held for the renovation of the house. The smallest amount of 29,325 Rubles was promised by the 2nd Guild trader of Jelgava 2nd Guild Sebastian Kapeller.

On February 20, 1831, the Russian Interior Ministry ordered the Governor-General of the Baltic States to enter into an agreement with the merchant Kapeller for the reconstruction of the courthouse in Aizpute for the said amount.

On June 20, 1832, the repairs were finally completed, inspected and accepted, and the building was accepted for use.

The description of the Crown buildings in Aizpute in 1836 mentions that this building is a two-storey brick house with a gable roof covered with tin. The building was newly built in 1832. After that, there were still minor repairs to the stoves and the roof.

Upstairs was the Aizpute Supreme Court, the Governor's (Hauptman's) Court, as well as the prison warden; in the attics, the lower officials of both courts; downstairs - detainees and guard.

The building was in good condition.

In the yard there was a one-storey stone barn with a four-sloped roof, the other household building was partly half-timber (Fachwerk), partly with laths walls. There was also a two-part masonry fence surrounding the yard, covered with iron.

In 1838, a small auction was held again for the renovation of the Aizpute Court House with adjacent buildings, which was auctioned for 5,110 Rubles by the 3rd Guild merchant of the Kuldiga, Samuel Tietzner. There were 17 rooms to be renovated. In 1839, the audit found that the repairs had been performed in a good way.

In 1839, the following institutions of Aizpute District were located in the building - Supreme Court, Hauptman Court and Prison.

In 1846, a decision was made to build a new stone house in Aizpute with 5 cells for criminals at the back of the Crown house. On March 21, civil engineer Korff sent a self-designed project to the Courland Provincial Construction Commission with a note that it is not possible to build such cells in the current Crown building. An estimate of the cost of the alleged completion of construction as early as 1846 was also added.

As can be seen from the Aizpute District doctor's report of 1857, at that time the prison had its own hospital with 4 beds, and each of them was occupied 296 days a year.

On October 16, 1865, Aizpute was visited by the Governor of Courland, Johann von Brewern, which was used by a local Court Bailiff to apply for a second guardian position (the second lowest rank in the police). On October 29, the governor asked the Governor's Council to do so.

Budget Expenditure Estimate of Aizpute for 1872 states that, based on the order of the Senate of 14 March 1861 and the order of the Council of the Courland Province of 11 August 1871, the local prison should be heated and illuminated, as well as the remuneration of the prison supervisor and guard must be provided by the Town Treasury. In turn, the Council collected this money from real estate tax, i.e., the landlords paid for the maintenance of the prison.

In 1892, Aizpute Prison had 9 cells for men and 1 cell for women. The prison building also housed the office of the Prison Chief and a 3-room apartment. In the attic there was 1 room for a married senior supervisor, as well as 3 rooms in which supervisors (8) rested and spent the night, they rented premises for their families in the town.

The archive contains the report of the medical inspector of Courland Province on the examination of the infirmary of Aizpute Prison in October 1894, which was signed by the prison doctor A. Sedding in addition to the inspector. There were two patients in the infirmary during the examination.

In November 1897, the Head of the Aizpute Branch of the Prison Committee of the Ministry of the Interior informed the Town Council that the prison was intended for 23 detainees, but in 1896 and 1897 there were on average 30-35 detainees per day.

The reports of Aizpute town doctor Julius von Haller (1863-1914) for 1899 and 1901 contain a special report on the sanitary condition of Aizpute Prison, which the doctor for some reason called the prison castle (тюремный замокъ). The report states that the "prison castle" consists of 3 parts: the main one - a two-storey building, a wing and an extension. Upstairs there is a prison office, rooms for the chief officer, rooms for detainees and their guard, but downstairs there are cells, two of which were large on the street side, three on the courtyard side, and two rooms for the prison infirmary with 4 and 2 beds. There were 4 solitary confinement cells in the extension. There were also two guard rooms for 8 people somewhere, but the wing had a warehouse, a kitchen and a steam bath. The latter was wide, high and heated twice a month.

The toilet, disinfected with carbol and lime, was in the yard and cleaned as needed.

