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Lecturers at the scientific conference include representatives from universities, museums, and other institutions from both Estonia and Latvia. The event is aimed at all history enthusiasts and will be bilingual (Estonian and Latvian) with simultaneous interpretation provided. The conference is organised by Valga Museum in cooperation with Valga Municipal Government and supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

Moderator of the conference is Margus Konnula. 

Short Summaries of the Conference Presentations

Andra Kise (Eduards Veidenbaums Memorial Museum) "Poet Eduards Veidenbaums – An Unusual Figure in Latvian Literary History"

Eduards Veidenbaums (1867–1892) holds a significant and unique place in Latvian literature. He was interested in science and did not aspire to be a poet, yet he became the first modernist in Latvian poetry. Both Veidenbaums himself and his poetry have left a deep mark on Latvian culture for over a century. His short and tragic life has inspired numerous literary works.
Visual symbols associated with Veidenbaums can be found not only in portraits of the poet but also in contemporary artworks. It can be confidently stated that the human and universal values the poet stood for remain important in today’s world, where inequality and challenges to democracy persist.

Aija Taimina (Library of the University of Latvia) "Historians Johann Christoph Brotze and Eduard Philipp Körber and Their Cross-Border Friendship"

Johann Christoph Brotze (1742–1823) – a teacher active in Riga, a prominent researcher of historical sources, traveler, and amateur artist – is a very important figure in Latvian history.
One of the key individuals in Brotze’s mature creative period was Eduard Philipp Körber (1770–1850), pastor of the Võnnu congregation from near Tartu, Estonia, who "dedicated his free time to collecting important evidence of his homeland’s ancient history, studying art and nature, and addressing the history of ancient Livonia."
Körber compiled his handwritten materials and drawings into collections, which were later acquired by the Learned Estonian Society (Estnische Gelehrte Gesellschaft). In Körber’s descriptions, Brotze is repeatedly mentioned as an example, whose manuscripts served as a model for him. Both men were united by a passion for collecting and bibliophilia; they were self-taught historians who independently developed their skills in both drawing and paleography.
It was not until the mid-20th century that historians began to pay attention to the collaboration and contributions of these two researchers. In the 1930s, Körber acquired the precise yet figurative and multi-layered nickname "the Estonian Brotze." In this intellectual relationship, Körber was the initiator, while Brotze was the elder mentor; their correspondence developed into a unique long-distance friendship. At the age of 30, in 1799, Körber began corresponding with Brotze and proposed exchanging information about their research results and drawings. This communication lasted for almost 18 years.
Recently, an important piece of evidence of their collaboration was rediscovered in the Tartu Literary Museum – the correspondence between Körber and Brotze, known as “Antiquarischer Briefwechsel und Handschriften des würdigen Mag. Brotze mit Pastor Körber senior.” This collection, believed lost for about a hundred years, is now once again accessible to scholars.

Aivar Põldvee (Tallinn University) "The Oldest Estonian and Latvian Primers"

The history of Latvian and Estonian books began together 500 years ago. The first books were meant to be read aloud, as Estonian and Latvian peasants could not read. Even primers in earlier times were mainly intended for reading aloud, as is known from the first Estonian primer printed in 1641. At some point, however, the primer opened the way to written word so that Estonian and Latvian books met native readers. This breakthrough began in the 1680s, when, within one generation, vernacular reading material flourished, the foundation for schooling was laid, and literacy spread widely. Johann Fischer, the superintendent of Livonia, and the royal printing house he established in Riga played a significant role in these developments. In this printing house, Johann Georg Wilcken printed primers in three local languages (Latvian, Tartu, and Tallinn dialects), all featuring the same splendid primer rooster on the back page. The origin of this primer rooster traces back to the Castle Church of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther initiated the Reformation.
However, the history of Latvian and Estonian primers is not only connected by a common beginning and the same primer rooster, but also by interesting intertwinements in the research of primers. The oldest Latvian and Estonian primer was discovered in 1928 by Jānis Zēvers at the University of Lund Library, and another Latvian, Benjamiņš Jēgers, found an additional copy in the 1950s in Hanover. In Tartu, the Baltic German historian Georg von Rauch discovered around 1935 the oldest known Latvian primer. In fact, it was a defective and undated printed sheet, with one side left unprinted for some reason, so the incomplete primer became scrap paper, used as binding material for a Swedish-era University of Tartu account book (1691). On the recommendation of linguist Paul Ariste, Kārlis Draviņš, who was a lecturer in Latvian at the University of Tartu from 1940–1944, clarified the matter. The history of Estonian and Latvian primers offers each other new and interesting perspectives, which will be discussed in more detail in the presentation.

Jüri Kivimäe (Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto) "Wanradt and Koell’s Catechism 1535. A Retrospective on the Birth of the Estonian Printed Book."

During the Estonian Book Year, it is necessary to recall and once again review the story of the Low German-Estonian Lutheran catechism printed in Wittenberg in 1535. When Paul Johansen, assistant city archivist of Tallinn, published reports of an Estonian printed book in 1927, Hellmuth Weiss found fourteen fragments of this publication in 1929, including a piece of the imprint that confirmed the book was printed in Wittenberg by Hans Lufft on August 25, 1535. This extraordinary discovery for the history of early Estonian culture attracted great interest from linguists and historians. In 1935, the first Estonian Book Year was celebrated, prompted by the 400th anniversary of the Estonian printed book. A facsimile edition of the catechism fragments, along with a relevant study, was published (1935). A quarter of a century ago, Kaja Altof-Telschow published a detailed study of the catechism (2000), after which scholarly interest in the book’s fragments has waned. Nevertheless, there remain unresolved questions in the story of Wanradt and Koell’s catechism and the surviving fragments that require in-depth research. In connection with the 500th anniversary of the church reformation initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, numerous new international scholarly studies have appeared, highlighting the need to re-examine the significance of the Wanradt and Koell bilingual catechism in the Baltic Sea cultural space.

Viesturs Zanders (Senior Researcher, National Library of Latvia) "The Development of Written Culture in Estonia and Latvia from the 1920s to the 1950s"

The presentation provides an overview of the contacts between Latvian and Estonian book professionals during the first period of our countries’ independence and the following decades, when, due to occupation, book publishing and book history research developed both within Estonia and Latvia and beyond their borders.
Topics of the presentation:
Similarities and differences in state policies promoting the publication of books.
Translations of Estonian literature in the context of Latvian book history and the role of individuals in introducing Estonian literature (Elīna Zālīte, Leonards Švarcs, etc.).
Baltic publishers’ and librarians’ conferences and personal contacts (the experiences of publisher Helmārs Rudzītis).
Writings by Estonian authors (Friedrich Puksoo, Friedebert Tuglas, etc.) on the topic of books in the Latvian press and their participation in Latvian publishing projects (Latvian Conversation Dictionary 1927–1940).
Information exchange and opportunities for cooperation during the Soviet occupation and in exile (experiences of Paul Ariste, Kārlis Draviņš, and others).

Margus Konnula "What Does the Latvian War Novel 'Dvēseļu putenis' Tell Estonians"

We have reason to be proud that the Estonian army cleared Estonia of its enemies during the War of Independence and, in addition, liberated Latvia. But why was Latvia’s fighting force in such a confused state by the end of World War I? A great deal of insight can be gained by reading the major Latvian war novel by Aleksandrs Grīns, "Dvēseļu putenis," published in 1933–1934, which is now also available to Estonian readers.