The palce where river Slocene meets the Lake Valgums has been popular in all times.
The first evidence dates back in 1422 when a piece of land in Valgums village was allocated to a knight Albreht Tork as a fief. In 1484 the Lord of the manor of Tukums city Verner von Butlar lived in Valgums. At that time Tukums city was destroyed and new manor house in Slokenbeka had not been built yet.
Further information gives evidence of a manor house “Dagerhof” which was established by Wolter von Plettenberg – the Master of the Livonian Order at that time. He was fond of hunting in Engure, Sate and especially Valgums area.
In 1554 the manor house is called “Dagerhoved” and it is an important station along the war road of the German Order (Hellweg).
At one point the Valgums manor house belonged even to the Duke until it became a property of the state (Krongut) in 1795. The owners changed quite frequently, the manor house had been even mortgaged for several times. The technical condition deteriorated with years and finally the house was torn down.
The new manor house was built next to former brick-kiln and was named “Āmarnieki” (in some sources also “Amarnieki”). Later it belonged to von Lerche family which set up a boarding-house there in 1930s. The last hosts Jenny Erhardt (born von Lerche) and her husband Gustav Erhardt offered accommodation and catering services for their guests. They had a horse cart with which they could pick up guests from nearby train Smārde station.
Heinz Erhardt – Gustav’s son from his first marriage with Alice Neldner – was visiting his father in “Āmarnieki” from time to time. He was playing bridge with his father and participating in balls with jolly songs and sketches. Heinz was going to “Āmarnieki” also with his wife Gilda (they married in 1935) and as he was writing his father later in 1938, the summer of 1937 he spent there was “the best summer ever in my life”. Heinz Erhardt later became famous composer and comedian in Germany.
After Jenny and Gustav left Latvia in 1939, the property was owned by the bank. During the Second World War a support base for German army was set up in “Āmarnieki”. It is still possible to find fragments of projectiles in trees as well as entrenchments in the wood. When the war was over and the army drew back, the manor house was burnt down.
A new residence (architect I. Strautmanis) was built on the ruins of the old manor house in 1968. This time – for the Chairman of the Council of Ministers in USSR – Aleksey Kosygin. When he was not using the residence, it was used by his Latvian colleague Augusts Voss – the Chairman of the Council of Nationalities (of the Supreme Council in USSR) and other party members. Among famous guests Galina Brezhneva (daughter of the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev) should be mentioned. She especially liked to visit nearby farmer who was a beer brewing specialist.
The territory of 14 ha was fenced off and guarded by armed police forces, so the residence was open only to small number of selected people. The main house was for the guests – there were eight rooms, two halls and a kitchen where workers were cooking for the guests. There are rumours that one of the rooms was having direct telephone lines – to Riga and Moscow. Workers were living in a separate house next to the main house. One of the rooms was having metal doors – it is believed that there were bugging devices and it was possible to overhear conversations of the guests.
After Latvia got independence in 1991, the whole property was handed over Tukums region local government. Managers of the place changed, it was plundered and vandalised. In 1997 Valgums was bought by “Lauku Avīze” – the largest newspaper in Latvia. They renovated the place and used it for company staff meetings, parties, interviews and seminars. They sold it to a private company after some years as it was getting more difficult to finance such a large property.
The holiday centre “Valguma pasaule” was established in 2005. We are open all-year round, so you can come and see this historic place yourself any time!
