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126 cabbages in The Bergs Bazaar cabbage field in Riga

Nina Kolyako, BC, Riga, 09.07.2013.Print version
„There are such moments in life, when generations meet. And then family stories are shared and told from generation to generation. History comes alive again and we experience cultural-historical heritage. Such a moment we are experiencing today!” said Mrs. Iveta Sprudza, the General Manager of Hotel Bergs at the 10th anniversary of the hotel when unveiling the cabbage field next to the entrance, with grateful thanks to the Bergs family heirs, who, while renovating The Bergs Bazaar, allowed to grow Hotel Bergs as a pearl, the first sophisticated boutique-style hotel in Riga, which is also the only hotel in Latvia being a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

The hotel bears the symbol of a cabbage and it is a reminder that in 1887 the great city developer Kristaps Bergs started to build it in a place where once there was a cabbage field. History repeats itself after 130 years, and in the centre of the Bergs Bazaar, on the corner of Elizabetes, Marijas and Dzirnavu streets there is a cabbage field again, which was arranged by the gardener of the Bergs Bazaar Maija Strazdiņa and it is up to a modern city environment and the concept of the Bergs Bazaar.  For each year of existence she devoted a cabbage head. 126 caggabe heads were specially selected on a farm „Kaži”, in Svitene, not far from Rundale. „When planting the cabbages next to the hotel entrance under the chestnut tree, we indulged in reflection about once upon a time... On the other hand, I must say, the cabbages fit in here integrated in the overall Bergs Bazaar greenery, together with flowers, creeper plants, trees and bushes, and herbs, peppermint and strawberries in pots,” says M. Strazdiņa.

 

The cabbage field is arranged under the same chestnut that was mentioned today in the opening ceremony by Justs N. Karlsons, the owner of Berga Bazārs and Hotel Bergs, recalling that he as a child received the chestnuts from his father in USA who in turns took them in pocket with him when emigrating. “More than 20 years ago it was a great pleasure to return in this place where only the old chestnut was untouched, and start restoring the old wooden houses, combining them with contemporary architecture, preserving at the same time the historical buildings, e.g. the present restaurant Garage that was really a garage for my father’s car, and the first fuel station in Riga in that time about the location of which now testify the fountain Little Pump created by the artist Ilmārs Blumbergs”, remembers Justs N. Karlsons. But the wife of the owner Dana Beldiman-Karlsons emphasises that the kin has something to be proud of because “already three generations ago here in a cabbage field stood Kristaps Bergs and created Berga Bazārs, ten years ago Justs Karlsons stood in Berga Bazārs and created Hotel Bergs”, reports BC public relations manager at Hotel Bergs Ilze Krokša.

  

Wherewith the cabbage field near the Hotel Bergs, there is a large format information stand the Bergs Bazaar-a city in the city, built on a cabbage field in the central square of the Bergs Bazaar about the development of the Bergs Bazaar by K. Bergs and its importance within Europe. 

 

The arranged cabbage field in the centre of the Bergs Bazaar near Hotel Bergs is available to see till 13 July. And The Bergs restaurant in its gourmet cuisine during all the anniversary season has included Cabbage a la Carte. The Chef of The Bergs restaurant Nauris Jakuško has developed this special menu including various cabbages – purple cabbage, Savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflowers – thus creating surprising flavour combinations.


Bergs Bazaar a city within a city, built upon a cabbage patch

Renown urban developer Kristaps Bergs began construction on the Bergs Bazaar in the 19th century, upon what at the time was a cabbage patch on the outskirts of Riga. Unique in European architecture, the refined passageway ensemble with 130 storefronts was developed in the years 1887-1900, to serve both the cultivated denizens of Riga and visitors to the city. The first story features arcades with open galleries, where the public can leisurely stroll and shop beneath the colonnades, protected from the rain and snow (K. Bergs, 1894).

 

At the end of the 20th century, after fifty years of soviet rule, the rightful heirs to K. Bergs regained ownership of the neglected and despoiled Bergs Bazaar. In the name of the inheriting family of Justs N. Karlsons, and with piety towards the historical and cultural significance of the location, architect Zaiga Gaile began to bring the Bergs Bazaar back to life in 1993. Hotel Bergs emerged in 2003 from the consolidation of two historic buildings, and is still the only hotel in Latvia included in the Small Luxury Hotels of the World network.

 

Much like the petrol pump of the 1930s, today's fountain “Pumpītis” by artist Ilmārs Blumbergs symbolic spring of life – it signifies the Bergs dynasty's historical and continuing contribution to the culture, art and architecture of the urban environment, of the nation, and of the world.






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