National activism and symbolic space: The struggle for Riga’s cathedral church in 1931

ABSTRACT

During the period of democratic rule 1918–1934, the newly formed Republic of Latvia adopted policies toward the state’s ethnic minority populations that have been lauded then and now as progressive and democratic. The adoption of such policies created a climate in which ethnic minority politicians and publicists could advocate for inclusive stances toward national belonging in the new republic. The economic distress of the early 1930s and ensuing political turmoil served to undermine such advances, however, leading to a deterioration in relations, of which the struggle for control of Riga’s cathedral church was emblematic. The conflict over Riga’s largest church showed both the potential and the limitations of civic nationalism in interwar Latvia.

KEYWORDS:

• National indifference
• Baltic Germans
• interethnic relations
• civic nationalism
• ethnic nationalism
• Lutheran Church in Latvia
• Paul Schiemann
• Riga

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Cf. Burchard and Gabriele (2009). The only recently published memoir of the leading pastor of the cathedral congregation, this underutilized source informs much of the church history pertaining to this paper, serving as a supplement to the German-language historical literature on Lutheranism in the Baltic.

2. Out of a total population of over 375,000. All figures and statistics drawn from the Third Population and Housing Census in Latvia in 1930 (Latvian and French) (Skujenieks 1930).

3. Excepting the traditionally Catholic region of Latgale.

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Adam Brode

Adam Brode is a PhD student in the Department of History at the University of Pittsburgh. He studied History and German Studies at Washington and Jefferson College in Western Pennsylvania from 2004–2008. In 2011, he received a master’s degree in German Studies from the University of Minnesota, with a graduate minor in the field of History. In 2014, Brode was awarded a master’s degree in History from the University of Pittsburgh. Brode’s research interests focus on 19th and 20th century Baltic history, with a focus on interethnic relations during the interwar period (1918–1939), particularly between Baltic Germans and ethnic Latvians.