Mazsalaca (; liv, Piškisalāts, et, Väike-Salatsi, german: Salisburg) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Valmiera Municipality Valmiera Municipality ( lv, Valmieras novads) is one of the 35 municipalities established in Latvia in 2021, located approximately west of the national capital Riga. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is th ...

in the

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) 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 n ...

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 ...

. It has 1269 inhabitants.

History

The area includes the largest known

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

burial site in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

and was first settled ca. 5000 BC. The present town began to develop in 1864, when a bridge over the

Salaca The Salaca () is a river in northern Latvia. It flows from Lake Burtnieks in Vidzeme, 90 km, to the Gulf of Riga. The river flows through three towns, Mazsalaca, Staicele and Salacgrīva. The riverbanks feature Devonian red sandstone c ...

river was constructed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Mazsalaca was under

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

occupation from 4 July 1941 until 25 September 1944. It was administered as a part of the

Generalbezirk Lettland Generalbezirk Lettland (General District Latvia) was one of the four administrative subdivisions of '' Reichskommissariat Ostland'', the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany for the administration of the Baltic States (Estonia, ...

Reichskommissariat Ostland The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...

. In October 2009 a

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the ...

crater was found near the town, which later turned out to be hoax as part of marketing campaign of telecommunication company

Tele2 Tele2 AB is a Swedish telecommunications operator headquartered in the Kista Science City, Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major telephone operator in Sweden, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Tele2 also has a 25% share in T-Mobile Netherland ...

People

People who were born, lived in Mazsalaca: * Gustavs Ērenpreiss (1891 - 1956) - bicycle master *

Augusts Kirhenšteins Augusts Kirhenšteins, formerly spelt Kirchenšteins (18 September 1872 in Mazsalaca – 3 November 1963 in Riga), was a Latvian and Soviet microbiologist, politician and educator. He was the ''de facto'' prime minister of Latvia from 20 June 1 ...

(1876 - 1963) - microbiologist and educator * Valters Hirte (1913 - 1983) - craftsman * Ansis Epners (1937 - 2003) - film director *

Oskars Perro Oskars Perro (September 26, 1918 – May 2, 2003) was Latvian soldier and writer. He was the first Latvian to be awarded the Iron Cross in the Second World War. Biography Oskars Perro was born in Mazsalaca, Latvia on 26 September 1918. He st ...

(1918 - 2003) - soldier and writer

References

External links

*
Mazsalaca Municipality portal
Towns in Latvia 1928 establishments in Latvia Populated places established in 1928 Valmiera Municipality Kreis Wolmar Vidzeme {{Vidzeme-geo-stub

History

People

See also

References

External links