Digital collections, exhibitions and other valuable resources by Latvian culture and memory institutions
Virtual exhibition
Alūksne bird farm
Alūksnes bird farm is one of the largest and most important companies in the region. It can be proud of a rich history which was compiled by the Alūksne city library, the Alūksne museum and the Alūksne zonal archive.
Digital collection
3D models of Latvian hillforts
3D models of Latvian hillforts, created from open-access LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data – it provides detection and distance determination using light data. The project also includes a free open data repository at https://opendata.latvijas-pilskalni.lv/
Virtual exhibition
A Latvian Suitcase
If you had to leave for an unknown country tomorrow – what would you put in your suitcase, and what would you leave behind? You might return after a few years, after decades, or maybe never. What is the most important thing that will help you in future, not just physically, but also in a spiritual, intellectual and emotional sense? Tens and hundreds of thousands of Latvians have had to answer this existential question over the last 200 years. This exhibition by the Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre reveals the stories of some of the objects that once left Latvia and have now returned home.
Digital collection
Another Siberia – Latvian villages Timofeyevka, Nizhnyaya Bulanka, Suhonoy
The exhibition “Another Siberia - Latvian villages Timofeyevka, Nizhnyaya Bulanka, Suhonoy” brings together the impressions and results of the expedition in 2015, providing an insight into the life and history of three Latvian villages in Siberia. Timofeyevka, Nizhnyaya Bulanka, Suhonoy are villages in Siberia where Latvians have lived for several generations and where Latvian language can still be heard.
Other
Art collection 2020
Online platform “Art collection 2020” (Mākslas kolekcija 2020) by Latvian National Museum of Art is a chance to show the world what contemporary artists in Latvia have created during the last 30 years in online media.
Virtual exhibition
BE YOURSELF!
Virtual exhibition of the Melānija Vanaga museum „Esi pats!/Be Yourself!” – relates the experiences of five deported children
Digital collection
Book website
The Book website provides approximately 13,000 books – culturally and historically significant works published since 1586.
Virtual exhibition
Brethren congregation manuscripts
Long after Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid-15th century, literature continued to develop in manuscript form. One of the phenomena of manuscript literature is the manuscripts of the Brethren congregations in the 18th century. The exhibition traces the educational path of this community through manuscripts, images, and photographs.
Other
Collection of Johann Christoph Brotze
Educator and local historian Johann Christoph Broce (1742 – 1823) collected and stored historical materials, drew and commented on the testimonies of his era, which he considered important, and also recorded everything with great precision, adding written explanations to the drawings, which sometimes fit into a few lines, but sometimes occupy several pages. Many of the objects and documents drawn by him have died or disappeared over time, but information about them has been preserved in the archive of J. K. Broce.
Digital collection
Collection of the Latvian Song and Dance Celebrations
The collection is dedicated to the history and traditions of the Latvian Song and Dance Celebration from its origins to the present day. The collection includes more than 6000 digitised items: posters, photographs, publications, documents describing festival organisation, sheet music collections, sound recordings, memoirs from chief conductors and organisers as well as other materials.
Virtual exhibition
Continuous Line. Frontiers of Latvia on map
The exhibition tells the story of the creation of Latvia's border lines and contours. Historical maps trace the gradual development of the map outline that reflects the modern state of Latvia, starting from the first geographical names attributed to the territory of Latvia.
Digital collection
Digital archives of Latvian folklore
The Archives of Latvian Folklore at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia hold manuscripts, sound and video recordings as well as photographic materials portraying folklore tellers and depicting the history of folklore collection in Latvia. The archive documents the way of life, worldview, history, and language of the people over several centuries.
Other
Digital collection of Academic library
Various rare materials from the 18th century are available in the collection: materials of the German-Baltic writer and publicist Garlīb Merķelas, the collection of Johan Kristof Broce and the collection of Baltic genealogical materials.
Digital collection
Dinaburg Fortress
"Dinaburg Fortress" contains extensive information about the history of the construction of the fortress, persons associated with this object, a rich photo gallery. The electronic resource was created in cooperation with the Daugavpils Regional Research and Art Museum and the Daugavpils Zonal State Archive.
Virtual exhibition
Dzimtbūšanas atcelšana Kurzemē un Vidzemē
Izstāde piedāvā ielūkoties brīvlaišanas likumu izstrādes un to ieviešanas procesos, 19.gs tiesu sistēmā, kā arī pārmaiņās, ko ieviesa brīvlaišanas likumu pieņemšana.
Virtual exhibition
God’s Little Birds
Thousands of Latvian refugees had landed in Germany in 1945, at the end of World War II. Refugees from many European nations arriving in the war-devastated Germany had lost their homes, possessions and in many cases also their family members. To coordinate the placement and care of the refugees, UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) created hundreds of Displaced Persons (DP) camps where refugees were mostly grouped by nationality. Approx. 100 000 Latvian refugees became "dīpīši" or "Dieva Putniņi" (God’s Little Birds - using acronym DP) as they often called themselves. They did not want to return to the Soviet-occupied Latvia, where they would be submitted to repressions by the Soviet regime, nor did they have a home elsewhere. This photo exhibition by the Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre explores the work, culture and social life of these Latvian refugees.
