Mine, Yours, Our Riga 100 Years Ago

This exhibition is a reflection of Riga until 1914 – the moment when World War I began in Europe. The war marked the end of the 19th century Riga which meant a caesura, a loud and blood-stained period of silence and refuge when the metropolis along the banks of the river Daugava was frozen by fear of death and pain of the inhabitants of Riga. The composition of this exhibition is not chronological: the story begins with the moment when the medieval fortifications and city walls were demolished, and Riga started growing and developing rapidly. Five thematic branches are offered in this exhibition; they shaped the face of Riga before World War I.

Economic development in Riga also had an ethnic culture and community dimension. The population of Riga included Germans, Latvians, Russians, Jews, Poles and other ethnic groups which strived to develop their economic activity in close relation to the development of the ethnic groups they represented. Capital had an ethnic background whereas property had an ethnic identity. Language, traditions and cultural memories played an important role in economic activity.The meaning of the First Latvian Song Festival (1873) to the development of the Latvian national identity and movement could be compared to one of the cornerstones of national consolidation along with the foundation of the Riga Latvian Society in 1868.Biographies of the inhabitants of Riga of various nationalities show an interesting feature – beside a trade or profession that provided income, many of them voluntarily took part in different social activities. Very popular at that time were societies.

Reforms to the governance of municipalities implemented by Alexander II proved to be an important impetus to the development of Riga as a political space.The government attempted to shape in the city a more active society and bring it closer to the model of western civic society. At the same time reforms in the legislation of municipal administration of 1870 presented an attempt to centralize state power and decrease the scope of activity of the elites in the Empire’s Western regions.Instead of the Burgomaster there was planned to be a post of the Head of the City Council, basically – post of the Administrative Manager of the city. The new Riga City Council was an administrative body elected by the citizens and it consisted of 72 City Council Deputies and the City Administration, and Riga Executive Power whose election was ensured by the City Council itself. Citizens of Riga – men from 25 years of age – had permission to participate in elections of the City Council, if they were able to confirm regular payment of property or some other income tax and had no debts.

Censorship in the media and the power of the governor’s administration was still palpable in all areas, regardless of political rivalry and the elections of the city administration. The city’s elite used cultural processes in order to manifest its interests, political priorities and define itself in the multi-ethnic city in the late 19th century.Was there a common Riga?When active debates on Riga’s 700th anniversary celebration started in 1900, discussions about what this festivity should be like emerged in the Latvian and German press. The German press, leaders of societies and German-origin Riga City Council Deputies expressed their desire to illustrate Riga’s cultural heritage, i.e. the links with Riga’s past which was particularly shaped by the Baltic German regional elite for several centuries.The Latvian civic press and culture activists, whose centre was the Riga Latvian Society, were categorically against such a kind of Riga.

Becoming a townsperson meant becoming a member of a community which was equal to the one of German inhabitants. The city symbolized progress, cultural development and higher living standards; even the air in the city seemed better than in the countryside.On the other hand, the inhabitant of the city had to face many of the problems of the urban environment – unemployment, diseases, senility, social exclusion, alcoholism; women coming from the countryside were often subjected to the risk of becoming prostitutes. The 19th century Riga City Council spent significant amounts of funds to provide support to the ill poor, alcoholics, homeless children, prostitutes, tuberculosis patients and the elderly.The financial and intellectual elite played an important role in solving the city’s social problems until 1914 by establishing private hospitals, night shelters and educational institutions for the excluded inhabitants of the city.

What we see is a small book with a brown cover – the so-called “1914 Calendar of the Baltic Youth”. What we don’t see – the visage of E. Urdewitsch, the middle class girl of German descent who, a hundred years ago on July 20, on the 78th page of her journal laconically wrote ‘Germany declares war on Russia’. We won’t find out the first name of E., but this note meant the end of her childhood as well as the end of 19th century Riga.