‘Eugen’
A century ago, Līgatne was home to more than 20 bridges and footbridges of various sizes. They shortened the journey between hills, crossed canals, and spanned both the Līgatne River and the Gauja River. Many of the small pedestrian bridges were named after people, with one side bearing a man’s name and the other a woman’s name. The men’s names were typically dedicated to factory executives from the Mentzendorff family or other leading specialists of the Līgatne Paper Mill, while the women’s names honoured their wives. Old photographs reveal that Līgatne had once footbridges named ‘Arnold’, ‘Wilhelm’, ‘Arthur’, ‘Hugo’, ‘Alexander’, ‘Eugen’, and ‘FRIC’. Across the canal, opposite the houses on the Hare’s Island, there was once a bridge called ‘Gustavs’, named after the long-standing technical director of the factory, Gustavs Pētersons. Since he never married, the bridge lacked a wife’s name on the other side. However, it was commonly referred to as the ‘Rendezvous Bridge’ by locals, as it was tucked away from view and favoured by young couples for their meetings.
In earlier times, there were several bridges over the Gauja River near Līgatne. During the World Wars I and II, they were destroyed, but the last temporary bridge, which was built during World War II and was located very close to where the current crossing is at the end of the Gaujas iela, stood for a few more years after the war ended. In 1947, the Līgatne Paper Mill restored a barge left behind by the Germans and established a ferry service so that workers from the surroundings of Lielstraupe could reach the factory. The ferry service still operates to this day. Crossing the Gauja River by ferry is now a unique experience, as it is the only ferry of its kind in the entire Baltics, where the ferry is propelled across the river by the force of the current.
