HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM BUILDING

A TALE ABOUT A HOUSE WHERE DREAMS LIVE AND COME TRUE

Once upon a time, at least 255 years ago, there was no such place as Aizpute, which at that time was given a completely different name - Hasenpoth, so people really, wanted to create one for themselves very much. But not every place is suitable for dreams, because if they did not like living here, they would never, ever come true.

After walking through the territory of Aizpute Castle Manor, its owner Juliane Eleonora von Behr (born von Bülow) chose a home for herself and her dreams, in her opinion, in the most beautiful place - on a hill, in the picturesque bays on the bank of the river Tebra, directly opposite the snow-white church, which proudly reflected in the river waters. The Baroness dreamed that the reflection of the house she had built would wave to the majestic reflection of the church.

Years passed and the house planned by the Baroness was built on large boulders and made of strong bricks, made in Kabile (Kabille). When the baroness's family settled there, they gave the house the name - the New Castle Manor. Her dreams also settled with her in the house. These were big and beautiful dreams that the people living in the house passed from generation to generation, because not all of them could be fulfilled in one person's life.

Back in those old days, the dream of a grain-milling mill, a beer brewery and a smithy on the bank of a picturesque river, beautiful stables for proud foals and comfortable dwellings for servants in the courtyard of the new Castle Manor were dreamed up and fulfilled in old days.

Dreams really liked this home, so they also very often came out in the sunlight and came true. Sometimes they were so many of them in that house that not everyone had enough space in the bright rooms with sun-lit windows, and they also found a home in the basement rooms where a meal was prepared and, in the attic, where they had to share a home with bats. But they didn't bother each other, rather the other way around: some learned to dream and others to fly.

Over the years, some people living in the house were replaced by others, but many of their dreams remained here and learned to live with the dreams of newcomers. Especially many of them lived here in one place for several decades, when the loud and cheerful voices of children could be heard in the building. Every day the children came here from near and far around the town to learn the wisdom of life, which was necessary for their dreams to come true one day. Here they learned to read, write, count, dance and sing. They also used to do various mischief here when the teachers did not see it.

When the Council of the town created another home for the children in the town center, some of them returned to the Castle Manor only in the late afternoons and evening hours to relax and prepare for a new school day. Here - on the second floor of the house - they dreamed the most beautiful and colorful dreams of the school year in their cots at night, many of which were later destined to come true. But, in the Craft School established on the first floor of the house, the young people worked with saws, hammers, planers and chisels, creating various beautiful objects and wooden furniture.

The bustle also took place in the basement. There, the active hands of the children involved in the groups of the Technical Creativity Center, pushed around wheelbarrows loaded with rubble, bricked and painted, trying to carry out the dream of a cafe, sauna, recreation and learning rooms.

When these dreams were also dreamed, the new century brought new inhabitants to the house and also their dreams. On the second floor of the house, the Town Museum moved into with a dream of a second home for many ancient and historical things.

With the dream of fostering children's spiritual development according to the Montessori method, the public organization "Saulessvece" (Sun Candle) came here, but on the first floor of the house, school children fulfilled their dreams and intentions in various groups offered by the Student Creativity Center.

Many beautiful and unfulfilled dreams still lived only in the basement of the house. Some of them were destined to come true 10 years later, when a dream of a winery came to the right wing as "Eko vīns" Ltd (Eco Wine).

Some dreams were still a bit sad in the basement, they dreamt about the museum's exposition and classrooms in the left wing of the basement, of mobile lift for visitors with disabilities, optical internet connection and the creation of a parking lot for cars.

Only in 2014, the EU project managed by the Rural Support Service, for funding applications for the preservation of rural cultural and historical heritage, offered opportunities for the fulfillment of all dreams, which have been cherished for a long time. When the opportunities of life are suddenly knocking at the door, it is up to the person to open them or let them knock on the other door. Although we heard this knock almost at the last minute, we took a risk - and opened the door. At that time, the most important thing was to believe that we really want it and can do it so that the basement of the New Castle Manor is reborn.

Many thanks to all those who were participants and witnesses with their work, support and ideas in making the great dream a reality. That is why this fairy tale ends with the words, ".... and they all lived happily for the rest of their lives in the new Castle Manor ..."