Viļaka
| Viļaka ( German : Marienhausen) | |||
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| Basic data | |||
| State : |
 Latvia
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| Landscape: | Latgale ( Latvian : Latgale ) | ||
| Administrative district : | Viļakas novads | ||
| Coordinates : | 57 ° 11 ' N , 27 ° 40' E | ||
| Residents : | 1,407 (Jan 1, 2016) | ||
| Area : | 6.4 km² | ||
| Population density : | 220 inhabitants per km² | ||
| Height : | 95 m | ||
| City law: | since 1945 | ||
| Website: | www.vilaka.lv | ||
| Post Code: | |||
| ISO code: | |||
Viļaka (Eng. Marienhausen ) is a city in northeast Latvia on the Russian border. In 2016 it had 1,407 inhabitants.
history
The area near Lake Viļaka was populated by Latgallian tribes who were in dispute with Pleskauer Russians and Estonian tribes. The Bishop of Riga became overlord in 1224. In 1293 he founded the Marienhausen monastery to protect against the Pleskauer and to Christianize .
In 1559 the Marienhausen area was pledged to King Sigismund II. August and thus belonged to Poland-Lithuania until 1772 . During this time Marienhausen Castle was captured and devastated several times by Russians and Swedes. Only with the Russian rule after the First Partition of Poland in 1772 did quieter times return.
When the area was incorporated into independent Latvia in 1920, a certain degree of prosperity developed. Before World War II there were Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox parishes, a high school, two elementary schools and a forestry school.
In mid-September 1936, Father Thomas came to Marienhausen to prepare another monastery there.
On June 22, 1944, the great Soviet summer offensive began. In July and August , the Red Army rolled over the entire Baltic region in two sections of the front, with the exception of a German bridgehead in Courland that remained until the end of the war. On July 23, 1944, the Red Army defeated Combat Group 218 near Marienhausen after fighting.
In 1945 Viļaka was granted city rights .
Attractions
The Catholic Church, consecrated in 1890, is an example of Gothic historicism .
sons and daughters of the town
- Shabtai Daniel (1909–1981), Israeli journalist and politician
Viļakas novads
Since 2009 the city has formed an administrative community with 6 surrounding communities.
See also
literature
- Astrīda Iltnere (ed.): Latvijas Pagasti, Enciklopēdija. Preses Nams, Riga 2002, ISBN 9984-00-436-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ «Latvijas iedzīvotāju skaits pašvaldībās pagastu dalījumā"
- ↑ Wilfried Schlau, A thousand years of neighborhood: The peoples of the Baltic region and the Germans , ed. from Ostdeutscher Kulturrat Foundation, Bruckmann, 1995, p. 242.
- ↑ Georg Steinhausen, Archive for Cultural History , Böhlau Verlag, 1997, p. 148.