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- stories, history and photos from the baltics - estonia ⌘ latvia ⌘ lithuania -
You can find a complete overview of all articles on the blog.
Go to the blog: latvia-online.eu/blog.
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Rīga – Weshalb das sowjetische Siegesdenkmal im Uzvaras parks im Stadtteil Āgenskalns auf der rechten Seite der Daugava jetzt doch abgerissen wird
Das Siegesdenkmal – lett.: Uzvaras Piemineklis – im Stadtteil Āgenskalns in Rīga weckt komplett unterschiedliche Assoziationen von Letten und Russen bezüglich des Endes des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Die Letten sehen in diesem Denkmal eine Provokation, denn während der Zeit der Sowjetischen Okkupation verschwanden Tausende Letten in den sibirischen Gulags. Seit dem 24. Februar steht dieses Denkmal...
Neighborhoods of Rīga: Torņakalns – A place of remembrance of the history of Latvia
Torņakalns is a neighborhood of the Latvian Capital Rīga at the left bank of the Daugava River. The former name, when Rīga was still under the administration of the Baltic Germans, was Thorenzberg. We don’t have a better story, but perhaps the district’s name derives from a tower that stood opposite the Rīga Fortress and was meant to...
Travel & Tourism: Lettlands weiße Küste. Vom Zauber einer Sommernacht. Eine arte Dokumentation über die Mitsommersnachtswende am Kap Kolka.
Die Mitsommersonnenwende ist ganz sicher das wichtigste Fest in Lettland. Am Kap Kolka – hier treffen die vergleichsweise raue Ostsee und der ruhige Meerbusen von Rīga aufeinander – leben noch ein paar hundert Menschen, die dem Stamm der Liven angehören. Kap Kolka ist vor allem im Sommer ein magischer Ort, denn es ist der einzige...
Economy & Politics: The Orchestra of the National Guard of the Latvian Republic plays another song to make you again feel good
The National Guard of the Republic of Latvia – the Zemessardze – is an army made up entirely of volunteers. Today it has a little over 10,000 members. Its history is closely linked to the breakup of Latvia from the former occupying power of the Soviet Union. The Republic of Latvia, which had declared itself...
Travel & Tourism: A glimmer of hope in the middle of the Corona crisis – Lufthansa and airBaltic announce code share program for the end of March 2021
Lufthansa and airBaltic have announced that they will be using common code shares for their flights from March 28, 2021. According to a press release from airBaltic dated February 16, 2021, the agreement initially applies to the routes between Munich, Vilnius and Riga. The code share agreement is a good thing for both airlines and...
Economy & Politics: The Orchestra of the National Guard of the Latvian Republic plays a song to make you feel good
The National Guard of the Republic of Latvia – the Zemessardze – is an army made up entirely of volunteers. Today it has a little over 10,000 members. Its history is closely linked to the breakup of Latvia from the former occupying power of the Soviet Union. The Republic of Latvia, which had declared itself...
Geschichte: Rīga – Das Polytechnikum von den Anfängen zur modernen Universität
Nach dem Ende des für Russland verlorenen Krimkrieges 1856 entwickelte sich Rīga innerhalb weniger Jahre zu einem der wenigen industriellen Zentren des Riesenreiches. Mit der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung wuchs auch der Bedarf an gut ausgebildetem Personal für die Baubranche, Industriebetriebe, den Eisenbahnbau und dem Aufbau eines Telegrafennetzes. Überall wurden neben Arbeitern auch Ingenieure gebraucht. Es wurde...
History: Rīga – The Polytechnic from the foundation to the modern university
After the end of the Crimean War, which Russia lost in 1856, Rīga developed into one of the few industrial centers of the gigantic empire within a few years. With the economic development, the need for well-trained personnel for the construction industry, industrial companies, railway construction and the establishment of a telegraph network also grew....
Infrastructure: Rīga – Bridges over the Daugava – The Akmens tilts
The connection of the districts to the right and left banks of the Daugava in Rīgā has always been economically important. In the past, a pontoon bridge connected the east and west of the city. There was also the Zemgale Bridge, which was designed as a combined rail and pedestrian bridge. The Zemgale Bridge was...
Infrastructure: Rīga – Bridges over the Daugava – The Vanšu tilts
The Vanšu Bridge was opened in July 1981. Latvia was still part of the Soviet Union at that time. The bridge was named after the Russian-Soviet writer Maxim Gorky. Technically, the bridge is still a masterpiece today. It is designed as a cable-stayed bridge with only one pylon at a height of 109 meters. At...
Economy & Politics: Why the Latvian airline airBaltic now only uses a fleet of Airbus A220-300
The CEO of the Latvian airline and commercial pilot, Martin Gauss, is visibly enthusiastic about the Airbus A220-300. The aircraft was originally designed and built by Bombardier as the CS300. The type certification by Transport Canada took place in December 2015. airBaltic was the first customer to receive the first production aircraft at the end...