In 1899, 362 detainees were placed in prison, including 5 children. The hospital has 28 men and 11 women who have spent an average of 40 (!) days there, 97.89 Rubles were spent for medicine.

In 1901, 344 detainees were imprisoned: 295 men and 49 women. 38 fell ill and were placed in a prison hospital, where on average each spent 39 days, but the prison spent only 27.89 Rubles for medicine during the year.

In 1900, the town was exempted from the District's Prison lighting and heating costs, but in a 1901 town budget estimate, based on a 1900 Council decision, the town began renting premises for "police arrest" 50 Rubles a year, possibly in the same prison house.

The official information about Aizpute Prison after the 1905 revolution is interesting.

On March 22, 1906, the medical inspector of Courland Province reported to the Governor of Courland about the inspection of Aizpute District Prison on March 20, during which he found crowdedness (123 prisoners instead of the planned 40), aggravated by the unsanitary condition of the prison, especially downstairs: the walls and ceilings of the cells are dirty, the floors are rotten. The only toilet is outside the prison in the courtyard of the building, is extremely old and completely inadequate in terms of layout and size. The small prison yard, the only place for prisoners to walk, has no run-off of dirty water. It accumulates and forms pools, especially near the kitchen. In addition, when inspecting food in the prison kitchen, the inspector, although no detainee complained about the quality of the bread, drew the Chief Officer’s special attention to its lack.

A copy of the description of the necessary prison repairs in 1906 allows us to conclude that the prison consisted of a main and a small building, also called a prison wing (Flügel). On the 1st floor of the main building there was a surveillance room, a corridor, 5 cells and a hospital in two rooms; in the small - a corridor and 5 cells. There was also a household building with an arrestor's kitchen, a steam bath with an anteroom, an anteroom for the kitchen and two storage rooms for a steam bath. It was planned to rebuild the oven for baking bread and cooking in the kitchen, but in the steam bath - the steam sauna furnace.

On August 20, 1906, Tramdach, the Head of the Aizpute District Prison in Courland Province, informed the Courland Province Construction Department that the repair of the prison building entrusted to him was progressing well: the furnaces were repaired everywhere, except for the reconstruction of the furnace in the steam bath, the floors have been laid, the paving works have been completed - a paved sidewalk along the prison building on the street side and also a 38 ½ square (175 m²) in the prison yard. The completed work also includes the repair of the pump and the toilet.

On November 16, 1906, Tramdach applied to the Construction Department of the Courland Province Council for permission to erect a wooden fence in front of the detention cells on the side of the current Atmodas (Awakening) Street to prevent detainees from communicating with unauthorized persons. The fence is needed only for half of the ground floor of the main building, because there is no detention cell on the other side.

On June 3, 1907, the Aizpute Council informed the Construction Department of the Courland Province Council that the town had no objections to the installation of a wooden fence in front of the detention cells.

On April 21, 1908, Tramdach reported that, according to preliminary calculations, the fence would be 100 feet (30.48 m) long, 12 feet (~ 3.6 m) high, 1 ½ inch (~ 4 cm) thick with 4 feet (~ 1.20 m) wide doors.

On the same day, another report by Tramdach was made to the Construction Department stating that there were no punishment rooms in the prison. In the past, when there was a normal number of detainees in the prison, one cell in a small building was used as a punishment room if needed, but in the current conditions of prison overcrowding it is completely impossible to use a cell for a punishment room, so it is necessary to set up a separate cell. On the first floor of the prison, there is a room suitable for this purpose, where secret documents, money and jewelry of the former court were once stored. Its space is 2 arshins and 11 werschocks long (1.90 m), 3 arshins and 12 werschocks high (2.66 m). From the side, the wall has 1 arshin 5 werschocks (93 cm) deep, 1 arshin 8 werschocks (106 cm) wide and 3 arshins (213 cm) high recess, which is closed by three internal iron doors (one after the other) and one outer oak door. This recess has been used for storing jewelry. There are three compartments separated by iron bars. If the door and bars were taken out, then a 3 arshins 2 werschocks (222 cm) wide, 2 arshins 11 werschocks (190 cm) long and 3 arshins 12 werschocks high (266 cm) chamber would be perfectly suitable for the punishment cell, which is a convenient place for this purpose, because one wall is bordering cell no. 9, the second to the prison lobby, the third to the supervisors' room, and the door leading to the prison corridor. The semicircular window in the room (1 arshin in diameter), which enters the prison lobby should be covered, but the outer door (2 arshins 12 werschocks high, 1 arshins 7 werschocks wide) should be redesigned to create a room perfectly suitable for a punishment cell.

