The House of the Livonian Noble Corporation ( lv, Vidzemes bruņniecības nams) also known as Saeima House (''Saeimas nams''), is the seat of the parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. It is located in the '' Vecpilsēta'' (Old Town) neighbourhood of downtown Riga.

Architecture

The building was constructed to house the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

of the Livonian Noble Corporation in the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

. It was designed by architects

Robert Pflug Robert Pflug ( lv, Roberts Pflūgs; 1 May 1832 – 30 November 1885) was a Baltic German architect. Robert August Pflug was born in Saint Petersburg as the son of a merchant. He studied at the Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology, Tech ...

, a Baltic-German and Jānis Baumanis, the first academically trained Latvian architect in the

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

style with an

Eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

finish. Construction began in 1863 and was completed in 1867 directly opposite St. James's Cathedral. The

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

featured a

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

containing a statue by

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

sculptor

David Jensen David Allan "Kid" Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 ...

of the Teutonic ''Landmeister''

Wolter von Plettenberg Wolter (or Walter) von Plettenberg (c. 1450 – February 28, 1535) was the Master (''Landmeister'') of the Livonian Order from 1494 to 1535 and one of the greatest leaders of the Teutonic knights. He was an important early Baltic German. ...

History

;Empire In 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. ...

, the

was administed with the co-operation of the Livonian Noble Corporation, the estate of nobility who owed fealty to the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. The Noble Corporation, also known as the "knighthood" began at the dissolution of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

in Livonia in the 16th century, and comprised the leading representatives of the

Baltic-German nobility Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

who made up the ruling class in Latvia and Estonia until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The Landtag was never a democratic body. ;Latvian independence After the People’s Council declared Latvian independence on 18 November 1918 the building served as its home, except for the period during 1919 when the All-Latvian Congress of Workers' Soviet Deputies of the

Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic ( lv, Latvijas Sociālistiskā Padomju Republika, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, econom ...

controlled Riga. After the socialist republic was

defeated Defeated may refer to: * "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) * "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unincorporated community *''The Defeated ''The Defeated'', al ...

, the building became the seat of the

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

elected in 1920. On 17 October 1921, the building was destroyed by fire. It was restored according to the design of the architect Eižens Laube. The restoration included a new statue by sculptor Rihards Maurs of Lāčplēsis the "bear-slayer", from the Latvian epic of the same name, replacing the statue of von Plettenberg which was destroyed in the fire. At the time of the building's restoration the main assembly hall was modified to meet the needs of the Saeima of the new Republic of Latvia. The Saeima chamber today still approximates this design. The last meeting of the Constitutional Assembly, which wrote the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-functioning republican basic law in the ...

took place in the restored building on 3 November 1922. ;Authoritarian régime The building served as the home of the Saeima until a

self-coup A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...

by serving

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to ...

in 1934. Ulmanis assumed the title of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

in 1936 and the continuous dissolution of the Saeima served the purposes of his authoritarian régime. ;Occupation During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, after Latvia was

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

, the building was the location of the

Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR ( Latvian: ''Latvijas PSR Augstākā Padome''; Russian: Верховный Совет Латвийской ССР, ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Latvyyskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution ...

under the Soviets and the headquarters of the SS and police for the Eastern territories under

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Latvia remained under Soviet occupation after the war and the building served as the location of the Supreme Soviet for almost half a century. In the early 1980s one of the inner courtyards was walled in to expand building space, this part of the building is now known as the Voting Room. ;Restoration of independence After the restoration of independence on May 4, 1990, the building was home to the

Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republikas Augstākā Padome) was the transitional parliament of Latvia from 1990 to 1993, after the restoration of independence. The Supreme Council was elected on 1990 as the Sup ...

, which functioned as an interim parliament until the Constitution was fully re-established with the election of the next Saeima. Since 1993 it is once again home to Latvia's parliament. Saeimas sēžu zāle - Flickr - Saeima (3).jpg, Saeima chamber Saeimas Dzeltenā zāle - Flickr - Saeima (2).jpg, Yellow Room Saeimas Sarkanā zāle - Flickr - Saeima (1).jpg, Red Room File:Flickr - Saeima - Saeimas Baltā zāle (4).jpg, White Room Saeimas Balsošanas zāle - Flickr - Saeima (2).jpg, Voting Room File:Flickr - Saeima - Saeimas Brūnā zālē.jpg, Brown Room Lielās marmora kāpnes - Flickr - Saeima.jpg, Grand Staircase Valsts prezidenta vēlēšanas Saeimā (5789502694).jpg, Main entrance on Klostera Street File:Flickr - Saeima - 4.maijs Saeimā (4).jpg, Klostera Street and St. James's Cathedral File:Pirmais sniegs! (8124499226).jpg, Building in Winter File:Saeimas nams 2013.gada 28.novembris..jpg, View along Jēkaba Street The Saeima building in Autumn - Statue of Lāčplēsis.jpg, Statue of Lāčplēsis. Destroyed circa 1950s, restored 2007.

References

External links

Parliament of Latvia
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Riga Legislative buildings in Europe Government of Latvia Tourist attractions in Riga Government buildings completed in 1867 Landmarks in Latvia Seats of national legislatures Buildings and structures destroyed by arson Saeima 1867 establishments in the Russian Empire Government buildings in Latvia

Architecture

History

See also

References

External links