Bauska district () was an

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

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 ...

, located in

Semigallia Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tri ...

region, in the country's centre. It was organized into a city, a municipality and fifteen parishes, each with a local government authority. The principal city was

Bauska Bauska () is a town in its Bauska Municipality, eponymous municipality, found in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Bauska is located from the Latvian capital Riga, 62 km (38.5 mi) from Jelgava and from the Lithuanian border on t ...

History

In the 15th century,

Bauska Castle Bauska Castle (; ) is a complex consisting of the ruins of an earlier castle and a later palace on the outskirts of the Latvian city of Bauska. While originally a hill fort, the Livonian Order, Livonian branch of the Teutonic Knights built the c ...

was built as a stronghold of the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

and a settlement developed around the fortification, called Vairogmiests. In 1584,

Gotthard Kettler Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland (also ''Godert'', ''Ketteler''; ; ; ; 2 February 1517 – 17 May 1587) was the last Master of the Livonian Order from 1559 to 1561 and the first Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, Duke of Courland and Semigallia f ...

instituted a plan to remove the settlement and organize streets for a new town of Bauska, which received its town charter in 1609. The area was annexed by 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 ...

in 1795, and an administrative unit was formed 1819 as Kreis Bauske (). When Latvian independence was declared on 18 November 1918 the kreis was renamed, reorganized and included territory which is now part of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. By 1920, Bauska county () included: Bauska Town and 20 parishes: Bauska, Bārbele, Brukna, Ceraukste,

Code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

, Iecava, Īslīce, Jaunsaule, Kurmene, Mežotne, Misa, Panemune, Rundāle, Skaistkalne, Stelpe, Svitene, Taurkalne, Vecsaule, Vecumnieki, and Zālīte. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Bauska was occupied by Soviet forces and heavy fighting destroyed many of the structures of the main town. The Jewish Latvian population of the area were largely exterminated by

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

forces and several thousand residents of the district were deported in 1941 and 1949 during political unrest. Reoccupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II resulted in creation of the Bauska district () in 1949. The

Baldone parish Baldone Parish () is an administrative unit of Ķekava Municipality, Latvia. From 2009 until 2021, it was part of the former Baldone Municipality. It was created in 2010 from the countryside territory of Baldone town. At the beginning of 2015, t ...

took over administration of Iecava, Misa, Stelpe, Vecumnieki and Zālīte parishes. The Eleja parish absorbed Svitene Parish and

Jaunjelgava parish Jaunjelgava Parish () is an administrative unit of Aizkraukle Municipality, Latvia. Until 2021, it was part of the former Jaunjelgava Municipality. Jaunjelgava Parish was created in 2010 from the countryside territory of Jaunjelgava town. At the ...

added the territories of Kurmene and Taurkalne parishes. Latvia regained its independence in 1991. The

districts of Latvia A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

were reformed in 2009 and Bauska district was rendered defunct. It was split between the

, Iecava, Rundāle and Vecumnieki municipalities.

Current cities, municipalities and parishes in the Bauska district

city * Brunava parish * Ceraukste parish * Code parish * Dāviņi parish * Gailīši parish * Īslīce parish * Mežotne parish * Vecsaule parish

References

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