Aizpute Power Plant

Aizpute Power Plant in № 1 Padures Street
at the end of the 1920s

Aizpute Power Plant in 2014

The first information about electric lighting in Aizpute found in the archive dates back to April 7, 1917, when the Mayor of Aizpute Schröder signed an announcement that due to the expansion of the electric lighting device installed in the town, it is expected to be possible to add local shopkeepers and private households to the electrical devices, a maximum of 200 lamps - 16 candles per 110 volts per day.

The power plant was installed by the German Occupation Authorities in the yard of the former town school - now № 22 Atmodas (Awakening) Street. (The former school premises had been occupied by the German Military District Administration.) When this occupation power collapsed, it was taken over centrally by the Town Council, but it did not have the means to maintain it, so the only solution was to hand over all the equipment to a private entrepreneur, Jüdel Bürger, by concluding a contract for the supply of electricity to the town.

First of all, on July 12, 1920, a Rent Agreement was concluded between the Board of Aizpute Christian Charity Society as a lessor and the Aizpute Town Council as a lessee. The agreement stipulated that from January 1, 1921, the Charity Society rented out a large plot of land (approx 2 ha) owned by the Society for about 12 years at № 7/9 Jelgavas Street for 750 Rubles per year. After that, the Town Council handed over the object of rent with the fulfillment of all eight clauses specified in it to Aizpute “electricity entrepreneur” Jüdel son of Schmuel Bürger, who then relocated the power plant from the primary school yard to № 7/9 Jelgavas Street. The duties of an electrical engineer were performed by the entrepreneur's son Abraham Bürger.

The agreement concluded with Bürger provided that the plot of land "from Jelgavas Street to the edge of garden of the blacksmith Engel" remained for the use of the Council for the needs of the horse market and other needs.

In the summer of 1922, the Railway Department put up a small electric power plant at the Aizpute Station of the Aizpute-Saldus railway. It served to illuminate both the station and the nearest buildings in the town. We do not know how long this power plant operated.

In 1928, using a loan of 40,000 Lats from the State Economy Department of the Ministry of Finance, the Aizpute Town Power Plant and the electricity network built by companies E. Daniels and AEG were installed on the corner of Skolas (School) and Padures Streets. Council Regulations on Electricity Supply and Tariffs in Aizpute Town were also adopted and announced in the Government Gazette.

In 1928, streets of Aizpute were illuminated with "60 pieces of 150-watt lamps".

At the end of 1929, the Council had outstanding debts with AEG in the amount of 4,272.81 Lats and with S / C Siemens in the amount of 2774.66 Lats. The loan of 7,000 Lats requested from the government to repay the debt was rejected. The maintenance of the power plant in 1930 cost the Council 26,733.90 Lats, and at its meeting on May 31, 1931, the Council concluded that the municipality could not pay even the loan interest, let alone repay the principal amount provided for in the contract.

On September 5, 1932, electricity was already supplied to Aizpute by the Liepāja City Power Station, and on this day the operation of the Aizpute Power Plant was shut down, but on May 11, 1933, all liquidated power plant machinery, accessories and other equipment were sold to the owner of Kuldīga Felt Factory, Arthur Winteler.

A picture of Padures Street, when the town power plant was operating there, is provided by a request the Town Council signed by 12 residents of Aizpute on January 28, 1930:

"There is no dirtiest and more terrible street than Padure Street in Aizpute in the whole world. Both carriages and pedestrians are sinking, drowning and falling in the mud here. During the day, but most terribly in the dark (evenings, at night), pedestrian women shout and wander through the mud and mud ditches of this street. Only curses and bad remarks directed against the Town Council can be heard there.

.. There is an electric station there, but Padures Street is not lit. But there are 3 deep ditches where one can drown in the darkness."

In 1937, this was the property of the Town Council: a plot of land, a brick warehouse with a brick extension - a residential building and a separate brick residential building.

Today, the building is privately owned and used for business.

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