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Gulbene | |
|---|---|
Town | |
 | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Gulbene Location in Latvia | |
| Coordinates:57°10′N26°45′E / 57.167°N 26.750°E /57.167; 26.750 | |
| Country | Latvia |
| District | Gulbene Municipality |
| Town rights | 1928 |
| Government | |
| • Chairman of the Municipality Council | Andis Caunītis |
| Area | |
• Total | 11.91 km2 (4.60 sq mi) |
| • Land | 11.53 km2 (4.45 sq mi) |
| • Water | 0.38 km2 (0.15 sq mi) |
| Population (2025)[2] | |
• Total | 6,722 |
| • Density | 583.0/km2 (1,510/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Postal code | LV-4401 |
| Calling code | +371 644 |
| Number of city council members | 11 |
| Climate | Dfb |
| Website | www |
Gulbene (pronunciationⓘ;German:Schwanenburg) is a town in theVidzeme region ofLatvia. It is the administrative center ofGulbene Municipality.[3][4]
Historical documents first mention the 1224 land division act between theOrder of the Sword Brothers and theArchbishop of Riga.[5] In the 14th century, the Archbishop built a stone castle around which a populated place was formed.
TheEvangelicalLutheran church (Brivības iela 13) was built on the ancientLatgalian castle mound in place of the later Middle Age brick castle from 1838.–1843. The church is built in theclassical style.
Vecgulbene (Old Gulbene) estate complex was built in the middle and second half of the 19th century not far off the church. The most significant buildings are the White Palace (Brivības iela 12), the Red Palace (Parka iela 1) and the magazine granary (Brivības iela 9). Both palaces have been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Since 1924 the elementary school of the city occupies the Red Palace. Since 2004, the Administration ofStradi Parish occupies a part of the palace.
After the construction of theStukmani toValka narrow-gauge railway in 1903 and subsequent broad-gauge line construction duringWorld War I, Vecgulbene was established as an important railway junction, and in 1920 it was given the rights of a small village. During the first period of Latvian independence, besides those employed by the railways, small business, trades and crafts were the most important economic activities in the town. Gulbene was heavily damaged during the last years ofWorld War II. After the war, during the Soviet occupation, Gulbene initially became a district, and later, in 1950, a regional centre. In the 1960s and 1970s branches of several major industrial companies were established in the city. Local enterprise was mainly involved withwood processing.
The most architecturally significant building in the area is the passenger building at Gulbene railway station, built in 1926 by the well-known professor of architecturePeteris Feders (1868–1936). It is one of the largest and most magnificent railway station buildings in Latvia.
| Current services | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preceding station | LDz | Following station | ||
| Jaungulbene | Pļaviņas–Gulbene | Terminus | ||
| Terminus | Gulbene–Alūksne | Birze towardsAlūksne | ||
On 22nd February, 1999 3 children & a staff were hacked to death & another staff member left with serious injuries after an attack with ameat cleaver by a 19-year-old Alexander Koryakov. All of the victims were Russian speakers. This attack was one of the worst attacks inLatvian history. The trial began on 29 November 1999, and Koryakov was sentenced to life imprisonment.[6][7][8][9]
There is one major town in the Gulbene municipality, and the region is separated into 13 smaller rural parishes. Gulbene is being developed as an environmentally-friendly territory.[citation needed]
Gulbene has ahumid continental climate (KöppenDfb). Gulbene has a cold and long winter, a warm and short summer, and a fleeting spring and autumn. Winters are often below −25 °C (−13 °F). In the cold waves of 1940, 1956, 1978, 1985 and 1987, there were low temperatures below −35 °C (−31 °F), and even extremely cold weather approaching −40 °C (−40 °F). In mid-summer there will be warm weather exceeding 25 °C (77 °F), and sometimes there will be high temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F). The monthly averages range from −6 °C (21 °F) to 18 °C (64 °F), whereas all-time extremes range from −39.0 °C (−38.2 °F) on 16 January 1940 to 33.8 °C (92.8 °F) on 11 August 1992.
| Climate data for Gulbene (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1923–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 9.7 (49.5) | 11.0 (51.8) | 17.3 (63.1) | 26.8 (80.2) | 30.1 (86.2) | 32.6 (90.7) | 33.6 (92.5) | 33.8 (92.8) | 29.8 (85.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 14.3 (57.7) | 11.3 (52.3) | 33.8 (92.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) | −1.8 (28.8) | 3.2 (37.8) | 11.2 (52.2) | 17.3 (63.1) | 20.8 (69.4) | 23.1 (73.6) | 21.7 (71.1) | 16.1 (61.0) | 8.9 (48.0) | 2.6 (36.7) | −0.7 (30.7) | 10.0 (50.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) | −4.6 (23.7) | −0.5 (31.1) | 6.2 (43.2) | 11.8 (53.2) | 15.4 (59.7) | 17.8 (64.0) | 16.5 (61.7) | 11.4 (52.5) | 5.6 (42.1) | 0.8 (33.4) | −2.6 (27.3) | 6.1 (43.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −7.3 (18.9) | −7.8 (18.0) | −4.2 (24.4) | 1.2 (34.2) | 5.8 (42.4) | 9.9 (49.8) | 12.5 (54.5) | 11.3 (52.3) | 7.1 (44.8) | 2.5 (36.5) | −1.6 (29.1) | −4.8 (23.4) | 2.1 (35.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −39.0 (−38.2) | −37.6 (−35.7) | −26.5 (−15.7) | −15.4 (4.3) | −6.0 (21.2) | −1.0 (30.2) | 3.6 (38.5) | 0.5 (32.9) | −5.6 (21.9) | −13.5 (7.7) | −22.8 (−9.0) | −38.4 (−37.1) | −39.0 (−38.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 46.1 (1.81) | 38.1 (1.50) | 36.7 (1.44) | 34.7 (1.37) | 57.5 (2.26) | 78.1 (3.07) | 71.8 (2.83) | 70.6 (2.78) | 53.5 (2.11) | 68.1 (2.68) | 53.6 (2.11) | 47.5 (1.87) | 656.3 (25.83) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1 mm) | 12 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 123 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 89.0 | 86.3 | 76.4 | 67.3 | 67.0 | 72.3 | 75.3 | 78.1 | 83.1 | 87.6 | 90.7 | 90.9 | 80.3 |
| Source 1: LVĢMC[10][11] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:NOAA (precipitation days, humidity 1991–2020)[12] | |||||||||||||
Within existing limits, according to CSB data.[13]
Historical population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source:Latvian Geospatial Information Agency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Gulbenes Regional History and Art Museum displays one of the most valuable relics of Latvian museums – a chair designed by Julius Madernieks (1870–1955) made in the 1920s. Julius Madernieks was the founder of Latvian professional applied art born in Vecgulbenes parish and being notable person in city Gulbene.
The Gulbene municipality's biggest rivers (Gauja,Tirza andPededze) are currently popular locations for nature tourism and water-sports, but once these were famous places for harvesting river-pearls. Cycling is enjoyed on local country paths.
Gulbene has a basketball team,Gulbenes Buki, playing in the higher division of the Latvian basketball league.
The Gulbene region is served by a newspaper,Dzirkstele.[14][15]
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