In the heart of the city, is a street, not a very long street, probably less than 300yds in fact. But what a feast of German Art Nouveau, or "Jugendstil" architecture. Lets gaze upwards as we walk Albert Street, Riga.
Riga was founded in 1201, by Albert of Riga, a catholic bishop, in 1901 in celebration of 700 years of existence construction of the street commenced and was completed in 1908.
The art-nouveau museum
and its ornate staircase
Albert Street was "erased" from Riga's memory when in 1941, as part of an effort to erase pre-Soviet identity and history. the Soviets renamed it Friča Gaiļa Street, he being a communist activist, arrested by the Latvians for carrying out illegal political actions taken to No 13, the home of the Political Police Department, where on the evening of 4th January 1933 he died under mysterious circumstances, thrown out of a fourth floor window in a staged "apparent suicide."
Between 1942-44 when Latvia was occupied by Germany it was renamed Hollanderu Strasse, with good old Friča Gaiļa making his comeback with the Soviet reoccupation.
For 50 years Albert Street fell into disrepair, "The problem with communism is that if nothing belongs to nobody, nobody takes care of it".
Finally with the break up of the USSR, Alberta Street was again renamed. The buildings, are now a UNESCO World Heritage site, having undergone extensive restoration to return them to their former grandeur and glory,
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