Kalnciems () is a village in

Jelgava Municipality Jelgava Local Municipality ( lv, Jelgavas novads) is a municipality in Zemgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Eleja parish, Glūda parish, Jaunsvirlauka parish, Lielplatone parish, Līvbērze parish, Platone parish, ...

in the

Semigallia Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

region of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. Located on the left bank of the

Lielupe The Lielupe ( in Latvian literally: ''Large River'', lt, Lielupė, german: Kurländische Aa) is a river in central Latvia. Its length is (the length would reach if the Mēmele River were counted as part of the Lielupe). The surface area of ...

, 5 km south of the A9 motorway. Distance to

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

24 km, to

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

- 49 km. Because of the

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

mines - in Kalnciems developed a big building materials industry center next to the Lielupe's waterway and by the end of the 19th century, the finished products were transported to

for its new buildings. It had town rights from 1991 to 2010. The nearby Kalnciems Meadows is a natural habitat for

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

such as the

corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff- ...

spotted crake The spotted crake (''Porzana porzana'') is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. The scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake's breeding habitat is marshes and sedge beds across temperate Europe into ...

, and

black-tailed godwit The black-tailed godwit (''Limosa limosa'') is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. It is a member of the godwit genus, ''Limosa''. There are four subspecies, all with orange head, neck and chest ...

.LDF.lv
- Kalnciems Meadows

Name

The name comes from the Kalnciem's

Manor House A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

(''Kalnzeem''), which was first mentioned in the 16th century and the master's house was located on the opposite bank of the

- present-day Tīreļi, Valgunde's parish. In 1690, in the family manor house

Ernst Johann von Biron Ernst Johann von Biron (german: Ernst Johann von Biron; russian: link=no, Эрнст Иоганн Бирон; (german: link=no, Bühren); ) was a Duke of Courland and Semigallia (1737–1740 and 1763–1769) and briefly regent of the Russian E ...

was born. He later became the Duke of Courland and Semigallia and a

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

History

The

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

at the present site was formed at the end of the 19th century when here was the largest Latvian clay bricks plant. In 1882, an entrepreneur and the mayor of

George Armitstead build first

Hoffmann kiln The Hoffmann kiln is a series of batch process kilns. Hoffmann kilns are the most common kiln used in production of bricks and some other ceramic products. Patented by German Friedrich Hoffmann for brickmaking in 1858, it was later used for lime ...

for brick burning in Kalnciems. The largest brick factories until the First World War belonged to Nesterov, Krišjānis Ķergalvis and Peteris Radziņš. During the

Russian-Japanese war The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, part of the brickwork was closed due to the construction stoppage, moreover, during the First World War, major battles were taking place near Kalnciems and most of the factories were destroyed. However, in 1924 joint stock company "Ķieģelis un kūdra" ("Brick and peat") was established, as well as, Kalnciems' school. According to 1931 data in Kalnciems there was following companies - J. Šteiners Brick Factory, Smilgu lime kiln, J. Kleinberg lime kiln, H. Ronesal lime klin, Godmanis and Kroegers lime kiln, Stiļļa lime klin and joint stock company's "Silikāts" brick factory.

References

Towns and villages in Latvia 1991 establishments in Latvia 2010 disestablishments in Latvia Lime kilns in Latvia Jelgava Municipality Semigallia {{Zemgale-geo-stub

Name

History

See also

References