Economy & Politics: The Latvian airline airBaltic has published unaudited consolidated financial results for the first six months of 2020
Because of the corona crisis and the resulting ban on operations, which lasted 62 days, the Latvian airline airBaltic had to accept severe losses in sales and passenger numbers in the first half of 2020. This is shown by the quarterly figures published on Wednesday, August 26th, 2020. In the first half of 2020, sales...
Economy & Politics: The Latvian airline airBaltic is postponing the acquisition of new A220 NEO aircraft
The Latvian airline airBaltic is postponing the acquisition of new A220 NEO aircraft. It is also the only remaining scheduled airline in the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. airBaltic currently only operates a fleet of 22 Airbus A220-300s – formerly Bombardier C-Series – on medium-haul routes. AirBaltic originally wanted to fleet 28...
Travel & Tourism: Why the Germans are no longer allowed to enter Latvia or have to go into quarantine
Latvia has a rigid policy towards foreigners since the outbreak of COVID-19. There has never been a social lock down in this country like in Germany, but the small Baltic country has been largely free of the virus since March 2020 through border closings and operating bans for the Riga airport and a temporary ban...
Economy & Politics: Why the poverty line determined by Latvian lawmakers is unconstitutional
Latvia is undoubtedly not a country for social romanticists. There is no special social assistance system for disability and the elderly. However, those who are not entitled to disability benefits and old-age pensions can, under certain circumstances, receive the basic social security benefit (Valsts sociālā nodrošinājuma pabalsts). A family or individual is only considered to...
Economy & Politics: What the results of the EU Corona Summit mean for Latvia financially
At a special summit on July 21, 2020, the representatives of the EU countries agreed on the largest financial package in their history in the fight against the corona economic crisis. The package comprises a total of 1.8 trillion euros – thereof 1074 billion euros for the next seven-year budget and 750 billion euros for...
Economy & Politics: From now on visitors in Latvia have to fill out questionnaires
The Latvian government has decided that travelers crossing the Latvian border with commercial travel companies, such as buses, ferries, trains and airlines, will be required to complete a questionnaire from July 16, 2020. See https://www.mk.gov.lv/en/content/covid-19. According to the Cabinet of Ministers, the data will be used to fight against the corona pandemic. So far, the...
Economy & Politics: Holidays in Latvia are now at least theoretically possible again, at least for citizens of some European countries
On June 2, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of the State of Latvia decided that from June 3, 2020 the list of countries from which immigrants do not have to comply with the 14-day self-isolation will be expanded. For Latvian citizens, permanent residents and foreigners who have not visited countries other than Latvia, Lithuania or...
Economy & Politics: The consequences of the corona crisis for the Latvian economy and its employees
In a virtual press conference on April 22, 2020, Kaspars Rozkalns, the head of the Latvian State Investment and Development Agency LIIA, made the statement that the corona crisis will reduce exports of the small European country by 20 to 30 percent compared to to last year. At the same conference, Latvian Minister of Economy Janis...
Neighborhoods of Rīga: Zolitūde
Zolitūde is a neighborhood of the Latvian capital Rīga, which is located several kilometers west of the left bank of the Daugava River, the so-called Pārdaugava. The neighborhood belongs to the suburb of Zemgale. In Zolitūde almost 20,000 people live in an area of less than 3 square kilometers. This district is mostly characterized by...
Neighborhoods of Rīga: Skanste – The very modern heart of the capital of Latvia
Skanste is a neighborhood in Rīga, it is located in the center of Riga, but administratively belongs to the Vidzeme suburb. It is the most modern part of the Latvian capital and is characterized by multi-storey apartment buildings. The landmark of this neighborhood are the Skanstes virsotnes – the needles of Skanste. Today there are...
About this website
At the end of the 1980s, the people of the Baltic States no longer wanted to be east, but west. No longer beeing part of the Soviet Union, but of modern Europe. Since then, they have accomplished everything they set out to do. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are now members of NATO, Schengen countries and have adopted the EURO. On the way to modernity, people have made some sacrifices. In particular, the small state of Latvia and the capital Rīga fascinates me again and again. This city has undergone a complete transformation from large industry to a banking and service location and is today the economic engine of Latvia and the Baltic States, the heartbeat of the region. Vilnius as the capital of Lithuania and Tallinn as the capital of Estonia are cities of my dreams too. On this website, under "Blog" and "Photos" you can go on virtual forays through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and see places that tourists rarely or never see. This website offers all this and much more, for example excursions into the history or stories from the business and politics of the Baltic States.
You can find a complete overview of all articles on the blog.
Go to the blog: latvia-online.eu/blog.