Virtual exhibition
Heritage in Vadakste
Digital collection created by library in Vadakste parish, Saldus municipality. It shows a photography archive of local researcher Zanis Skudra (Žanis Skudra).
Other
Intangible Cultural Heritage
Intangible cultural heritage refers to the knowledge, skills, customs, and practices that have been handed down from generation to generation and are used today; it is also called living heritage. The collection includes images, audio and video material as well as publications and websites on intangible cultural heritage.
Virtual exhibition
Isaiah Berlin And The Riga Of His Time
Virtual exhibition about the great British thinker Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997) born in Riga. He is regarded as one of the leading representatives of liberal thinkers of the 20th century, who was also an excellent essayist and orator.
Digital collection
KGB (CSS) of LSSR document archives
Documents by the Committee for State Security (CSS) of the Latvian SSR, Communist Party of Latvia as well as other state institutions from the time of occupation in Latvia. The publication of such documents is required under the Law on Preservation, Use of the Documents of the Former Committee for State Security and Establishing the Fact of Cooperation of Persons with the CSS.
Virtual exhibition
Knuts Skujenieks
The aim of the multimedia website “Knuts Skujenieks” is to preserve the poet's literary heritage and living space and to make it accessible to everyone in a virtual environment. It is designed as a guided tour in time and space where the poet himself reads poetry, talks about the creative process, gives his comments on things and objects.
Virtual exhibition
Landscape treasures
Landscape treasures are places and territories in Latvian countryside, villages, and towns that are considered to be of special value to the country, regardless of their conservation status and grandeur. They are landscapes that make us pause in the rush of everyday life and that we want to experience again and again. They contain a special significance that we want to inscribe in Latvian history and pass on to our children and grandchildren.
Digital collection
Latgale in song
magnificent Latgale Song Festival held in 2010, which marked a new page in the history of song festivals. On the Daugavpils Stropi stage, the song once again resounded, proving once again that even in the age of globalization there is a place for the people's soul's prayer for eternity.
Other
Latvian Cultural Canon
The Latvian Cultural Canon is a collection of the most outstanding and remarkable works of art and cultural values in Latvia. It includes values that characterise Latvian culture in various fields: architecture and design; landscapes; literature; music; performing arts; cinema; traditional culture; visual arts.
Other
Latvian Prose Counter
An experimental text analysis website that allows you to look at various quantitative parameters of 19th and 20th century Latvian literary works, such as the frequency of word usage and others.
Digital collection
Latvian archives from around the world
The digital archive "Latvian Archives from Around the World" incorporates digital and digitised archival materials stored by Latvian communities around the world. This digital archive is special in that its content is created by representatives of Latvian diaspora communities, who independently process and digitise archival materials according to guidelines prepared by PBLA.
Other
Latvian cultural monuments
Database and map of Latvian cultural monuments.
Digital collection
Latvian diaspora documents
The Latvian diaspora documents database collects information related to historical heritage of the diaspora in Latvia and worldwide. This heritage consists of documents from both individuals and organisations that have left significant testimonies about the life of exiled people abroad. The collection covers the period between the years of the Second World War and the restoration of independence in Latvia.
Virtual exhibition
Latvian footprints around the world
The exhibition by the Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre reveals the fascinating life stories of six Latvian families who either left their homeland to seek a better life or were forced to flee their ancestral land to save their lives.
Virtual exhibition
Latvians in Great Britain
Before the Second World War, several hundred Latvians lived, studied, and worked in England, and at the end of 1941 they founded the Society of Latvians in Great Britain. After the end of the war, around 16,000 Latvian refugees arrived in England. The virtual exhibition “Latvians in Great Britain” is prepared for a wide range of visitors to give an insight into historical events, everyday life, political and social activities, culture, and literature of Latvians in Great Britain. Visitors can find documents, photographs, historical newsreels, and audio extracts that tell the story of Latvian life in Britain.
Other
Literatura.lv
The website is a fundamental resource in the field of literature which correctly and professionally provides written and visual information about Latvian writing process, persons, works, organisations, received awards from the beginning of development of literature in Latvia to the present day. Literatura.lv also offers audio recordings, virtual exhibitions, and a reading room.
Digital collection
Lost Latvia (Zudusī Latvija)
“Zudusī Latvija” image collection provides an opportunity to view more than 51,000 images reflecting the history of Latvia. The collection contains digitised drawings, postcards, and photographs from the second half of the 19th century to the present day.
Virtual exhibition
Luther. The turn
Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses, published in Wittenberg in 1517, and the Reformation he initiated, transformed Europe, and these distant events have a direct impact on us in Latvia at the beginning of the 21st century. A digital version of the stories of late medieval piety and Luther's fight against indulgences.
Digital collection
Map collection
The collection includes several thousand maps issued from the early 17th century to the present day. The collection allows browsing, searching, and selecting maps, looking up place names and addresses, measuring areas and distances, and comparing historical cartographic data with modern data.