On April 24, 1908, the Governor's resolution was issued - to instruct the Head of Aizpute Prison to set up a punishment cell in the fireproof warehouse of the former court, using the work of arrestors.

On 23 January 1909, Tramdach reported that a punishment cell had been set up, and on 27 October 1909 that the detainees' night pots / wooden ones / in the prison entrusted to him were gradually becoming unusable, most of which had been in use for more than 10 years, therefore must be replaced with metal containers.

There are a total of 12 wooden containers in Aizpute Prison, 6 of which need to be replaced with galvanized iron containers, which will cost 4 Rubles for 15-quart containers and 15 Rubles for 5 small-10-quart containers, therefore he asks for 19 Rubles in the 1910 budget for this purpose.

From the description of the renovation work carried out in the prison in 1908, it can be seen that a punishment cell was set up on the 1st floor of the main building, the apartment of the prison chief officer and the apartment of the senior prison supervisor on the 2nd floor. The Chief's 25 ½ square (116 m²) large apartment with 8 windows, consisting of an office, 2 rooms, a kitchen and a corridor.

For insight into the composition of prisoners, we offer the data of August 8, 1909: 13 men, 1 woman in the investigation; political - 9 men; 18 men, 6 women serve their sentences; for transportation 1 man.

On December 20, 1910, the Governor of Courland, Sergei Nabokov, arrived in Aizpute from Liepāja and on December 21, he visited the prison, the Police Department and the Commissioner for Peasant Affairs. As a result, on February 13, 1911, the Governor, Vice-Governor, Councilor and Clerk of Courland signed a document drawing the attention of the Construction Department to the fact that detainees placed in the cells on the front side of Aizpute Prison were free to communicate with the outside world through street windows. To prevent this, the Construction Department must ensure that shields are installed on the floor windows.

In the same year, protective shields were installed on the three 1st floor windows and 11 threads of 1 ¼ arshins (24.36 m) long and 1 arshin (71.12 cm) wide wooden sidewalk was built for the outer post, which cost the Crown Treasury 7.88 Rubles.

As the windows of the prison cells were facing the busiest street of Aizpute and were very close to the sidewalk, which did not allow the detainees to be isolated from street life, the architect recommended a fence to build in front of the prison. He also recommended that the detention facilities be transformed into prison facilities and that a new detainee's house be built, which was rejected in 1911 because the detention facilities complied with the requirements of the Central Prison Administration, i. e., are located on the 2nd floor of the prison and are supervised by the Prison Chief.

Half of the second floor was occupied by detainees' rooms, which housed 5 detainees, and 85 detainees were squeezed in 7 prison cells on the first floor. There were 18 women and children in the very small cell No 5.

On December 1-12, 1918, there were 29 prisoners in prison, no detailed information is available.

On December 31, 1918, item 3 of the agenda of the meeting of the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the Aizpute District Council was: The issue of prison. At the meeting, the Mayor suggested that 3 prison guards could not carry out their duties properly because the number of prisoners had increased. It was decided to hire another supervisor for the time being.

On January 3, 1919, the Executive Committee of the Aizpute District Provisional Council decided that an employer who employed prisoners should pay them 12 kopecks per hour and their working time was 8 hours.

On February 22, 1919, the Central Requisition Commission informed the Executive Committee of the Provisional Council of Aizpute District that the prison was maintained at the expense of the state and that the money seized from the sale of the property of the former German authorities could be used to maintain the prison.

• On January 2, 1920, the prison property consisted of:office;
• men's section on the 1st floor with 2 iron beds, 2 wooden, 46 sleeping benches;
• prison infirmary with 3 iron beds;
• prison workshops;
• women's section on the 2nd floor with 8 iron beds, 1 wooden, 4 sleeping benches;
• prison kitchen;
• prison steam bath;
• prison warehouses.

