{"id":1994,"date":"2025-05-04T18:31:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T18:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/visi-stasti\/hoppes-skyscraper\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T19:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T19:56:43","slug":"hoppes-skyscraper","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/visi-stasti\/hoppes-skyscraper\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoppes skyscraper"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_btn title=”Listen to the story!” color=”orange” align=”left” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-solid fa-headphones-simple” css=”” add_icon=”true” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcesustasti.lv%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F05%2FHoppes-debesskrapis.mp3|”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”7\/12″]\t\t

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The story of this building dates back to the second half of the 18th century, when Johann Adam Dralle, a carpenter and master hatter, bought a plot of land in 1775 and built a wooden dwelling house there. In the following years, the property changed hands several times: first it was bought by the master cabinetmaker Wilhelm Zimmerdahl, then by the master butcher Johann Zacharias Junker, and later by the baker Karl Gottfried Zacharias Junker and his wife Gottlieb Louise Junker. <\/p>\n

The property went through various vicissitudes – it came into the hands of the miller Hristof Zilbert, Count Emanuel Sievers and the widow of the tinsmith, Julia Vogel. 1898. In 1899, by merging two plots of land, they were purchased from Count Sievers by the small townsman of Cesis, Ivan Hoppe, who built this majestic three-storey building the very next year – 1899. C\u0113sis residents nicknamed it the \u201cHoppe skyscraper\u201d – one of the tallest buildings in the city at the time. <\/p>\n

Although the construction of the house cost a considerable amount of money, only 11 years later Hoppe was forced to sell the property to the C\u0113sis Mutual Credit Society because of debts. Ironically, he did not receive a single penny for his house, as all 40 000 roubles were used to cover his debts. <\/p>\n

The third floor of the building has always been particularly important in the cultural history of Cesis. 1901. In 1908, the photographer Ludvig Borewitz (1875-1913) set up his photographic studio here, with an entrance from Bazn\u012bcas Street, and worked there until 1908. The glass-walled photographic salon was located in the L. Skolas Street. In his advertisements, Borevics gave a romantic address – \u201cLudw. Borewitz at St. John’s Church\u201d, accompanied by an elegant French sign – vis-\u00e0-vis (opposite) the church. <\/p>\n

After Borevics moved to his own house at 36 R\u012bgas iela, the photographer Gotl\u012bbs Mat\u012bss (1878-1944), who had previously worked for three years in the studio of the photographer K. Andersons (5a L. Kal\u0113ja iela), started working in the studio in 1912. Mat\u012bss was a creative advertiser, inviting people to decorate their homes not with \u201cinsignificant market pictures\u201d but with \u201cprecious mementos\u201d – family photographs. During the Great Depression, Mat\u012bss adapted to the circumstances by reducing the prices of photographs for schoolchildren and soldiers by 10%, as well as offering more cheaper photo enlargements.
\nIn the early 1930s, the C\u0113sis Mutual Credit Society was facing insolvency, and in 1935 the house was taken over by the JSC \u201cLatvijas Kred\u012btbanka\u201d, which in 1938 sold it to married couple P\u0113teris and Elza Bergis for 55 000 lats. P\u0113teris Bergs opened a large shop in his house, offering colonial items, crockery, photography, bicycles and sporting goods to the people of C\u0113sis. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the occupation of Latvia in 1940 brought tragic changes – the Berg family property was nationalised, and they were arrested and deported on 14 June 1941. P\u0113teris Bergs died in prison on 21 July 1941, and Elza – in 1947 in exile in Krasnoyarsk region. <\/p>\n

A tragic fate also befell the photographer Gotl\u012bbs Mat\u012bss, who was in the glass salon of his photographic studio on 14 September 1944 when debris from an aerial bomb dropped by a Soviet aircraft broke through the roof of the church and, presumably, shattered the glass wall of the studio, severely injuring the photographer. Mat\u012bss died the same day in a hospital in C\u0113sis. <\/p>\n

During the Soviet era, the ground floor of the building was occupied for a long time by the Utilities Trust, and later by the Women’s and Men’s Hairdressing Salon of the Household Services Combine. The premises were preserved from the late 1920s, when hairdresser Eduards Zvirbulis, who had also learned his skills in Germany, worked here. <\/p>\n

