History

Upon arriving on the territory of the Krimulda, manor one is overcome with a feeling of being in a small town from the olden days. Not only the majestic manor, but also the nearby auxiliary buildings have been preserved, many of which are still alive with cosy activity. Accountancy and the family of managers live in one, the charming store and café Milly are located in another one and the manor’s wine is now being made in the former pig barn. Stalls for parade horses can be seen nearby, which were once decorated with luxurious tiles and wooden panels, in a similar way as the manor’s living rooms.

Most accounts of the life in the manor have been preserved from the time of the von Lieven family – the last owners of the manor in the 19th century. However, the cultural layers of the Krimulda castle mounds have revealed evidence that people have lived here for thousands of years. The history of the Krimulda castle itself dates back to the 13th century. The first Krimulda castle was located closer to the Gauja river than the current one and its ruins can still be seen.

In the 16th century, a new economic centre appeared on the current territory of the manor, near the medieval fortifications that were destroyed many times and eventually abandoned. Over the next century Krimulda was owned by the Poles and then the Swedes and some of the manor’s buildings were destroyed in the battles between them.

In 1625, King of Sweden King Gustav II Adolf gifted the Krimulda manor to the advisor to the Swedish state Admiral Gabriel Gabrielsson, Count Oxenstierna, and it remained the property of his family until the 18th century.

In 1726, Krimulda was pledged to Captain Helmersen.

In 1817, the Krimulda property was bought by Prince Johann Georg von Lieven for 60 875 Silver Rubles and his family lived here until 1921. The new manor building was constructed in the time of Johann Georg von Lieven, around 1822 – the architect of the building is not known, but the Krimulda manor is one of the most vivid examples of Classicism style villa architecture in Latvia.

The romantic park of the manor was created during the von Lieven period. In 1853, successor of the family Paul Hermann von Lieven created the park with several promenades and two wooden stairs – one with 380 steps lead from the manor to the Vikmeste valley and another with 325 steps lead to the ferry across river Gauja.

Tsar Alexander II of Russia also learned about the beautiful park of the von Lievens and visited Krimulda with his wife and entourage during his 1862 visit to Vidzeme. Following the romanticism fashion of the time to create artificial castle ruins, Paul Hermann von Lieven reconstructed the ruins of the Krimulda medieval castle, raising the masonry walls and adding decorative pseudo-Gothic windows.

In 1921, the last owner of the manor Paul Ivan von Lieven was forced by the circumstances to emigrate from Latvia. He maintained warm feelings towards Krimulda, the land of his childhood, also after he emigrated: “It is hard to describe the mood created by the beauty of the landscape, but for me it will always be the corner closest to my heart. There are no factories, smoke stacks, poles with electric wires there, nor luxurious hotels or colourful posters. There is nature as it was created by God.”

History of the sanatorium and the rehabilitation centre

In the summer of 1922, the Latvian Red Cross, under the leadership of professor Jankovskis, founded the First State Bone Tuberculosis Sanatorium. In 1928, after the reconstruction of the second floor, it could host up to 200 patients.

In 1948, a nine year comprehensive school was opened at the sanatorium with classes in Latvian and Russian.

Since 1952 sanatorium Krimulda became the only place where patients with femoral head injuries – the so-called Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease – were treated. The children received 2-2.5 year long treatment courses and a 84% complete recovery rate was achieved.

Until 1991 the facility functioned as a tuberculosis sanatorium with two departments – patients with bone diseases were treated in the first department, while the second department treated active tuberculosis in pre-school age patients.

On July 1, 1991, the sanatorium’s profile was changed to sanatorium for children aged 3 to 14 years with orthopaedic diseases and nervous system disorders.

Starting from 1992, due to the reorganisation of the children’s sanatorium network, there were 160 beds for children with orthopaedic diseases, post-traumatic effects, and osteomyelitis in the remission phase.

In 1994, the National Rehabilitation Centre Vaivari was created, and Rehabilitation hospital “Krimulda” became part of it with a capacity for 140 patients.

In 1995, due to changes in the state procurement, Rehabilitation hospital Krimulda had 36 state procurement beds.

On November 10, 1995, non-profit organization of a state-owned company “Rehabilitation Hospital “Krimulda”” was established. Considerable staff reduction followed.

In 2002 the company was privatised – sine 26/06/2002 we are a private company “Rehabilitation Centre “Krimulda”” LLC.