Rethinking National Romanticism in the Architecture of Riga at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Rethinking National Romanticism in the Architecture of Riga at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the problem of interpretation related to national romanticism in Riga’s early twentieth-century architecture, focusing on the development of the term, as well as on its suitability. The complex cultural-historical context of early twentieth-century Riga is delineated; as in many peripheries of Europe, Riga was permeated by searches for a national style in the neo-romanticist vein typical of the period. This study attempts to answer the question of whether this trend, known in the Latvian history of architecture as Latvian national romanticism, really expresses the aspirations for a Latvian national style, as Baltic German architects were involved in its implementation and the trend was critically reviewed in early twentiethcentury Latvian periodicals. In addition, architects of Latvian origin also put forward some ideas regarding classical heritage as a possible paradigm of national art.

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