Today, the iron pillars that were once used to stand on and clean the large glass windows of the photo salon can still be seen embedded in the wall of the building. These details are silent witnesses to history and, for those who know how to observe, narrators of the daily life of the photographic masters who once worked here. <\/p>\n

The materials used for the description are:
\n<\/em>Dace Cepur\u012bte, Mg. hist., Research \u201cC\u0113snieks un jeho nams<\/a>\u201d
\nCollections of C\u0113sis Castle Museum
\nLatvian National Digital Library Letonica project\u201cZudus\u012b Latvija<\/a>\u201d.
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The photographer Gottlieb Matisse, who worked in the house, was a creative advertiser and in 1913 promised the people of Cesis that the best way to decorate their rooms was not with “insignificant market pictures” but with photographs of their relatives, which were “the dearest memento of parents and parents’ parents”. His photo salon was a real technological marvel with glass walls, but unfortunately it was cold in winter, which, as Matiss’s son Vilums wrote, “is very off-putting to the public”. <\/p>\n

In 1934, hairdresser Eduards Zvirbulis, whose hairdressing salon was located on the ground floor of the building, introduced a sensational novelty – eyelash extensions, a revolutionary beauty service that delighted fashion followers.<\/p>\n

Facts<\/strong><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • 1775: Johann Adam Dral buys a plot of land and builds a wooden dwelling house.<\/li>\n
  • 1810: The property is purchased by Vilhelms Cimmerdahl, a master cabinetmaker.<\/li>\n
  • 1821: The property is bought by master butcher Johann Zacharias Juncker.<\/li>\n
  • 1850: Karl Gottfried Zacharias Juncker, a baker, acquires half of the property.<\/li>\n
  • 1861: Mrs. Gottlieb Louise Junker, a baker, acquires a share in the property.<\/li>\n
  • 1872: The miller Christoph Zilbert acquires the property.<\/li>\n
  • 1889: Count Emanuel Sievers acquires a share in the property.<\/li>\n
  • 1891: Count E. Sievers also buys the neighbouring property<\/li>\n
  • 1898: The two estates are merged and Count E. Sievers sells them to Ivan Hoppe, a petty citizen of Cesis.<\/li>\n
  • 1899: Ivan Hoppe builds a three-storey building called the Hopes skyscraper.<\/li>\n
  • 1901: Ludwig Borewitz sets up a glass-walled photographic studio on the third floor and works there until 1908.<\/li>\n
  • 1910: Hoppe sells the house to the C\u0113sis Mutual Credit Society because of debts.<\/li>\n
  • 1912: photographer Gottlieb Mathijs starts working in the house.<\/li>\n
  • 1927 Eduards Zvirbulis opens a hairdressing salon on the ground floor.<\/li>\n
  • 1935: The house is taken over by the JSC \u201cLatvijas Kred\u012btbanka\u201d.<\/li>\n
  • 1938: The house is bought by the couple P\u0113teris and Elza Bergi, who open a shop selling colonial goods, crockery, photographs, bicycles and sporting goods on the ground floor.<\/li>\n
  • 1940: after the occupation of Latvia, Berg’s shop and property are nationalised.<\/li>\n
  • 1941: P\u0113teris and Elza Bergs are arrested and deported; P\u0113teris Bergs dies in prison on 21 July of the same year.<\/li>\n
  • 1943: The property rights of the absentee Bergs are restored during the German occupation.<\/li>\n
  • 1944: on 14 September, photographer Gotl\u012bbs Mat\u012bss is wounded by air bomb debris and dies the same day in a hospital in C\u0113sis.<\/li>\n
  • 1945-1990: During the Soviet period, a hairdresser’s shop was located on the ground floor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1653,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[204,206,221],"product_tag":[319,330,317],"class_list":{"0":"post-1994","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-cesis-house","7":"product_cat-residential-buildings","8":"product_cat-shops","9":"product_tag-hairdresser","10":"product_tag-photo","11":"product_tag-shop","13":"first","14":"instock","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"product-type-simple"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/1994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=1994"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=1994"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cesustasti.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=1994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}