Saldus (; , ) is a

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 ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

() region of

, and the largest town in Saldus Municipality. The name Saldus has been noted in historical sources as far back as the mid-13th century, but the founding year for the establishment of the town is considered to be 1856, with the settlement gaining town rights in 1917. The town is located in between

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 ...

and

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

(slightly closer to Liepāja (100 km) than Riga (119 km). The Ciecere River flows through Saldus, and it is a tributary to one of Latvia’s biggest rivers, the Venta. The city is often referred to as "the Bowl of Courland" because of a famous quote by Māris Čaklais: "A drop of honey in the bowl of Courland". The reasoning behind the quote is the fact that from a high point, the city looks like a crater. As of January 2025, Saldus is the 18th-largest city in Latvia according to population data. In 2025, the town had a population of 9,553.

History

Early history

According to archeological research, the whole territory that is now Saldus was inhabited by the Baltic tribe Couronians in the 20th century BC. The centre of defence at the time, Saldus Castle, was located by Lake Saldus until the 13th century, 1856 is considered the year Saldus was founded, when the Board of Domens decided to establish a trade center. Although there was an active economy by the end of the 19th century, and Saldus was the cultural center of the region, it was not officially recognized as a town until 1917. One of the oldest buildings in the town is Saldus St.John's church. Documents from 1461 mention a wooden church. It has been reconstructed several times. The tower, bombed in 1944, was rebuilt in 1981–82.

World War II

Prior to invasion by the Nazis, Saldus had a large Jewish population. Nazi troops entered the city on 29 June 1941, and subsequently arrested around 100 Jewish men from the population, who were later shot and killed in the Veide forest, around 1 km from Saldus. Following the initial arrests, around 200 more were imprisoned in the local synagogue and prison, where they were transported to Baltezers Lake (4 km from Saldus) and shot by

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

, helped by local non-Jewish residents.

Economy

Saldus has developed itself as an important cultural, educational, business and trade center. There are about 500 approved companies operating in Saldus, with main branches in building construction,

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

, and food processing. These days Saldus also boasts a very active cultural life, featuring local musicians, poets, painters, and artists.

Hymn

The official hymn of the city, written by Ēriks Ķiģelis and Māris Čaklais, is ‘’Saldus saule’’ (English: ''Saldus Sun''). On November 18, 2018, 32 years since its release in 1986, the song was finally publicly acknowledged as the official hymn.

Education

The city boasts an active cultural and social life. In the center of it has always been Education. Home to schools of the future and the past. All educational institutions are coed. Since 1946 Saldus has been home to the Saldus School of Music. In 1984 Saldus Art School was founded. On March 22, 2013 the Saldus Art School moved to the newly built building. Up until 2016, there were 2 high schools in the city: Saldus Gymnasium (ex 1.st High School) and Saldus Secondary High School. Saldus Gymnasium was terminated and never started the school year in 2016. Saldus Secondary High School was re-named Saldus High School.

Educational institutions

* 6 Pre-school educational institutions * 3 Primary Schools * Saldus High School * Vocational High School * Saldus Art and Music School

Culture and contemporary life

Concerts

Saldus Saule festival

Yearly

Rock festival A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular eve ...

'Saldus Saule' makes Saldus a well known city in and around Latvia. The first "Saldus saule" took place in 1987. But the idea and concept were conceived earlier. October 3, 1985, saw the death of a beloved musician - Ēriks Ķiģelis. The twenty-somethings of that time wanted to keep his memory alive and so the festival was born. Due to the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

regime, the festival could not be named after Ēriks Ķiģelis. The first festival was first organized by famous music sociologist Juris Vilcāns and Ēriks Niedra.

Geography

Saldus is geographically located in the ‘Austrumkursas’ Highlands. It is the biggest city in the Highlands. The city was built on both shores of the river ‘Ciecere’ and on the east side of the city lies ‘Saldus lake’. The city is considered to be one of the greenest cities in Latvia, due to being characterized with parks, squares and bountiful greenery. Saldus ezers

There are many tiny rivers, that flowing through Saldus, but only one important one. Interestingly other rivers are also named.

Saldus Lake

The lake lies north-east of the city, on the edge of the city. The lake’s north-west and south-east shores are incredibly steep. The lake has an estuary – Vēršāda (a tributary from river, and a tributary – Kaļķupīte. The deepest point is 5 m. On the south-west shore there is an artificial beach.

River Ciecere

River Ciecere is a 51 km long right-bank tributary to river Venta. The river itself has 52 tributaries. It flows out from Lake Ciecere and for 6 km flows through Saldus, creating a very rich green-zone in the city center. The river has 14 crossing bridges. In Saldus there are a few artificial waterfalls. There are nature-walks along the river bank. In the 17th century, the river was navigable by ship and boat.

Climate

Saldus has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb'').

Demographics

The population of Saldus has been decreasing since the first recorded census. It declined more rapidly when moving to United Kingdom became a valid choice for the people of Latvia.

Notable people

* Johann von Besser (1654–1729) –

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

writer * Janis Rozentāls (1866–1917) – painter * Oskars Kalpaks (6 January 1882 – 6 March 1919) -

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

Commander * Lea Davidova-Medene (1921–1986) – sculptor * Ursula Donath (born 1931) – German athlete * Māris Čaklais (1940–2003) – poet * Ēriks Ķiģelis (1955–1985) – musician * Jānis Blūms (born 1982) – basketball player * Dons (born 1984) – singer * Uģis Žaļims (born 1986) – bobsledder * Ieva Laguna (born 1990) – top model * Gunārs Skvorcovs (born 1990), ice hockey player

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Saldus is twinned with: *

Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the capital of Järva County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia. Etymology Paide's German name (originally or in Low German) means 'white stone'. This name was derived from the limestone used for the constru ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

Mažeikiai Mažeikiai (; Samogitian: ''Mažeikē''; ; ) is a city in northwestern Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 32,000, making it the eighth largest city in Lithuania and eighteenth largest city in the Baltic States. Th ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Šilutė Šilutė (; previously ''Šilokarčiama''; ) is a city in the south of the Klaipėda County in western Lithuania. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region and ethnographic Lithuania Minor. Šilutė was the interwar period, interwar capital of Š ...

* Liederbach am Taunus,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Lidingö Lidingö (), also known in its definite form Lidingön and as Lidingölandet, is an island in the inner Stockholm archipelago, northeast of Stockholm, Sweden. In 2023, the population of the Lidingö urban area on the island was 48,162. It is the ...

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Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* Sergiyev Posad,

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* Villebon-sur-Yvette,

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* Sankt Andrä,

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* Las Rozas Del Madrid,

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* Volda,

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* Tsqaltubo,

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* Florești,

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Source

Gallery

File:Monument of Janis Rozentāls. Saldus.jpg, Monument of Janis Rozentāls File:Old saldus city sign.jpg, Saldus Sign File:Old saldus gymnazium.jpg, The Old City Gymnasium File:House of Fire Insurance Association - panoramio.jpg, House of Fire Insurance Association File:Saldus elementary school - panoramio.jpg, Saldus Elementary School File:Saldus Mūzikas un Mākslas skola - panoramio.jpg, Saldus School of Music and Art File:Saldus post office.jpg, Saldus Post Office File:Sladus dome.jpg, Saldus city historical center

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Courland 1917 establishments in Latvia Populated places established in 1917 Populated places in Saldus Municipality Historic Jewish communities in Latvia