On 14 November the institution of the president of Latvia marks its 101st anniversary. When taking office, President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs stated as one of his priorities ensuring that the institution of the presidency is more open to the society of Latvia. Upon the initiative of President Rinkēvičs, as of today the residence of the President of Latvia – Riga Castle – will be open to tours through registration on the website of the Chancery of the President of Latvia www.president.lv.
At the moment, tours of Riga Castle are available for 23, 24, 30 November, 1, 8, 11 December, as well as 4, 5, 15, 16, 17 and 18 January 2024. Collective tours of Riga Castle need to be arranged by e-mail: ekskursija@president.lv.
In addition, documents from the archives of the institution of the presidency have been added to the digital library of the National Library of Latvia. Overall 375 historical documents have already been digitised. These include CVs of staff members of the Secretariat of the President of Latvia of the interwar period in the 20th century and the budget of the institution during this time, journals of orders and decrees issued by the President of Latvia, lists of individuals awarded orders and medals of honour, summaries about proclaimed laws and clemency cases. Furthermore, correspondence and photographs pertaining to the work in exile of Acting President of Latvia Jāzeps Rancāns (1947–1969) are available to the public. The biography of Acting President of Latvia Pauls Kalniņš (1944–1945) has also been digitised.
Digitisation of the historical documents of the institution of the presidency was started in the framework of marking the centennial of the institution in 2022 in collaboration with the Latvian National Archives and the National Library of Latvia. The digitised documents are available here: https://digitalabiblioteka.lv/?col=1056786.
Background information:
The institution of the presidency was officially established with the election on 14 November 1922 of Jānis Čakste, who was until then the President of the Constitutional Assembly, to the office of President of Latvia with 92 votes of the members of the first convocation of the Saeima.
