Atmodas Street House No. 22

№ 22, № 24 and № 26 Atmodas Street at the beginning of the 20th century

№ 22, № 24 and № 26 Atmodas Street in 2014

№ 22 At the beginning of the 19th century, it was one of the Aizpute houses of Dr. med. Johann Gottfried Falcke (also Falck), a doctor in Piltene District, where he also lived.

It is believed that it was built around 1795, when the doctor married Juliane Friederike, the daughter of Skrunda (Schrunde) forester Stähr.

From 1810 until his death in 1821, Falcke initially was a physician of Piltene District and in recent years at Aizpute District. In 1811, Karl Ahlert, the District Doctor’s Assistant, and the 80-year-old Royal Prussian captain Friedrich Benedikt von Mirbach also lived here.

After the doctor's death, the house belonged to the widow Juliane Friederike Falcke. After her death in 1829, it was inherited by Amalia Zimmermann, the widow of a school inspector, born Stähr and by Charlotte von Romannow, a wife of Lieutenant Colonel. Zimmermann sold part of her inheritance (it can be deduced from the Land Register text records that this part of the inherited plot of land) was sold to Romannow, who in 1846 sold "Buildings registered at the new market with № 29 [№ 22 Atmodas Str] and 105 [№ 20 Atmodas Str] - a residential building [№ 22 Atmodas (Awakening) Street] and a barn [№ 20 Atmodas (Awakening) Street] together with stables, a garden, a hay meadow and everything belonging to it, to the Assessor of the Aizpute Instance Court Emil von Lieven for 4,400 silver Rubles.

It is strange that the "new market" is mentioned in the Land Register, it was built at this place only in 1865.

The Lievens also owned this plot of land with 1 brick (№ 22 Atmodas Str) and 1 wooden living house (№ 20 Atmodas Str) and 2 stables, where 3 luxury horses and 2 pigs were kept. The Lievens lived, presumably, in a brick house, where they (husband, wife and 6 children) plus von Offenberg's widow and a daughter, a nanny of Lievens children, one household supervisor and seven unmarried servants, occupied 14 rooms. In addition, there was a family of five people from the artisan Heinrich Hohmann, who lived in 2 rooms, and a family of seven people of the foreigner Ludwig Hagel in the other 2 rooms. The last two families supposedly lived in a wooden house.

In 1868, Baron Lieven sold his property to Schlaum Edelberg. The brick house on № 22 Atmodas Street was bought from him in 1874 by the Council Secretary Wilhelm Ulih, but the wooden house № 20 remained Edelberg’s property, who had a small items store in it.

Five years later, Ulih sold his house to Baron Alexander von Hahn, but the last private owner of № 22 Atmodas Street in 1898 was Wasili Kolenski, an Honorary Councilor, from whom in 1902 the building was bought for 11,500 Rubles by the Ministry of National Education for the needs of Aizpute Town School. According to a letter from the Senior Adviser to the Deputy Governor of Courland on July 2, 1914, the school moved to this building in May 1902, and a 4-grade town [boys'] school operated here.

№ 22 retained the appearance seen on the postcard until 1914, when, as written in the January 5, 1914 issue of the newspaper “Liepājas Atbalss” (Liepāja Echo): “.. the building will be thoroughly rebuilt this year. The second floor of the building will be built and the lower one will be more conveniently furnished. The reconstruction was undertaken by a local builder, the owner of the brick production Volksdorf. The building process will be managed by a Crown architect and will cost 18,000 Rubles. Reconstruction will begin on April 1. It is also the time to start expanding the school premises, because those 170 boys have not had proper premises for a long time: “stuffed like herrings in a barrel”.

Fortunately, the reconstruction was completed before World War I began.

№ 22, № 24 and № 26 Atmodas Street during the First World War

The studies at № 22 in the rebuilt school building, lasted only one year, because in 1915 the school - teachers and school archives - was evacuated to the back of the front in Russia. The former school premises were occupied by the German Military District Administration, but the German local-authorities organized a folk school in the current administration building of the present factory Kurzeme at № 27 Kalvenes Street, where all the teachers were German. As Latvian children did not understand German, the school was mainly attended by German and Jewish students. Only on October 24, 1918, this folk high school bought 1 Latvian alphabet and 1 reading book "Skolas Druva" (School Field).

From December 1918 to the second half of February 1919, the Aizpute Town Council was here, and until mid-February there was also the Baltic State Army (Landesver), therefore Aizpute Town Primary School resumed working in its former premises only in March 1919 (the Town Primary School started admitting on February 1, and studies started at № 27 Kalvenes Street) and, except for the last winter of World War II, remained here until 1969.

On June 6, 1939, the property rights to № 22 Atmodas Street were confirmed to the state in the person of the Ministry of Education.

Nowadays - municipal property, where Aizpute District Council is located.

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