The Alūksne New Castle, also referred to as the Alūksne new Palace, is a

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

in Alūksne, in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

region of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. It was built between 1859 and 1864 by

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

and Privy Councillor Alexander von Vietinghoff in the

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

style. The Vietinghoff family has been connected with Alūksne since the fourteenth century, when an Arnold von Vietinghoff became the

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the local Teutonic castle. Since the mid-18th century the town was a barony in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and became one of the main summer residences of the Vietinghoffs in the Baltics after their manor in Zolitūde was sold in 1795. The name "New Palace" might arise because of a comparison with the old 18th-century manor complex which was located nearby, both buildings being on the Western end of a small landscape park. After the Vietinghoffs left Alūksne around 1918, the building became an army base during the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

and later served as the headquarters of the Seventh Sigulda Infantry Regiment. In subsequent decades, it was used for various Soviet cultural institutions, and, since 1959, has been the home of the local museum.

References

Alūksne Castles in Vidzeme {{Latvia-castle-stub