Ozolnieki Municipality - History

History

The origin of the name Ozolnieki most likely comes from Ozolmuiža (in German: Eckhofen or Paulsgnade), the manor house which was located within the territory of the modern Ozolnieki municipality. In the age of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1562–1791), Ozolmuiža belonged to its dukes. Amongst its owners was the most renowned of the duchy's Dukes—Jacob Kettler, who kept an aviary of hunting gyrfalcons on the manor farm (Jacob's son, Frederick Casimir Kettler, later expanded the aviary). After the Courland was annexed by the Russian empire, Ozolmuiža manor passed to the tsars of Russia. Tsar Paul I alloted it to the governor of Courland, Karl Wilhelm Driesen. Subsequent manor owners included a number of different families, the last of which were the von der Reckes (until the formation of the Republic of Latvia)

During the Latvian War of Independence (1919–1920), Ozolnieki minicipality was the scene of several battles against the Bermontians. In 1937, a monument was unveiled in memory of the Latvian soldiers killed in action there.

After the founding of the Republic of Latvia (1918–1920), and passage of the act regarding the Reform of agricultural lands, all manors were divided and distributed to Latvian farmers. All manor houses itself had been destroyed in the fighting of World War I and War of Independence. Their building materials, mainly stones and bricks, were used to build new farmsteads. In 1936 there were 401 new farms, down from a peak of 481. Local industry included brick-making, textiles, clay mining, leather tanning, a sawmill, and other light industry.

Throughout the two decades of Latvian independence, there was an active social and culture life—two elementary schools, a choir, a dance collective, an amateur theatre, a local unit of the Aizsargi Home Guard, and others societies.

The Soviet occupations (first in 1940 and second 1944-1991) did not spare Ozolnieki. In the mass deportations of 1949, the 42,000 Latvians deported on March 25, 1949 to Siberia included 18 inhabitants of the municipality. After those deportations, the USSR began to liquidate individual farms, forcing the formation of collective farms or kolkhozes. The kolhozes were given Soviet-inspired names such as “Sirpis un āmurs” (Sickle and Hammer), “Staļina ērglis″ (Stalin's eagle) and “Mičurina kolhozs” (Michurin's kolkhoz)—whose name includes a play on the diminutive of a Latvian word regarding bodily functions.

Several administrative reforms took place in Ozolnieki municipality after World War II: in 1945, the Soviets divided the municipality into three villages—Ozolnieki, Cena and Dalbe; in 1954 Ozolnieki village was liquidated and incorporated into Valgunde village, while Cena village was expanded, incorporating Tetele and Āne. Ozolnieki village was later incorporated in Cena village, but in 1979 was re-established as an urban village with autonomous administration (Latvian: pilsētciemats). After Latvia restored independence (1991), Ozolnieki and Cena retained their territories and were formed into parishes: Ozolnieki parish (Latvian: Ozolnieku pagasts) and Cena parish (Latvian: Cenu pagasts). In 2003 both parishes merged again into Ozolnieki municipality (Latvian: Ozolnieku novads) with its governmental centre in Ozolnieki. In 2009, in conjunction with the completion of the Administrative territorial reforms of Latvia, Ozolnieki municipality absorbed Sidrabene parish (since 2011 - Salgale parish).