Latvian history project

Sources we couldn't get

This is a running list of sources the project needs but can't reach from the server, kept so faso can try to get them some other way: a library card, a borrow account, a visit, or a request to an archive.

Each entry says how important it is, what it is, why we want it, where it is likely held (with links), and what we already tried. When one is obtained, put the file under /mnt/data/research/latvian-history/raw/ and move the entry to "Got" at the bottom.

Importance

Updated 2026-10-02 15:39

Investigation 01: Riga 1510 tree

Best first moves:

  1. 1HIGH
    Phillip V. Snyder, The Christmas Tree Book (Viking 1976; Penguin 1977), the notes and bibliography.
    • Why: Snyder's p. 19 is the version that reached Latvians in 1990–91: Christmas Eve, "black hats", artificial roses, "the oldest documentation". Where he got it is the missing link between German scholarship (Redlich, 1935–37) and the popular story.
    • Where: Internet Archive, archive.org/details/christmastreeboo00snyd (lending only; a free archive.org account can borrow it for an hour). Second-hand copies: abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=snyder&tn=chris…
    • Tried: search-inside gave us p. 19, but no Blackheads, Russow, Redlich or Amelung, and no bibliography text.
  2. 2HIGH
    F. A. Redlich, Sitte und Brauch des livländischen Kaufmanns (Riga: Plates, 1935), pp. 75–77.
  3. 3HIGH
    F. A. Redlich, "Ein neuer Beitrag zur Geschichte des Weihnachtsbaumes" ("A new contribution to the history of the Christmas tree"). Niederdeutsche Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 13 (1935), pp. 234 ff.
  4. 5MEDIUM
    M. Thiel, Unterhaltungen aus der Heimathsgeschichte, pp. 102–122.
  5. 6LOW
    the 1510 original itself.
  6. 7MEDIUM
    Anu Mänd, Urban Carnival: Festive Culture in the Hanseatic Cities of the Eastern Baltic, 1350–1550 (Brepols 2005), pp. 83–85 and the appendix of regulations.
  7. 8LOW
    Rigasche Stadtblätter 1896, Nr. 25: Mettig's paraphrase of the ordinance.
    • Why: we already know Mettig read it as a Shrovetide custom.
    • Where: should be on periodika.lv (Rigasche Stadtblätter 1896).
    • Tried: not found by search yet. I will retry by browsing the issue list.
  8. 9MEDIUM
    Tielemann (1831), Geschichte der Schwarzen Häupter.
  9. 10MEDIUM
    the Diena article quoting Jacey Cole, the American founder of the Old Riga Christmas market, about "paper flowers in 1510".
  10. 11MEDIUM
    photographs of the 2003 plaque in Town Hall Square.
  11. 12MEDIUM-HIGH
    HathiTrust full-text search.
    • Why: searching for Riga, 1510 and the Christmas tree across English books from before 1976 could show where Snyder got the claim.
    • Search: babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Riga%201510%20Christmas%20… Then sort by date and look at anything before 1976.
    • Tried: the server is blocked by Cloudflare. It works from a normal browser.
  12. 13MEDIUM
    the original Riga publication of the 2003 article "Leģenda par pirmo eglīti Rīgā" ("The legend of the first tree in Riga").
    • Why: it carries the Latvian Institute director's "a legend need not be proven, it must be believed" quote. Latvija Amerikā reprinted it on 4 Jan 2003, so the original is probably a Riga daily from December 2002. Its date fixes the timeline before the plaque.
    • Where: probably Diena, Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze or Lauku Avīze, December 2002. The LNB holds them, and some are behind a login on periodika.lv. Copies: spoki.lv/ziemassvetki/Legenda-par-pirmo-ziemassvetku-egli… (no source given) and Latvija Amerikā on periodika: periodika.lv/periodika2-viewer/?lang=fr#issueType:P|issue…
    • Tried: periodika search; the 2002 Riga dailies may not be openly available.

Investigation 02: large animals that vanished from Latvia and came back

The Biodiversity Heritage Library, ResearchGate, Google Books and HathiTrust are blocked from the server, and daba.gov.lv times out. Entries are added as the investigation runs.