Virtual exhibition
Old Latvians of Wisconsin
At the end of the 19th century, one of the oldest and largest Latvian colonies in the United States was established in Lincoln County, Wisconsin. The exhibition by the Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre traces the varied paths of several Latvian emigrant families from their place of origin in Latvia to the faraway forests of Wisconsin.
Virtual exhibition
Pēteris Upītis. Bookmarks
The work of Latvian graphic artist and collector Peteris Upitis (Pēteris Upītis), with special focus on the bookmarks or ex libris he made and collected. They form a large collection held by the National Archives of Latvia. It includes bookmarks made by Upitis himself and by many Latvian and foreign artists as well as extensive correspondence with artists and collectors from various countries. The exhibition includes Upitis' graphic works, fragments of correspondence, photographs, videos, memoirs, etc.
Digital collection
Raduraksti
Databases and digitised documents created by the Latvian National Archives, the Latvian State Historical Archives, and the Latvian State Archives which can be used for family history research for the period between 17th century and mid-20th century. The most important collections of documents are church books of various denominations, “soul audits” (census) in manors, and general census materials in the territory of Latvia.
Digital collection
Rainis un Aspazija
This collection of linked data offers new, until now untapped opportunities in Latvia to discover online treasures of memory institutions and private collections in the form of interlinked information. The collection includes editions of both writers' works, letters, and other textual documents as well as photographs, posters, audio and video material.
Virtual exhibition
Riga City Archives
A virtual exhibition of the National Archives of Latvia presents the history of Riga City Archives and gives an insight into the diversity of documents it once held, including the collection of Riga City Council (Rīgas rāte) minutes from 1603 to 1890 included in the Latvian National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The exhibition provides a virtual tour of the historical, unique archive rooms of Riga City Council at the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation at Palasta iela 4.
Virtual exhibition
Savējie!
The Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre’s exhibition about those Latvians who are living and working outside of Latvia, and bringing Latvia’s name to the world – about people who have achieved significant results in the most diverse fields and professions. 24 stories of professional Latvians in the 21st century.
Other
Search in the National Archives of Latvia (“MeklēLNA”) (collections, cases, documents)
“MeklēLNA” is a search engine ensuring access to the Unified State Archives Information System which includes information about the collections, cases, and documents kept in the National Archives of Latvia.
Digital collection
See, Hear Latvia!
The digital repository of the National Archives of Latvia provides an opportunity to search and explore films, photographs and sound recordings about Latvia, its people, and various political, social, and cultural events from the mid-19th century to the present day.
Virtual exhibition
Taken library, reconstructed library
The virtual exhibition is dedicated to the former library of the Jesuit College of Riga which was moved as spoils of war. The library was started by the Jesuits in 1583. During the Polish-Swedish War (1601-1629), Riga was occupied by Swedish troops and the library was taken to Sweden as spoils of war.
Digital collection
The Industrial Heritage
Collection on the history of manufacturing in Latvia contains information about more than 100 Latvian manufacturing companies and provides access to more than 50,000 pages of documents from the Latvian National Archives, more than 1000 photographs from regional libraries, 76 large-format blueprints, 400 historic newsreels and other interesting materials.
Other
The Joint Catalogue of the National Holdings of Museums
The Joint Catalogue of the National Holdings of Museums is a catalogue including the collections of all accredited museums in Latvia. In total, Latvian museums hold more than 5.9 million museum objects. Only about 5% of this collection is on display in permanent exhibitions.
Digital collection
The Periodicals website
The Periodicals website contains around 3000 sets of newspapers and magazines – more than 8 million pages – from both Latvian and exile periodicals from the mid-18th century to the present day.
Virtual exhibition
VEF 100 (1919-2019)
The aim of the virtual exhibition is to show the life of VEF from its foundation to its rebirth, to reveal the importance of the factory and its products in society. To highlight the human factor, the most important pillar of any company, by showing the daily life, work, leisure, everyday troubles, tragedies and great, perhaps previously hidden, heroism of the employees – the VEFers.
Virtual exhibition
Wearing Latvia
The Latvians Abroad – Museum and Research Centre’s exhibition “Wearing Latvia” features 40 Latvian national costumes from abroad and the stories of their wearers and makers from Europe, incl. Russia, Australia and the Americas. The exhibition reveals the symbolic significance of the folk costumes and the history of their wearing and making – life in refugee camps, later on in Latvian communities in exile, and in today’s emigrant centres. The history of folk costumes made by Latvians living abroad – the particularly unique methods and creative ingenuity employed – reveals the diversity of Latvian craftsmanship in the diaspora, where emotional and social aspects often prevailed over ethnographic precision.
Other
Womage
The website is dedicated to the contribution of women to Latvian culture and society. It offers biographical descriptions and photographs of women: public and cultural figures, politicians, writers, artists, actresses, teachers, doctors, and other professionals whose active career dates back to the period from 1870 to 1940.
Digital collection
Writings by Brethren congregations (Unitas Fratrum)
The collection includes historical, biographical, and religious original writings, translations, and transcriptions of Brethren congregations in various genres from the mid-18th to the early 19th century.
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