Interesting is the Order No. 10 of October 8, 1920 of the Chief of Aizpute Prison A. Griezītis to the guards living in Aizpute District Prison.

„It has been observed that recently the prison's attic has been turned into a menagerie, rabbits and chickens on the attic in every corner, and the least attention is paid to cleanliness. A disgusting smell evaporates from the rabbit's food and manure and the liquid seeps through the ceiling in the apartment. Sand on the attic is dug and excavated, the attic floor is covered with chicken manure, which adversely affects the sanitary condition.

In view of the above, I instruct, within a week from 8 October 1920, to arrange for no rabbit to be kept in prison and for no more than two chicken to be kept by each guard. Who does not want to agree with this order is asked to search for an apartment in the town within two weeks from October 8, 1920.”

In 1921/22, detainees were employed in: chopping firewood, etc., works outside the prison, harvesting the vegetable garden, carpentry workshop, basket making department, wooden spoon making department, rope making department, shoe and simple leather footwear making department, spinner department, feather plucking department, prison repairs.

Aizpute Prison was closed in November 1922 and the equipment was handed over to Liepāja and other prisons, but the premises were taken over by Aizpute Magistrates' Court and an investigating judge. On December 15, 1922, the former prison building was taken over by the Ministry of the Interior, whose Internal Security Department of the Administrative Department announced on January 29, 1923 that the taken over premises were no longer considered the prison, but police arrest facilities.

On April 10, 1923, the Town Council decided at its own expense to "install an electric lighting network in the former prison building", to which the Chancellery of the District Governor would move in the next few days.

On March 8, 1924, the Prosecutor of the Liepāja Regional Court wrote to the Aizpute Town Council that: “Arrest rooms have been set up in the place of the liquidated prison in Aizpute, which are managed by the Assistant of the Head of the Aizpute 1st District. Detainees are kept in arrest rooms who are usually sentenced to a lower sentence, as well as detainees, sometimes up to 12 and more, who are transported to Kuldīga and Liepāja prisons. The premises are also suitable for the placement of a larger number of detainees, but difficulties arise for the placement of detainees because the Aizpute Town and District Councils provide funds for heating and lighting of the premises only for 2 cells, which cannot accommodate such a large number of detainees.

In view of the above, I ask the Town Council to give as much money as possible for heating and lighting the detention facilities. Please inform me of the steps taken by the Town Council in this case.”

In 1927, the building housed a Magistrates' Court, an Investigating Judge and the Head of the Aizpute District Police.

On November 2, 1929, the Town Council found it impossible to sweep the street at the Police Station and ordered the Head of the District to ask the District Council.

During the 1935 census at 12A Lielā (The Big) Street, there was one detainee in the "arrest rooms" - Kārlis Vahe.

In the 1920s and 1930s, there were the Aizpute Police and the Magistrates' Court, the apartments of the Chief of Police and the Magistrate, as well as the Chancellery of the Commander of the 6th Aizpute Guard Regiment and the Board of the Sports Club. In the 1930s, it was the house of the Ministry of Justice.

In 1940/41, this was the building of the Commissariat of Justice, on the 2nd floor out of which the Magistrates' Court was expelled, the Aizpute Branch of the State Security Board was housed, and the apartment was occupied by Leiba Ickovičs, the authorized representative of Latvian Communist Party. On the first floor there was a militia, which also had the club "The Red Militiaman”.

Another interesting information about this house.

When a water pipeline was installed in Aizpute in 1935, which was finished on December 1, two 5,000 l water reservoirs were installed right in this building of the Ministry of Justice - in its attic. Water was taken from the mill springs with the help of a trench. In October, the Laboratory of Experiments and Research of the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Latvia analyzed water samples from the springs and from the storage basin. Conclusion - both waters are hard and contain nitrates. The amount of organic matter in the spring water is high. Both waters do not meet the requirements for good drinking water.

On January 1, 1937, the length of the water pipe was 0.53 km, it supplied 134 inhabitants for 15 – 20 Lats per year.

Another thing to add that this more than 200-year-old building, built between 1797 and 1802, although repeatedly repaired and rebuilt, is still the oldest two-storey house in Aizpute.

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