Best first moves:

  1. 1HIGH
    C. Grevé, Die Säugetiere Kur-, Liv-, Estlands (Riga: Mellin, 1909), 184 pp.
    • Why: this is the standard monograph for every species, the source behind most later extinction dates. We have only Grevé's 1906 article and excerpts quoted by Loudon (1918).
    • Where: LNB catalogue kopkatalogs.lv ; library holdings search.worldcat.org/search?q=Die+S%C3%A4ugetiere+Kur-+Liv… ; the Herder-Institut Marburg; Google Books and HathiTrust (blocked from the server).
    • Tried: archive.org, DSpace Tartu and periodika.
  2. 2HIGH
    W. L. Lange, Wild und Jagd in Lettland (1970).
    • Why: the only source for "the last local bears were killed in 1921–26" and for bears returning from 1946. The Latvian bear plan cites it, but nobody quotes it.
    • Where: search.worldcat.org/search?q=Wild+und+Jagd+in+Lettland ; DNB; the Herder-Institut Marburg; LNB.
    • Tried: not online.
  3. 3HIGH
    A. Kalniņš, Medniecība (Riga 1943).
    • Why: the source of all interwar game statistics, e.g. "17 wolves in 1940". The years 1943–57 are missing everywhere, and this book may carry the series into the war.
    • Where: LNB gramatas.lndb.lv and dom.lndb.lv (search by hand); kopkatalogs.lv
    • Tried: not found in a search of the LNB digital library from the server.
  4. 4MEDIUM
    F. P. Köppen (Кеппен), «О прежнем и нынешнем распространении бобра в пределах России», Журнал Министерства народного просвещения ч. 342 (July 1902).
  5. 5MEDIUM
    E. Tauriņš, Latvijas zīdītājdzīvnieki (Riga 1982).
    • Why: the Soviet-era standard text, the bridge between the German dates and today's.
    • Where: LNB, kopkatalogs.lv
  6. 6MEDIUM
    Grevé's hunting articles in (Neue) Baltische Waidmannsblätter: "Zur Geschichte der Verbreitung des europäischen Bären" (1905), "Die Verbreitung des gemeinen Luchses" (1904), and the manor shooting lists of 1901–06.
    • Why: these are the manor-level kill records behind Grevé's dates. They may name the hunters and estates of the last bears.
    • Where: LNB; the Estonian National Library digar.ee
    • Tried: archive.org, DSpace Tartu and periodika.
  7. 7MEDIUM
    the Latvijas PSR Sarkanā grāmata (1985) and the popular Red Book (1990).
    • Why: where the modern "1811" and "1900" bear dates first appear without Grevé's hedges.
    • Where: LNB, kopkatalogs.lv
  8. 8LOW
    O. von Löwis, "Jagdbilder aus Livland", Der Zoologische Garten 1899.
  9. 9LOW
    K. Paaver, Формирование териофауны и изменчивость млекопитающих Прибалтики в голоцене (Tartu 1965).
    • Why: the bone catalogue that holds the only physical evidence of bison and aurochs in Latvia.
    • Where: dspace.ut.ee ; digar.ee
  10. 10LOW
    the Courland Jagdordnung of 1805, and Petri (1809) on the "Waldbüffel".
    • Why: a bison may appear there as a legal formula rather than as a living animal.
    • Where: BSB digitale-sammlungen.de ; Google Books (blocked).
  11. 11LOW
    syntheses behind paywalls or blocks.
    • Pilāts & Ozoliņš 2003, Acta Zoologica Lituanica 13.
    • Balčiauskas 1999, on bison in Lithuania.
    • Halley & Rosell 2002, Mammal Review.
    • Where: ResearchGate (403 from the server) and Wiley (paywall).
  12. 12LOW
    the Jenssen papers (Aust-Agder, Norway).
    • Why: the 1927 Latvian press calls the beavers a gift of the Norwegian government, but the Norwegian supplier's papers say he sold them. Dolly Jørgensen has worked on this.
  13. 13LOW
    the European Bison Pedigree Book (EBPB) volumes for the 1980s.
    • Why: they would name the holders and studbook numbers of the bison brought to Līgatne / Gauja National Park in 1984.
    • Where: Białowieża National Park / SGGW.

Got

2026-10-02. The tree clause (art. 215) is verified against the edition; see investigations/01-riga-1510-tree/sources/stieda-mettig-1896-p623.md.