At the scientific conference in the Bauskas museum, several studies have been announced, which residents are also invited to supplement – BauskasDzive.lv

During the holiday week, in honor of our country’s 105th anniversary, the Bauskas Museum held a scientific conference “Bauskas County in the Sign of Latvia’s Centennial”, six interesting studies on various topics and personalities related to the history of Bauskas County were heard there.

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Raitis Ābelnieks, head of the history department of the Bauska museum, read a report on the administrative reform and border changes in the Bauska district, district and county since the establishment of the Republic of Latvia at the conference on November 17. He emphasized the great changes in the territory of the state and county after the changes of the state border, based on the Convention concluded on May 14, 1921 between Latvia and Lithuania. After that, Bauska district increased by more than 15 thousand hectares by adding territories from Lithuania. In the period up to 1940, several changes took place, one of them was the Latvianization of parish names, for example, Šenberga became Skaistkalni. Counties and parishes existed in Latvia on December 31, 1949, and districts were created from 1950.

Ēvalds Krieviņš, the retired lieutenant colonel, gave an insight into the view of the commander of the German volunteer corps, Cord von Brandis, on the battles for Bauska in the spring of 1919. E. In his research, the Russian relies only on materials from the German Reich, the report was “pure German material from Kord von Brandis’s memories of 1919”, this memoir was given to the lecturer as a gift. Brandis’ corps was transferred to Kurzemi because of the fear of a communist invasion of Germany.

Discussions also arose about what was more correct in Latvia in 1918-1920 – the Liberation War or the Freedom Struggle.

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A very interesting study of the Guards organization in Bauska district and Vecumnieki was conducted by a local researcher, retired National Guard lieutenant colonel Ainars Ķenis. Bauska’s 13th Guards Regiment was founded in 1924, five companies operated in this regiment, A. Ķienis studied in detail the 5th company, Vecumnieku. Data was searched in various sources, photos were found both about the activities of guards in ensuring security, patriotic education and promoting cultural social life, and about the group of guards who did a lot to support the needy in Vecumnieki (then Vecmuiža parish). A. Ćienis has also studied the further destinies of defenders.

Venta Kocere, Director of the LU Academic Library, responding to the invitation of cooperation partners in Ukraine, has started researching the personality of pedagogue Indriķas Koch (1881 – 1946) and his contribution to Latvia and Ukraine. I. Koch was born in Värgale, studied agronomy, natural sciences, mathematics, German language both in Poland and Ukraine, he also worked there, organized and founded the Ukrainian Scientific Agricultural Library in Kyiv. He also came to Bauska, where in 1922-1925 he was the director of Inas Kļaviņa’s private gymnasium. His students and colleagues described the director as knowledgeable, very pedantic, strict. Since there is still much unknown in the research about Indrikis Koch, the historians of both V. Kocere and the Bauska Museum invite Bauškėnai residents, whose family members may have once worked with I. Koch or studied with him, to review the private archives – perhaps there are some news or photographs that could supplement the range of materials about the former director of the Kļaviņa private gymnasium.

A different, but no less interesting study by the historian of the Ethnographic Open Air Museum of Latvia, Kārls Fogel, is about traditional freshwater fishing methods in Zemgale in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is mentioned right away that there is still a lot to be studied here, because the Zemgale region has remained the most unexplored from the angle of traditional freshwater fishing, there is also a lack of practical fishing items from Zemgale. Here, too, the people of Bauškės can give their artava, if anyone has news, pictures about what was fished, fished and with what was fished in Mēmele, Mūs, Lielupė in the old days.

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The events of 1991, the attacks on the border of Latvia and the Customs authorities in that year, have also been little studied and publicized. This was reported by the director of the Bauska Museum, Aigars Urtāns, in the report “The year when the border was on fire”. One of the attacks on the customs checkpoint in Grenztal took place on July 28, 1991, but there were other attacks, also in Skaistkalne. These events were later evaluated ambiguously, probably due to later cases of corruption of customs officers and border guards.

All papers of the scientific conference will be available in the end of November and beginning of December issues of “Bauskas Dzīve”, informed A. Urtāns.