Today, January 4, the centenary of the Baltic independence fighter, Baltic German lawyer and philanthropist is being celebrated with the international conference ‘Dietrich André Loeber – 100. Baltic German and citizen of Latvia, international law expert and contemporary’ organized by the Chancery of the State President. Dietrich André Loeber was also a special person for the Supreme Court.

He was the son of the Latvian Senate senator August Loeber. Together with his parents, Dietrich André Loeber went to Germany in 1939, but he always held Latvia deep in his heart. When Latvia regained its independence, the legal knowledge and experience of Dietrich André Loeber was generously given to the formation of the Latvian legal system, returning it to the European legal space. In particular, he took care of the appreciation and use of the heritage of the Latvian Senate.

In 1995, upon the initiative of Dietrich André Loeber, the Senator August Loeber Foundation was established, which promoted the development of Latvian legal sciences and the implementation of scientific knowledge in practice. The Foundation awarded prizes and scholarships to Latvian legal scholars and supported projects that contributed to the renewal of the Latvian legal system.

In 1997-1998, the judgments of the Latvian Senate (1918-1940) and the indexes drawn up by Loeber were republished under the name of the Foundation, but in fact funded by Loeber’s personal resources.

Dietrich André Loeber sought and maintained contacts with the descendants of Latvian Senate senators who lived all over the world. He gathered them in Riga, in the Palace of Justice, and through this the connection was formed between the Supreme Court and senators' children, later – grandchildren and now also great-grandchildren.

The Supreme Court Museum was established in 1998 with the support of the Senator August Loeber Foundation (in fact, with Loeber's funding). Dietrich André Loeber also donated to the Museum valuable objects related to his father's career as a lawyer and senator.

On January 6, 2003, Dietrich André Loeber together with his wife, children and grandson visited the Supreme Court Museum and wrote in the guest book: "The descendants of Senator August Loeber thank you for preserving Latvia's legal heritage. We wish to continue this blessed work." And the Supreme Court Museum has been continuing this work for 25 years now.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Museum, today (on the 100th birthday of the patron of the Museum) we are starting the series of publications ‘Stories of Museum Objects’. The Supreme Court's Twitter account and the History section of the website feature the first post about these series. From now on every Friday throughout the year a brief description of one of the objects kept in the Supreme Court Museum will be published.

 

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211