Grobiņa

Project „Building Bridges in our Multicultural Europe” in Grobiņa gymnasium In our school we have involved 17 students and 6 teachers – consultants in the project. The students take part in this project with big enthusiasm and interest. We have formed 4 project sections : languages teaching section, language map creating section, webpage creating section, publication and processing section.

All sections together

Webpage creating section

Publication and processing section

Language map creating section

Work in language map creating section The aim of language map creating is to make a map of popular languages of our region. Students translated different everyday phrases of these languages and showed the percentage of the people speaking the language on the map. Students researched the history and development of the languages spoken in our region and also learned about different cultures of Liepāja region.

The Russians Russia

In accordance with Livonian and Russian chronicles, in the 12 – 13 century Russian tradespeople arrived in Latvia. In the second part of the 16th century the 1st wave of migration started people arrived in Liepāja and people in Liepāja region.

The Russian society “Posoloņ” The society was formed on April 24, There are 30 people. They organize many small groups for children – drawing, playing the guitar, literature, making soft toys, playing the accordion – and many other events. They have also museum of applied arts, poetry cafe and library.

The Ukrainians Ukraine

Today the Ukrainians is the third major minority in Latvia after the Russians and the Byelorussians. However the Ukrainians are not a historical minority of Latvia. The largest part of this nationality moved to Latvia after the Second World War as the result of the ongoing migration processes in the Soviet Union. They are people in Liepāja and 336 people in Liepāja region.

The Ukrainian society “Svitanok” The society was formed on March 15th, They celebrate their national holidays and popularize their culture. They have their own library, a small museum and Ukrainian Sunday School.

The Byelorussians Belarus

The first Byelorussians came to Latvia already in the Middle Ages.And the migration process has been going on due to the geographic nearness. They are people in Liepāja and 144 people in Liepāja region.

The Byelorussian society “Mara” The society was created in They celebrate their national holidays and popularize their culture. They have also Byelorussian song ensemble “Pavļinka”. They also set up Byelorussian ethnography museum. Their knowledge about Byelorussian history and language is not very wide, but they learn and look for more information.

The Lithuanians

In the 12 – 13 century Latvian and Estonian territories were united in one country called Livonia. A part of Lithuania also were there. Lithuanians lived very close to Latvians. So some of them started to live in Latvia. They are people in Liepāja and people in Liepāja region.

The Lithuanian society “Rūta” The society was started in In 1909 they formed Lithuanian Women congregation- The Holy Zita congregation. From 1907 there is Lithuanian primary school in Liepāja. The folklore ensemble “Senoliu” started to work in They have also library. They popularize their culture and take an active part in Kurzeme social activity.

The Germans

As a result of Crusades attack German crusaders came to Latvian and Estonian territories. So German’s land – Livonia was formed there. At that time there were many German tradespeople, who settled down here and lived there until the downfall of Livonia in the 16th century In Liepāja region there are about 300 Germans.

The Germans in the Liepāja Some German societies have existed for many years, but the association of German’s societies was formed only in There are five German societies where people with different interests and ages come together.. They are more than 100 people in the association, but there are more than 60 people in the German’s meeting centre. They organize many events to popularize German culture.

The Poles

The Poles have come to Liepāja region several times. They came to the Latvian territory nearly 500 years ago, because Poland was divided and lands in the Latvian territory were given to soldiers. There are 38 people in Liepāja region and 1200 people of Polish origin in Liepāja.

The Polish society The society started on December 20, There were 120 people at the beginning, but there are 30 people today. They celebrate all events which are characteristic for the Poles, even Poland’s independence Day. They have also library, children’s song ensemble “Skowronek” and Polish language school.

The Caucasus nations The Azerbaijani The Armenians The Georgians

Georgia Azerbaijan Armenia

Though there were Caucasian and Tatar people in the Latvian territory already at the end of the 19th century, a real migration started during the Soviet occupation after the Second World War.. Only in the 50ties and 60ties a large number of Tatars, Caucasians and Moldavians came here from the USSR republics. After restauration of Latvian independence a part of them left Latvia.

The Caucasian nations in Liepāja There are 20 Azerbaijani families, which belong to Muslim faith and follow their national traditions quite strictly. The use of their mother tongue in families is a question of debate as Russian is often used instead of the native language. There is an active cultural life in this society, especially emphasising the role of family community.

10 Armenian families, belonging to Christian faith, live in Liepāja. They often meet each other, spend their free time there and celebrate their family and other festivals together. They all know the Armenian language.

In total there are about 6 to 8 Georgian families living in Liepāja for 20 to 25 years. They belong to Christian faith. They all do know each other and exchange information regularly. The main language of communication is Russian, hardly ever Georgian.

The Jews The first evidences about Jews’s presence in the Latvian territory have come from the 14 – 15th century, when they built a base there There are more than 191 people in the Liepāja.

Jews in Liepāja The society started in More than 300 people take part inthe activities organised by Liepāja Jewish Congregation. The main activities are: study of Liepāja Jewish history and the acknowledgement of the memorial sights, Torah interpretations in the synagogue every Saturday, the social care of elderly and disabled people, The Jewish Sunday School where the Hebrew language is taught, it’s history, music and traditions, the activity of elderly people and family clubs.

The Gipsy The Gipsies came to Latvia in the 15th – 16th century from the Northern India. Characteristic Gypsy activities was music, fortunetelling, trading with horses, forgery. Surely tese trades belong to the past. When India was divided in castes and had to do certain jobs. They are about 100 people in Liepāja region. They have not their own society in Liepāja, because the leader of the Latvian Gipsy organization considers that here is a little number of Gipsies and there is no point to make a Gipsy centre there.

The German society

The Lithuanian society

The Polish society

The Russian society