In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Photo taken by me, April 2012. Click to enlarge. Top
Tombstone Tuesday – Refugees from Kurzeme
This week’s Tombstone Tuesday is a bit different – this tombstone in Meža kapi (“Forest Cemetery”) in RÄ«ga commemorates thousands of people – in this case, the roughly 3560 World War One refugees from Kurzeme (at the time, western and
Tombstone Tuesday – Ivars Steimars, 1938-1943
In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Top Inscription: “Å e dus Dieva mierÄ mÅ«su mīļais dÄ“liņš” (Here
Tombstone Tuesday – VoldemÄrs BÄ“rziņš, 1914-1925
In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Top Inscription: “Å e dus” (Here rests) Name: VoldemÄrs BÄ“rziņš, born
Tombstone Tuesday – Lilija Margareta BÄ“rziņa, 1917-1919
In this series, I am providing pictures of tombstones from Latvian cemeteries, all with death dates prior to 1945. I do not have any further information on the people mentioned. Inscription: “Å e dus izdzisusi zvaigznÄ«te” (Here sleeps an extinguished star
F is for Flight of the Wild Geese
Some of you may look at the title for this Family History Through the Alphabet challenge post and wonder if you’re on the right blog. After all, what does an Irish Jacobite army have to do with Latvia? As it
Wordless Wednesday – Latvian Composers and Song Festival
(click image to enlarge) Monument to Latvian composers at ViesturdÄrzs (“Viesturs Park”) in northern RÄ«ga, also the oldest park in the city (1711). It was the site of the first Latvian Song Festival, at the end of June, 1873. The
Ē is for Ērģeles
So what does the third Latvian letter of the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge get us? Ä’rÄ£eles! I’ll admit, this one is a bit of a stretch. But there aren’t many Latvian words that start with Ä’ (a long
Wordless Wednesday – Statue of Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly
(click image to enlarge) Statue of Field Marshall Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly was a descendant of Scottish clan Barclay whose family had settled in the Russian Empire. His grandfather Peter was the mayor of RÄ«ga for a time. As
Tuesday’s Tip: House Books
A wonderful resource for researching Latvian genealogy is the house book collection at the Latvian State Historical Archives. They are available in fond 2942 for RÄ«ga and in fond 2110 for the rest of Latvia. During the Czarist era, as