Crown baths as a memorial are a peculiar grave tradition that is no longer practiced today. This type of decoration was chosen by wealthy people, and these crowns were also popular due to their longevity. At one time, they were very common in Latvia – nowadays, if you see them in cemeteries, it is often only their remains or baths in bad condition. However, at the moment, the Īpka parish in Talsi region has managed to restore the crown bath, which was found in the cemetery at the foot of the church.
The service in Gipka will not happen again this time. Pastor Didzis Olte says goodbye to his congregation. He is happy for about three years spent with such people of God who can do great things. This time, Valdis Rande and his daughter implemented a project that allowed them to be the first in Latvia to restore the crown bath. “This is a very large cultural and historical bath, which can be left for future, younger generations. Because to people, when they say “grave bath”.», they wonder what it is anyway?!” says Valdis Rande, the deputy head of the Gipka parish.
In the past, metal crowns were placed in graves. However, around 1910, seeing that due to weather conditions, falling branches and other reasons, the oldest crowns remain in increasingly worse condition, the craftsmen had the idea to make a crown placed in a kind of case. So is the crown bath. “It was also a symbol of wealth in a way, because not everyone could afford these crown baths. In the past, there were simple flowers or nothing and people just came to say goodbye,” says pastor Didzis Olte.
Valdis Rande found two crown baths in a very sad state 24 years ago in the cemetery near the Īpka church. He kept them in the barn until last year the congregation won 3,000 euros in the “Sacred Heritage of Latvia” competition of the Future Support Fund. “We are proud because it is a grave culture. We see how we honored our graves and our loved ones. These grave baths were popular, especially in Kurzeme and Vidzeme. Practically not in Latgale. Then the Danes became interested, they placed orders and the Latvians imported these bathtubs to Denmark as well,” Valdis Rande.
Consecrating the restored historical value, the pastor said that this is a beautiful testimony to the fact that a person is also called to decorate his soul just as beautifully. “I am thinking about the future – about the hope for those things that are currently still shrouded in fog, we cannot see them clearly or are not even aware of them. But every one of these good things done here at the church is a testimony that we are thinking about what is beyond. Not only about what remains for future generations as a testimony, but also about ourselves – what happens next,” says pastor Didzis Olte.
This tradition of grave culture came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of World War II. The Gipka church has its own museum, but it is difficult to reach due to the stairs for a more respectable generation that remembers the crown baths from their youth, so the restored bath will find a place right here in the church.
Photo author: Tereze Mattison.
The material was created with the funding of the Media Support Fund from the funds of the Latvian state budget. SIA “TV9 Pakalni” is responsible for the content.
2024-10-28 13:24:00