Durbe Manor ( lv, Durbes pils, german: Herrenhaus Durben) is a Neoclassical manor house located in
Tukums
Tukums (; german: Tuckum; liv, Tukāmō) is a town in the Zemgale region of Latvia.
History
The historical center of Tukums developed between trade routes leading from the mouth of the Daugava River to Prussia. The oldest part is today's Ta ...
, in the historical region of
Zemgale
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. ...
, in
Latvia. One of the most interesting classical manor houses in Latvia. Today it houses part of the Tukums Museum collection.
History
Durbe as was first mentioned in written sources as Šlokenbeka manor in 1475.
The core of the current building dates from 1671.
In 1820, Count
Christoph Johann von Medem commissioned Johann Gottfried Adam Berlitz to remodel the façade completely.
From 1789 to 1808, Ernst Karl Philip von Grothus used the property as a summerhouse.
From 1818 to 1838 the estate belonged to Count Medem, while it later belonged to the Count of
Jaunpils von der Recke.
[ The family of Baron von der Recke owned the manor from the 1848 to 1920,][ when the ]agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...
began.
In 1923, Durbe manor was presented to famous Latvian writer and playwright Rainis
Rainis was the pseudonym of Jānis Pliekšāns (September 11, 1865 – September 12, 1929), a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician. Rainis' works include the classic plays ''Uguns un nakts'' (''Fire and Night'', 1905) and ''Ind ...
, who owned it until his death in 1929. However, Rainis used to live there for only short periods and mostly used the manor as a vacation house for teachers and their families.
Later the manor was used as sanatorium for tubercular patients and as a hospital.
Since 1991, Durbe manor is a part of the Tukums city museum exhibition.
See also
*List of palaces and manor houses in Latvia
This is a list of palaces and manor houses in Latvia built after the 16th century. Palaces and manors which are now part of the Zemgale region were then part of the Selonia region, and therefore are differentiated for clarity. This list does not ...
References
External links
*
Tukums Museum
The Association of Castles and Museums around the Baltic Sea
*
Tukums
Manor houses in Latvia
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