Bibliotēkas nams - Library House at corner of Krišjāņa Barona Street and Elizabetes Street in city core of Riga, Latvia. October 26, 204
The building was built for the Riga Craftsmen's Savings and Loan Bank in the neoclassical style by architect Ernests Pole. The bank was located on the second floor, the upper floors were rented apartments, and the lower floors were rented by commercial institutions. In the inter-war period, the tenants were various institutions and organisations, and a large number of them were press editorial offices. At one time the editors of the magazine "Latvijas Tirgotājs", the first Latvian erotic weekly magazines "Sensācija" and "Elegance", headed by the book publisher Helmārs Rudzītis; the newspaper "Brīvā Zeme", the literary magazine "Ritums", the magazine "Latvju Grāmata", the Latvian Conversational Dictionary; several printing houses; the famous dance school of the dancer Beatrice Wigner; offices of industrial and commercial enterprises, craftsmen's workshops, fabric and ladies' clothing shops and tailors' workshops. On the ground floor, next to the photo studio, there was a mirrored café with the sonorous name "Café de Paris" and the only revolving dance floor in Riga at that time. In the 1920s, it was home to the family restaurant "Aquarium".Few people know that the building was once home to luxury restaurants and newspaper and magazine offices. A significant part of society remembers this building as the National Library of Latvia, which was housed there from 1956 to 2014.
Bibliotēkas nams - Library House at corner of Krišjāņa Barona Street and Elizabetes Street in city core of Riga, Latvia. October 26, 204
The building was built for the Riga Craftsmen's Savings and Loan Bank in the neoclassical style by architect Ernests Pole. The bank was located on the second floor, the upper floors were rented apartments, and the lower floors were rented by commercial institutions. In the inter-war period, the tenants were various institutions and organisations, and a large number of them were press editorial offices. At one time the editors of the magazine "Latvijas Tirgotājs", the first Latvian erotic weekly magazines "Sensācija" and "Elegance", headed by the book publisher Helmārs Rudzītis; the newspaper "Brīvā Zeme", the literary magazine "Ritums", the magazine "Latvju Grāmata", the Latvian Conversational Dictionary; several printing houses; the famous dance school of the dancer Beatrice Wigner; offices of industrial and commercial enterprises, craftsmen's workshops, fabric and ladies' clothing shops and tailors' workshops. On the ground floor, next to the photo studio, there was a mirrored café with the sonorous name "Café de Paris" and the only revolving dance floor in Riga at that time. In the 1920s, it was home to the family restaurant "Aquarium".Few people know that the building was once home to luxury restaurants and newspaper and magazine offices. A significant part of society remembers this building as the National Library of Latvia, which was housed there from 1956 to 2014.