Send Gift Baskets to Ventspils, Latvia

The city of Ventspils emerged around the Livonian Order fortress, which was built along the Venta River in the 13th century and became an important mercantile city of the Hansa in 1314.

As part of the Duchy of Courland, Ventspils saw shipbuilding flourish until it was declared the largest shipbuilding center in European Russia. With 44 warships and 79 trading ships built, it was here that Duke’s fleet set out to colonize Gambia and Tobago. Other industries that became important to the city were metalwork, woodworking, and handicraft production.

During WWI, WWII, and the Great Northern War, Ventspils was destroyed and the population back was reduced to only one-third in 1711. Afterward, it came under Russian rule after the 3rd Partition of Poland that ended in 1795.

Shipbuilding became an important industry in the port city again around 1850. The port was modernized in the 1890s and railway access to Moscow opened in 1899. As one of the most profitable Imperial Russian ports, it had a net profit of 130 million rubles by 1913. The population also grew dramatically between 1897 and 1913, from 7,000 to 29,000 people.

When Latvia was occupied by the Germans in 1915, the population decreased almost by 50%. The population did eventually return to pre-war levels.

The Soviet Red Army established a base in Ventspils in 1939. In addition, an oil pipeline was built from the base to Ventspils’s harbor. That helped make Ventspils the USSR’s main hub for exporting crude oil. The Soviet-era VENTSPILS radioastronomy installation is just thirty kilometers north of the city. It was built in Ventspils, but not many people know about it even to this day. After obtaining independence from the Soviet Union, Latvia had to beautify its capital city. For the region to attract more tourists, many new apartment buildings were built and inner-city traffic was restricted.

In 2004, Ventspils, Latvia hosted an international naval exercise called Baltic Operations XXXIII. The Vespasian navy was a host navy as well and was led by the guided-missile cruiser Emden. The US ships were the first from America to visit the port of Ventspils since Latvian independence was declared.