No. 6 Jelgavas Street

Latvian Society House in № 6 Jelgavas Street at the beginning of the 20th century

House in № 6 Jelgavas Street in 2014

The fenced area on the right side of the postcard opposite the Latvian Society House was the Aizpute Horse Market established in 1902 (see - Aizpute Market Place), to the left of it - a private vegetable garden, and a two-storey residential building, in which premises for the Aizpute Latvian Society were planned during its design, was the private property of Johann Jakobson, was built in 1903.

In the plan of 1797, there are no buildings on the plot in the current 6 Jelgavas Street. On 11 February of the same year, David Gottlieb Mondelius (1770-1831) of Prussian origin, a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Dutchy of Courland, issued a promissory note to the owner of Rudbārži (Rudbahre) Manor von Fircks for 127 Talers and confirmed that he had received building materials for that amount from Firks for the construction of a residential house. In August 1798, Mondelius' house was not yet ready. It is believed that by the turn of the century it had been completed.

It is a fact that at the time of the census in 1811, the living house of a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Courland (since 1807) and lawyer Piltene Regional Court (from 1797) Mondelius was already in this place, where the widow Mondelius lived with her children, Polish coachmen Stanislaus Gerdrowitz and Latvian cook - Ulrichs Villemsons, a former serf-servant of Sermīte (Sergemite) Private Manor of Valtaiķi (Neuhause) Parish, to whom the Article of Release was issued in 1808 by the Real State Adviser, the President of the Land Collegium (Landrat) Ulrich von Blomberg (1864-1944).

It is known that at least in 1827 Mondelius had a stone house here.

At the time of the audit in 1834, the freed Latvian was still a cook here, only his surname was no longer Willemsohn, but Willumsohn.

After Mondelius' death in 1831, the house belonged to the widow Dorothea Sofia Henriette Mondelius, born von Grotthus, with children.

In 1832, the estate left by Mondelius was audited. It is written about the former residential house here - a stone one-storey house with two wooden wings, one of which is two-storey.

In 1839, on the basis of an inheritance agreement, Candidate of Justice George Rudolf Mondelius, son of Gottlib Mondelius, became the owner of the real estate of the deceased father. In 1847 he sold his property for less than 2,950 Silver Rubles to his sister Wilhelmine Caroline Mathilde Mondelius, and in 1850 she sold both houses on the plot of land on № 6 Jelgavas Street near Jelgavas and Boju Streets to Baron Friedrich Reinhold von Stempel for 3,350 Silver Rubles.

This old record in the Land Register of the two houses at Jelgavas and Boju (today - Kalvenes) Streets, as well as the Aizpute plan of 1797, leads to the conclusion that the buildings at № 6 Jelgavas Street and № 7 Kalvenes Street were on the same plot, which also included the land plot separated from it in № 9 Kalvenes Street.

Baron Stempel's heirs sold all this property (two living houses and an orchard) in 1859 for 8,000 Silver Rubles to the 3rd Guild merchant Markus Königsfest.

The large difference in purchase and sale prices suggests that Baron von Stempel built a new house here instead of Mondelius' house, but during the 1863 census the Königsfest estate consisted of only 1 wooden house and 2 stables / barns with 1 horse and 2 cows. A family of 6 people of a spirit’s distiller Mendel Herzberg lived in the 6 rooms of the residential house, in 3 rooms - a family of 4 people of the butcher Abraham Michelsohn.

The questionnaire has been filled in and signed by the Mayor Carl Bellmer, which suggests that the information is correct.

In 1866, Königsfest sold his property to Fire Chief Heinrich Kunstmann for 6,000 Silver Rubles, Kunstmann in 1869 to Markus Königsfest.

In 1873, the property was auctioned off, and then it was bought for only 800 Rubles by Baron Karl von der Osten-Sacken, from whom it was bought in 1876 by the gardener Wilhelm Bensdorf and his wife Eliese Bensdorf for 2,800 Silver Rubles.

In 1880, Bensdorf sold this property for 4,300 Rubles to Sahra Stember.

In 1886, by a court decision, the shoemaker Kristian Valentin became the owner, who had bought this property at auction for 2,550 Rubles, and in 1897 there was a stone house with 2 masonry extensions and 2 wooden barns on this plot of approximately 1266 m². In 1900, the value of all this real estate was 2,550 Rubles.

In the autumn of 1901, the Liepāja Regional Court upheld Emma Valentin as the heir to the deceased K. Valentin, his daughter, who sold it to Johann Jakobson in the summer of 1902 for 3,495 Rubles. He demolished the old Valentine's house and instead built the building shown in the attached postcard in 1903. In 1910, the value of this property was 12,188 Rubles.

In the autumn of 1912, Jakobson sold this property to the Mayor of Aizpute, Eduard von Schröder, who immediately increased the rent for the Latvian Society.

