Road from city to city

Publicēts: 5.07.2023

Road from city to city
Buildings. Human beings. Events

The year 1928, when the city of Vecgulbenes was granted city rights, was significant for the people of Gulbene due to another event. E. Ābeltiņš, the elder of the Gulbene church congregation, suggested building a monument to the fallen people of Gulbene - the fighters of 1905, those who fell in the First World War and the Freedom Struggle, the victims of the Vecgulbene revolutionary tribunal. The monument was created according to the project of E. Ābeltinas. Collection of donations at charity concerts, theater performances and procurement of necessary materials began. On August 26, 1928, a solemn event was held, during which the foundation stone of the future monument and a special capsule with a text were laid. Due to various reasons, the works were not completed in the fall, so the monument for the freedom of Latvia to the fallen heroes of the Gulbene parish was opened in the spring of 1929.

Until the beginning of the Second World War, national holiday commemorations and army parades were held at the monument, which Gulbenians called the Freedom Monument. At the end of the war, the monument was dismantled and a plaster Soviet soldier painted in bronze color was placed on its foundation, while the graves of Soviet soldiers who died in the war were placed behind the monument. In 1969, the remains of the fallen were transferred to the graves of Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War in the territory of Spārīte Park, but the place of the monument was razed to the ground. By the autumn of 1989, the foundations of the monument were excavated and the capsule with the text embedded in it in 1928 was brought out. Collection of donations was started, and with the support of the city council, on November 10, 1992, the restored Gulbene Freedom Monument was solemnly opened.

Even during the formation of the city, various associations were active. The Vecgulbene Beekeeping Society, which was allocated a plot of land in the city in 1927, was active, meetings of beekeepers in the Gulbene area were held. It is interesting that there has been an interest in beekeeping in railway circles. Courses were held, which further encouraged railway workers to engage in beekeeping. Vecgulbene beekeeping society held lectures with practical works in the apiary. In later years, the Gulbene City Horticulture-Beekeeping Society was formed.

Freedom monument in Gulbene, 1930s.

 

 

Sources:
periodika.lv
Collection of the Regional Research Reading Room of the Gulbene County Library

 

Sanita Jurkāne

Gulbene county library