House of the Blackheads

At the end of the XIII century there was a brotherhood of St. George , which took young, unmarried foreign merchants. Initially, his patron was St. George - patron of knights and warriors, later - St. Mauritius (its symbol - the black head was in the emblem of the brotherhood) and the name of the Blackheads was assigned to them.

The corporation was completely secular. The founders of the Riga company, the richest and most influential of the existing ones, were commission agents , agents and clerks of Riga and foreign companies. They were engaged in the procurement and delivery of goods to Riga . This occupation was fraught with great risk, in contrast to the intermediary trade of local settled merchants, who had a large guild in their center. The traveling clerks and foreign merchants created their counterweight in Riga - the company of the Blackheads. Although the final escape from the custody of the Great Guild was possible only by the end of the XVII century .

In 1477, Blackheads rented a room on the top floor of the New House near the Riga Magistrate. The house itself was built by a guild of artisans for public needs. Over time, by investing in decorating and remodeling the building, Blackheads become major tenants with a number of advantages. In the afternoon, the house serves as a stock exchange, in the evenings turning into a place for recreation and entertainment of burghers , a hall for celebrations, dance balls and numerous concerts.

Until the second half of the 16th century, the organization led the public life of Riga, on an equal footing, and often together with the Great Guild. Blackheads actively participated in the defense of the city, were active supporters of the Reformation . In 1895, the company ceases its activities as an estate corporation and becomes a German merchant club, disbanded after the repatriation of ethnic Germans in 1939.

Russian poet K. Sluchevsky in the book "North-West of Russia", published at the end of the XIX century , writes:

At different times, at the holidays in the house of the Blackheads, officially and incognito, Russian tsars and tsaritsa were present. The hall was adorned with ceremonial portraits of the monarchs of Russia and Sweden , including, personally presented, a portrait of Catherine II . In the book of honorable visitors one could see the autograph of the German Chancellor Bismarck .

There are no images of the original appearance of the building of the House of the Blackheads, which roughly coincided with the current structure (17 × 25 m). The central part was a hall with a small floor below it, divided into rooms, and even lower - a basement. In the attic were storage rooms. With all the numerous alterations and rebuildings, the core of the building was preserved, which was reproduced in today's building.

The facade acquired a familiar look at the beginning of the XVII century, it was made in the style of North European mannerism . The name of the master is unknown, but Professor B.R. Vipper pointed to similar architectural techniques used by the craftsmen in the construction of the Hanseatic city ​​hall of Bremen (1612) and the Riga House of the Blackheads. He suggested looking for authors among the Dutch masters who worked in Bremen, Danzig or Denmark . Now, presumably, the names of B. Bodeker or A. and L. Yansenov are called. The gothic steps of the forceps were filled with a stone-carved ribbon-like decor, sculptures, art forging, and clocks appeared on the facade. The surviving fragments of the original decoration and parts of the decoration of the house are stored in the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation and the Architectural Museum .

In 1684 a porch was built leading from the square to the second floor. The house was damaged during the Northern War , but quickly restored. In 1794 a large two-story extension was built, and in 1816 an extension from the Daugava side, the open porch was replaced by a covered entrance from the Town Hall Square.

The last significant change in the facade occurred in 1886, when the zinc statues of Neptune , Mercury , Unity and Peace , made by Augustus Foltz , were installed. In this form, the house stood until the end of June 1941, when it became one of the victims of the shelling of residential areas of the city by German troops. After the war, the restoration was recognized as irrational and the ruins that stood before 1948 were demolished.

The House of the Blackheads was restored in its original form at the same place at the expense of Parex Banka in 1996 - 2000 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Riga ^[3] . The construction costs of the whole complex amounted to 3 952 780 lats . ^[four]

The historical cellars built in 1334 are the only historical part of the house that has been preserved in the original. Initially, they were used as storage facilities. There were stored wine stocks and goods brought by traders - grain, flax, honey, wax and much more. Today you can see a real Roman stove, with the help of which the house was heated in the cold season, as well as the atmosphere of medieval warehouses with the corresponding attributes (scales, etc.).

The first floor is occupied by historic classrooms furnished in the interiors of the 19th century. It was here that fraternity meetings were held, important public decisions were made and cash reports were handed over. Here is the only item that was preserved in its original form, which was saved during the 1941 fire , - the ship’s watch “ Gustav Becker ”. Today in the cabinets you can see a historical collection of silver dishes, as well as a collection of snuffboxes. In the period from 2012 to 2016, these premises were the office of the President of the Republic of Latvia .

On the second floor, the Composers Gallery, the Lübeck Historical Hall and the Celebration Hall are available for inspection, where dance balls were held earlier and eminent guests were received ( Peter I , Catherine II and many others visited it at one time). The ceiling of the hall is decorated with a masterpiece of monumental and decorative art - “The Apotheosis of St. Mauritius”, and the walls are decorated with portraits of kings. Near the hall are busts of four Latvian composers and eight foreign ones. This is a kind of reminder of the love of the Blackheads to art and music, which at one time sounded in the Festive Hall.

• House of the Blackheads (Tallinn)
• Riga Attractions

• J. Straubergs . “Rīgas vēsture”; Riga, 1932
• A.K. Krumin . “Treasures of the architecture of the peoples of the USSR. Riga". Publishing House of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR. Moscow, 1947
• Encyclopedia "Riga". Riga: Main Edition of Encyclopedias, 1989. ISBN 5-89960-002-0 p. 306
• Andris Kolbergs . “Book about Riga”; Printing company Janja Seta, Riga 1998
• Janis Krastins, Ivars Strautmanis “Riga. The Complete Guide to Architecture "; Riga, Projekts 2004

• Official site of the House of Blackheads
• Webcam (live view)