Forest Cemetery () is an large cemetery in the northwestern part of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, the capital 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 ...

, between the neighbourhoods of

Mežaparks Mežaparks () is a neighbourhood of Northern District in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It consists of a residential area to the South and a large urban park to the North of the same name – Mežaparks. The neighbourhood is located on the west ...

and Čiekurkalns. Formally, the cemetery is divided between 1st Forest Cemetery, with entrance from Aizsaules Street, and 2nd Forest Cemetery, with entrance from Gaujas Street. In 1904, German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

congregations in Riga inquired the

Riga City Council Riga City Council () is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga City Council con ...

for allotment of land for a cemetery in the Mežaparks neighbourhood. It was planned to become a new large cemetery after the Great Cemetery, that was established 1773 in Riga and had exhausted its potential. The prominent

Baltic-German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their resettlement in 1945 after the end of World War II, Baltic Germans have drastically decli ...

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Georg Kuphaldt Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Kuphaldt () (6 June 1853 in Plön, Holstein – 14 April 1938 in Berlin, Germany) was an influential German landscape architect, gardener and dendrologist of the Russian Empire. At the age of 27, Kuphaldt was promo ...

was author of the original construction project presented 1908, which should have appeared as a park with a central via funeralis, with many small and lateral paths along the graves with low fences and small monuments. The Forest Cemetery was established 29 July 1910 following a decision made by the 3rd Imperial Duma, and it was inaugurated 19 June 1913. All burial ceremonies were conducted in a building erected 1913 after blueprints by the Baltic-German architect

Wilhelm Neumann Carl Johann Wilhelm Neumann (; ; born 5 October 1849 in Grevesmühlen – died 6 March 1919 in Riga) was a Baltic German architect and art historian. Neumann's family moved to Kreutzburg (then in Russian Empire) during Wilhelm's childhood. Whe ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when the front closed in on Riga in 1916, the Forest Cemetery was receiving many fallen

Latvian Riflemen The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...

. After a lengthy debate with local congregations, the Imperial Duma sanctioned the construction of a military cemetery, on land transferred from the Forest Cemetery, a cemetery that later was named Brothers' Cemetery. The Forest Cemetery has many sculptural memorials and

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

s created by notable sculptors. Many notable Latvian politicians, military, and public figures are buried at the Forest Cemetery.

Burials

References

External links

* {{Authority control Monuments and memorials in Latvia Baltic-German culture Cemeteries in Riga Lutheran cemeteries in Latvia 1910 establishments in the Russian Empire Cemeteries established in the 1910s

Burials

See also

References

External links