The first years of Jānis Čakste’s childhood were spent in the Lielsesava parish at the “Čakstu-Zirņi” homestead, where the future President of Latvia was born. The lands of the “Auči” estate known today came into the possession of the Čakste family in 1871, when Krišjānis Čakste (Jānis Čakste’s father) purchased the property, adding the areas of three nearby homesteads to the estate. The total area of “Auči” at that time was 214 ha. By the end of the 19th century, the “Auči” park with its avenues was established, and an orchard was planted.

The 20th century, with its warfare, undeniably influenced the fates of many families and homes. The residents of “Auči” were forced into exile as refugees several times; upon their return, the house had been ransacked, the trees felled, and the scars of war were visible everywhere.

In the 1920s, when wars in Europe had temporarily subsided, “Auči”, like many farms of that time, engaged in crop cultivation and livestock farming, while the extensive apple orchard also provided significant income.

The new residential building was constructed in the 1920s, with the President himself encouraging its build, but as fate would have it, Jānis Čakste never spent a single day in the “Auči” we know today.

After the war, due to food shortages, “Auči”, like other former large estates, had an auxiliary farm established on its land by the Riga Wire Factory. In the 1960s, the “Auči” territory became part of the “Draudzība” collective farm (kolkhoz).

In 1995, Jānis Čakste’s descendants regained the rights to the property. The building is being gradually restored, and the surrounding area cultivated. In the strip between “Auči” and the Garoza-Emburga (Blukas-Bauska) road, birches and chestnuts planted in different years grow, and since 29 April 2017, new apple trees have been added, which we hope will grow into a bright, small apple orchard over time.

Jānis Čakste’s contemporaries, when recalling events in various places and times, point to his love for and interest in fruit trees and orchards.

The year 2017 was important and significant because, exactly 130 years ago—in 1887—Jānis Čakste became the head of the Jelgava Latvian Society. Therefore, the Jelgava Latvian Society, inviting people from the Jelgava City Library, the “Re, kā!” choir, the Society’s theatre group, and the Rēvelis family, planted 30 apple trees (“Monta”, “Dace”, “Roberts”, “Zarja Alatau”, and summer varieties—all sourced from the hands and orchards of Dobele professionals). They survived their first winter, and although hungry, greedy guests visited during the “non-fruit” season, the trees are growing thanks to the efforts of the planters and professionals themselves. I believe that in years to come, people visiting the family home of Latvia’s First President will be able to visit not only the museum in autumn, but, while enjoying the calm flow of the Lielupe River in the curves of Zemgale, listen to the rustling of leaves, feel a chestnut “fall” on the back of their neck, and bite into an apple grown right here in Latvia.

Source: Janīna Šūberte “Jānis Čakste and Jelgava”

In the pictures (in order): The apple orchard in April 2018; The planned layout of the apple orchard; View from the apple orchard before the unveiling of Jānis Čakste’s house on 14 September 2018