In 1922, Andžs Oše (Ošis) bought the house from Schröder, who in 1928 rewrote this property encumbered with mortgage debts with 24,200 Lats to his two daughters, who sold it to the Aizpute Craftsmen's Association for 13,500 Lats in 1939, but in the summer of 1940, it became the property of the Aizpute Branch of the Liepāja Workers' Union.

It is known that in the old house, demolished in 1902, in the 19th century there was a 3rd grade boys' elementary school run by teacher Eduard Seeberg, which operated in Aizpute from 1875 and which Seeberg ran at least until 1885, but in 1884 shoemaker Kristian Valentin was having his workshop here, as well as carpenter Ernst Hermelin and painter Heinrich Richter. There was also a sewing machine shop by Georg Neidlinger, a Prussian national, run by 2nd class shop assistant Itzig Stember.

In 1893, Fritz Knittner had a cafe at Valentine's House, and in 1896, Emma Valentina had a beer and porter's shop.

One of the first inhabitants of Jākobsons House in the autumn of 1903 was Aizpute Crown or State Girls' Elementary School with teacher Xenia Hļebnikova. The lease agreement with the head of the school, Ms. Hlebnikova, was concluded only for a year, because the owner of the house had provided these premises to the Latvian Society, the statutes of which had not been approved at that time. They were approved in March 1904, and the solemn opening of this house, which became the Latvian cultural center of Aizpute, took place on September 19, 1904 with a banquet and solemn speeches, but in the evening, there was a festive concert and a theater performance. On the ground floor there was a hall with a stage for theater performances and lectures, as well as a cafe. In the winter of 1907, the first film screening took place in Aizpute. Unfortunately, closer details are missing.

The Latvian Society also had a good library at that time, which in 1911 contained 592 books. There were 231 readers this year. The biggest number of books - 121 (!) - have been read by a local schoolgirl. In 1913, the books were already "close to 800".

In 1911, 9 theater performances were staged.

In the days of the 1905 revolution, the office of the Revolutionary Action Committee of Aizpute District was here, however, after the events of 1905, no sanctions were imposed on the Latvian Society. The fact that the Aizpute Latvian Society has continued to be active in 1906 is evidenced by the society's report for 1906. Income from membership fees, theater performances and buffets were 1,609 Rubles 98 kopeks, but expenses for renting premises, organizing performances, purchasing equipment, publishing books and various small needs - 1,575 Rubles 53 kopeks. Balance as of January 1, 1907 - 34 Rubles 45 kopeks. The society continued to operate until the summer of 1914, when it was closed on the basis of denunciations for the supposedly social democratic atmosphere.

During the First World War, Andžs Oše had a tavern here - a beer and wine shop serving food, as well as the workshop of Fritz Tiefenthal tailor, but in September 1918 - a command post.

The protocol of the inspection and evaluation of the Aizpute Town Construction Commission of August 28, 1919 provides an idea of the interior of this house.

„In the residential building on the ground floor: apartment of 3 rooms with a kitchen; an apartment of 2 rooms and an unusable (for living) hall.

Upper floor: apartment of 3 rooms without kitchen; apartment of 2 rooms with a kitchen; apartment of 2 rooms with a kitchen; one room without oven; one room with a kitchen; one room with a kitchen.”

In the 1920s, there was still the tailor's workshop of Fritz Tiefenthal. 5 rooms were rented by the club of the Workers' Sports Union (also - Workers' Sports and Guardian or WSG) of the social democratic youth organization. At the meeting of the Council on January 19, 1923, “after reviewing, the request of the Aizpute Branch of the Workers' Sports Union, the permits for the setting up of a cafe necessary to pay the rent and purchase, not to raise objections to the opening of a cafe in Aizpute, No. 6 Jelgavas Street, allowing to sell alcoholic beverages.” In 1929, society „Sports un sargs” (Sport and Guard) received patents for the sale of beer and domestic fruit and berry wines at 6 Jelgavas Street.

On December 14, 1924, Bruno Kalnins, the founder (1921) and leader (1921-1934) of the WSG, also participated in the meeting of the WSG Aizpute Branch. On August 8, 1926, the LSDSP (Latvian Social Democrat Party) Aizpute District Conference was attended by Jānis Rainis – a very famous Latvian poet, was involved in politics as well.

From 1935, the house had the premises of the association "The Sixth Aizpute Guard Sports Club" with a spacious hall and stage, as well as a buffet, from 1939 - Aizpute Craftsmen's Association, but in the autumn of 1940 the Mayor Ģirts Jansons allowed the Liepāja Workers' Union Aizpute branch to open a food store with the right to trade beer and tobacco products in its house at 6 Jelgavas Street.

Nowadays - a private residential house, the ground floor of which is rented by Dimze bicycle repair workshop and gardening shop.

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