School Hill
The School Hill has been inhabited since 1889, as the executives of the Līgatne Paper Mill constructed a building with eighteen apartments, including additional premises for school that served for the factory workers’ children. However, the very first school with a single classroom was opened by the executives of the Līgatne Paper Mill thirty years earlier – in 1858 – on the second floor of the factory office building, now located at Gaujas iela 2. A few years later, the school was relocated to the second floor of the nearby Ķiberkalns Stables, next to the coachman’s quarters, now at Gaujas iela 4. The school consisted of a long, narrow space with two windows. In the centre, there was a long table with pupils around it. At the far end of the room, there was a smaller desk for the teacher and a blackboard. Each pupil had their own slate for writing. Initially, there were no notebooks, textbooks, or other school supplies. The teacher was known for being strict, punishing misbehaving or lazy pupils in different ways, including by making them stand in the corner, keeping them after class, depriving them of lunch, and occasionally slapping their hands with a ruler. The most humiliating punishment was being sent home with a note pinned to their clothing that read ‘lazy’.
In 1871, manual couching process in the ‘Anfabrik’ was discontinued, and the paper-making area was transformed into apartments, with school facilities at the end of the building. Therefore, from 1873 onwards, the school was housed in the former couching room of the ‘Anfabrik’.
From 1888 onwards, the school operated as a two-class institution, and as the number of pupils increased, the school was relocated to new premises on the School Hill in 1889. By 1896, the school was already running a three-year programme, leading to the construction of additional facilities. Later on, it transitioned to a seven-year format, but in 1955, it became the Līgatne Secondary School. In 1959, due to the space constraints, a new school building of the Līgatne Secondary School was constructed on the Pluči Hill.
Interestingly, in the 1960s, the Līgatne School offered optional classes in paper technology to provide the pupils with some previous knowledge and skills for future employment at the Līgatne Paper Mill. Since 2006, the former school building on the School Hill has been housing the Crafts House where various interest groups are active and traditional crafts skills can be acquired.
