Society

In the Middle Ages, the City Council produced orders to govern Riga’s public life, but the citizens didn’t always follow them without objection. There were no rebellions, but they just continued to do as they pleased. For example, despite repeated directions from the City Council not to throw waste into the Rīdzene River, people continued to do this and as a result the river has now disappeared. Until 1743, when candlesticks and lanterns were attached to the walls of Riga’s buildings, there was a prohibition against pedestrians being on the street without lanterns after dusk. Nevertheless, it is said that the citizens of Riga carried the lanterns unlit. In 1818 the first brick pavements were built in Riga, but the citizens by old habit continued to walk in the middle of the streets. From time to time the Riga City Council renewed the “Regulations about Clothes and Hospitality” which were in force until the 18th century. These prescribed what the representatives of each class were required to wear. But many travellers in their essays mentioned that maidservants and cooks in the streets could not be distinguished from ladies. In the 18th century the members of the Small Guild gained permission from the Russian authorities for their wives and daughters to be called “kundzes” (ladies) and “jaunkundzes” (young ladies), setting them free from the prohibition against flashy dressing.

The largest problem for the citizens’ of Riga was obtaining drinking water. In the Middle Ages, the water was taken from the Daugava, while later it came from wells, pumps, and underground bore holes. The inventor of the first “water-trench” was the city builder R. Bindesu in the 17th century. The city wells were the favourite gathering places for people, especially travellers and horse teams. The so-called large pump was erected in Riga in the 19th century on Brīvības Street, near the present-day Tallinas Street. This was the location of the St. Petersburg External Boundary Mark, where the city ended. The centralised supply of high-quality water began in 1904 from underground reservoirs in the vicinity of Baltezers (White Lake), to the north of Riga. The Riga Water-Pipe Museum is today located in the old pumping house built in the 19th century. Water towers were necessary to provide pressure in the mains network. Today these structures, visible Riga landmarks, mark the boundaries of the city centre. The oldest of these water towers, built in 1896-1897, are situated at the end of Matīsa Street, across the railway circuit, which is the boundary of the city centre.

With the city’s expansion, the middle of the 19th century saw the development of Riga’s transportation and communications network. The first public transportation was the omnibus, which began operating in 1852. Its route was from City Hall to the large pump-towers, which were situated at the site of the present-day St. Gertrude’s Church. The omnibus’ wagons were blue with a yellow stripe down the middle, red curtains were hung over the windows, and inside they were lit with lanterns. German captions adorned one side and Russian ones the other. The omnibus drivers wore light green uniforms and drove the horses sitting on a high coach-box. A strong cord was tied around one of the driver’s hands, which the conductors would pull as a signal. The omnibus existed until 1882, when it was replaced with a horse tram, which in turn gave way to the electric street railway. The first tramline proceeded down Alexander Boulevard (now known as Brīvības Street). Very soon five more tramlines began operating, proceeding from the city centre to Bruņinieku Street, St. Paul’s Church, the Moscow Suburb, the Great Cemeteries and the Kaiser Garden. In 1913 Riga had 8 tramlines totalling 47.2 km in length. Today, during the summer, a historic, attractively restored tramcar trundles along to Mežaparks (Forest Park).

The electromagnetic telegraph appeared in Riga in 1852, which connected Riga with Bolderāja. This was the first apparatus of its type in all of the Russian Empire. It was an initiative of Riga’s stockbrokers who wanted to be the first to receive news about the ships coming into the port. The Company “Siemens & Halske” from Berlin arranged the line under the guidance of the telegrapher Bredenschei. The first telephone exchange was founded in Riga in 1882, and a year later Bolderāja and Mīlgrāvis were also connected to the network. In 1900, Riga had 1202 private telephone subscribers. In 1928, a long-distance exchange was opened, and by 1940 there were almost 30,000 subscribers.