The Baltic States have for years steadily cleansed public spaces from monuments that served as a painful memento to their Soviet occupation during and after World War II.
Latvia has also joined this process at it seeks to remove monuments of various figures from the city’s past under Soviet occupation, as well as when it was a part of the Russian Empire, which period lasted from the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, until Riga fell into German hands during World War I and Latvia finally gaining independence in 1918.
The movement to remove monuments lionizing Russian and Soviet historical figures gained renewed momentum following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
At least one historical figure will be spared the dishonor, however. Mikhail Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818), a Russian general and later field marshal of the Napoleonic period, will retain his spot at the Esplanade Park, next to the City’s Orthodox Cathedral.
In spite of his French-sounding name, Barclay de Tolly was born to a family of Baltic German nobility of Scottish origin. To make things more interesting, he was born in Pamūšis, today in Lithuania, back then part of the the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while his final resting place is an impressive mausoleum in Jõgeveste (then Beckhof), in modern-day southern Estonia, close to the Latvian-Estonian border.
Barclay de Tolly’s illustrious military career earned him numerous honors. He served as the second Governor-General of Finland, after Russia captured it from the Swedish Empire at the beginning of the 19th century, was eventually promoted to Field Marshal, served as the Minister of War for much of the Napoleonic period, and was finally awarded a princely title by Tsar Alexander I in 1815. In Russia, he is recognized as a national hero.
The original monument was commissioned in 1911, one year ahead of the centennial anniversary of the Russian victory over Napoleon’s
Grand Armée’s ill-fated invasion of Russia. It was unveiled in 1913, but soon had to be scrapped and melted down due to the outbreak of World War I. The current monument is a reproduction erected on the original spot in 2001, financed by local businessman Jevgenijs Gombergs.
Explaining the decision of the Monuments Council to retain the monument, the body’s head, Aigars said: “I believe that we were bound by the donation agreement and that it [demolition] could have had unpredictable consequences. Therefore, we were cautious. The pedestal would remain in any case, because it is considered as a part of the cultural monument. The original statue was evacuated during the First World War. The current statue is not considered an exact replica.”
Removing monuments honoring Russian and Soviet figures has been somewhat contentious, especially considering Latvia’s at-large and Riga’s in particular large Russian-speaking population.
In 2023, the city removed a monument dedicated to Russian Romantic poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin. Yet, the removal of a memorial plaque elsewhere in Riga dedicated to the author was put on hold, pending more information to be provided by the local Pushkin Society.
At the same time, the city opted to remove a plaque dedicated to Russian writer Valentin Pikul (1928-1990), who spent most of his life in Riga, from Latgale Park, which itself was recently renamed, previously being called the Moscow Garden.
