Riga Central Market hangars
At the time of the creation of the Riga Central Market, it was one of the most modern markets in the world. It was based on the metal construction of the hangars of the German army airships of the First World War. The author describes the preconditions for the construction of the Riga Central Market and the scope of construction works, making it one of the largest buildings after the war in Latvia and one of the most modern markets in the world.
“On November 10 of this year, Riga's largest open Daugavmala market closed down, moving to new, modern, closed premises. The newly built Central Market, which replaced him, is the largest post-war building in Latvia, which is why employees of other local governments will not be interested in getting acquainted with it. Why did the city of Riga resort to the construction of this grand building in the current difficult economic conditions? First of all, for hygienic and economic reasons. In open markets, open market huts or even on open tables, goods are exposed to direct sunlight, atmosphere and dust and deteriorate very quickly. If we can believe the data of foreign research on the deterioration of goods in open markets, then it must be assumed that at the large turnover of the Daugavmala market, goods have been lost for approx. 1-2 million lats. Therefore, it is also understandable that foreign adventures show that the market halls built, which are very expensive and where rents are still much more expensive than in open markets, have not caused prices to rise anywhere, but usually a small drop in prices. Of course, the fact that new market buildings tend to be located close to stations, which makes it possible to reduce the cost of transporting goods, is also important. Riga had already started building closed market buildings before the war, starting with the smaller markets Matīsa (now Vidzeme) and Āgenskalns. Already around 1909-1910, the issue of relocating the Daugavmala market was also discussed. After the war, the city entered into a detailed discussion of this issue in 1922. upon receipt of an offer from the State Property Commission to acquire ownership of the Vaiņode zeppelin hangars, which had otherwise been decided to be demolished and sold in old iron. Looking at these hangars, the city came to mind to use them for market buildings. The first intention was to transport them to Riga and install them here in their original form, processing the issue in more detail, but came to the conclusion of building massive buildings equipped with all modern facilities, using the iron structures obtained in Vaiņode hangars. The new place in the market "near the red warehouses" was chosen primarily after the traffic conditions. Here it was possible to supply the market with a direct branch of the railway from the Riga main station and it is also available by barges along the Daugava and the city canal. Of course, there was also the fact that the city owned larger, hitherto very insignificant areas of land. A competition is announced for the market project, in which not only local, but also a number of foreign specialists took part. However, none of the award-winning projects came to life. Based on the ideas expressed in these projects, the city developed its own project with the participation of several local experts. Construction work began in June 1924, and at the beginning there was an intention to carry out the construction in five years, taking one million lats a year from the city budget for the needs of the construction. During the construction, several other changes were made to the very creation of the market, which caused the need to allocate additional funds (the market cost a little over 6 million lats), and the budget had not been able to absorb the amounts previously planned.
“(..) All 5 buildings were built on concrete foundations; reinforced concrete floors for basements; building brick walls. The roof rests on arches of iron construction, so that the walls do not carry any weight. Roofing for most commercial building slate, the rest ruberoid. The buildings are heated, then both the walls and the roofs are double-glazed and the roofs are warm with double-plated cladding and insulation for most commercial buildings. Cork boards are also used for insulation of freezer rooms. All buildings are equipped with common low-pressure steam heating with steam superheating up to approx. 250 ° C. The heating of individual buildings is carried out with radiators and radiators placed in the door vents. The heaters, with their built-in fans, make it possible to suck in the air in the room, heat it and direct it to the floor, through which an even room temperature is reached. All buildings, including basements, have a built-in three-way ventilation: 1. Ventilation with fresh air, which is sucked in from outside the building through a heater and blown into the room in a heated way. 2. Suction of damaged air with fans. 3. Natural ventilation blinds. All buildings are equipped with electric lighting. 6,000,000 bricks were used for the construction; 60,000 barrels of cement: 2460 tons of iron. (..) ”
Newspaper "Voice of the Municipality", Riga's New Central Market. No. 10. 1930
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Zeppelin hangars of Riga Central market
Located in the center of Riga, opposite the Riga International Bus Station, near the Riga Railway Passenger Station.
Riga Central Market is the largest market in Latvia, which was once recognized as the best and most modern market in Europe. Its bright symbol is the 20th century. Market pavilions built in the 1920s and originally used for military purposes.
During World War I, the German army established Vaiņode Airport in Kurzeme, where several airships were permanently located. These were elongated-shaped balloons filled with gas and enclosed to carry passengers and cargo. Control was provided by an internal combustion or electric motor and a wing in the housing. The airships were intended for reconnaissance or for bombing an enemy, for example, by attacking a Russian army seaplane airfield on the island of Roņi. The hangars are known to be called Walhalla and Walther.
After the Latvian War of Independence, the hangars were dismantled and used to build the hangars of the Riga Central Market, planning to leave them in their original size. It was later decided to use only the upper parts of the hangars.
Today you can see the metal structures of the German army airship hangar. The market provides a pleasant way to learn about the origins of world aviation. Tour application: +37167358157; gints.aksiks@rct.lv.
Vaiņode air base
Vaiņode airfield still has 16 Soviet-era aircraft hangars and an 1800 m section of the once 2500 m long runway. The airfield can only be visited with a previous booking. Vaiņode airfield was established during the Latvian independence as one of the cradles of Latvian aviation and was later one of the largest military airfields in the Baltic States. In 1916, two hangars for German Army airships were built. Airships were used to gather intelligence and bomb the positions of the Russian Army. Later the city of Riga bought the airship hangars and used their roof structures to build the pavilions of the Riga Central Market. In May 1940, the 31st Fast Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Red Army moved to Vaiņode, and the construction of a standardized concrete slab runway began. At the end of the summer of 1944 the partially completed airfield was used by various German aviation units, however, at the end of World War II, the same airfield was used by the Red Army aviation units fighting the German Army group called ‘Kurzeme’. After World War II the Soviet Air Forces were stationed in Vaiņode until 1992.
