Aizpute Station Building of Aizpute - Saldus Rural Railway

Aizpute Station building of
Aizpute - Saldus rural railway in 1930s

Aizpute - Saldus rural railway
Aizpute Station location in 2014

The station was located directly opposite the beginning of the current Brīvības (Freedom) Street.

Even at the time when it was still decided to establish the Liepāja - Aizpute railway line, it was intended to build the lines Aizpute - Saldus and Aizpute - Kuldīga later. According to the archive documents, the project of the line Aizpute - Saldus, including the iron bridge over the Venta near Skrunda, was fully developed already in 1911. However, until the First World War, the construction of the line was not started, presumably due to lack of funds. The implementation of the private project was also made difficult by the need to agree with the many landowners over whose private property the railway line was to be built.

In 1916, this project interested the German occupation authorities, whose troops in the occupied part of Latvia built several railway lines not only for front service and other strategic needs, but also for the ruthless use of the economic wealth of our land, especially forests. In September 1916, the Aizpute-Saldus line design documents, which had not been taken to the home front, were translated into German.

On November 28, 1917, the German Occupation Administration of the Aizpute District announced in broken Latvian that: “At the Aizpute-Skrunda railway, 3 Schlosers (locksmith), 2 builders and another 40 workers are needed. All healthy people who need to be accompanied by edible and drinking utensils, sleeping decks, footwear, etc. are invited to immediately apply to the Mayor's board.” It goes on to say that who is paid a salary and that "meals are not included in this price, but can be obtained for 1.20 Mark per day" and "the shelter can be obtained for free”. By " shelter " is meant accomodation.

This announcement was apparently made on the basis of an order of the German Military Administration of Kurzeme of November 14, 1917, to which the municipality of Kuldiga responded on December 7, 1917, stating that “all unmarried residents between the ages of 17 and 40 had to see a doctor for assessment, .. assessing their suitability for the works at the rural railway Aizpute - Saldus on the line Aizpute - Skrunda. 29 were declared suitable, and 12 of them had to arrive in Aizpute on December 9.

On July 18, 1918, 300 civilian workers were sought to complete the railway line Aizpute - Saldus, but on October 29, for the period until the end of December - another 180.

On December 13, 1918, this railway was taken over from the German military by the Latvian Ministry of Transport.

After the construction of the Glūda-Liepāja wide-gauge railway, the Skrunda-Saldus section was closed. The remaining section was still in operation until the winter of 1930/31, when the railway was thoroughly blocked in December due to heavy snow and strong winds. Without resuming regular services, the railway was shut down on 10 February 1931 and demolished in 1931/32.

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