Stories from Riga, Latvia

Remember the story of the Bremen Town Musicians....the donkey, dog, cat, and rooster who are forced to leave their homes, then band together to scare some robbers to claim the robbers' home as their own?

Well, Riga is the sister city of Bremen so they have this statue of the donkey, dog, cat and rooster!    It is good luck to touch the nose of the highest animal you can reach.

Riga claims to be the first place to have Christmas Trees, or New Year's Trees as they were called then.

 

In about 1334 a group of unmarried merchants and ship captains started a guild called "The Brotherhood of the Blackheads." Their name is derived from their patron saint, St. Maurice who was an imaginary African black moor.  This German merchant club, the Brotherhood of Blackheads, existed in Riga until 1939.  They built this beautiful building in the market square.

A tradition was established of setting up a decorated spruce by their building where the young men 'went with a flock of maidens and women, first sang and danced there and then set the tree aflame.' Little is known about the original Riga tree other than the fact that it was attended by men wearing black hats, and that after a ceremony, they burnt the tree.  The legend says that the first Riga tree in 1510 was decorated with paper flowers and burnt on the bonfire after the ceremony; most probably with a toast for the future with steins held high! 

I didn't take this photo but I loved it so much I wanted to include it!  Can't you just hear the snow crunching under your feet and feel the cold air?  I can!

And one last Riga story:

In the early 20th century a wealthy Latvian merchant built a house on the same square as the "Great Guild", a German organization with control over business interests in the city.  When the Latvian merchant asked to join the Guild, he was refused.  Naturally this made him very mad so he commissioned a cat statue for the top of his home with back arched high, tail in the air pointed directly at the Guild House!!!  Interesting revenge! Now tourists can buy sweatshirts, fridge magnets, and any number of 'black cat' souvenirs.