Behrens Chapel
At the highest point of the Smiltene Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Behrens Chapel is the final resting place of Gottlieb Behrens. His wife, Antonia Behrens, who died in 1870 at the age of 42, is also buried here. The chapel was built in 1896, based on designs by the architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns. Its interior is adorned with a marble statue of Christ, created by Estonian sculptor August Ludwig Weizenberg, inspired by Bertel Thorvaldsen’s famous Christ sculpture.

The chapel is owned by the municipality and is a nationally protected cultural monument.

 

On Gottlieb Behrens:

• Gottlieb Behrens was the owner of Bānūži Manor and a prominent figure of the Smiltene congregation. He played a significant role in the Smiltene congregation’s life.
• 1872. In 1872, to mark the 500th anniversary of Smiltene Church, Behrens donated a large silver communion chalice with a paten. Another important event in the congregation’s life was the purchase of 20-register organs in 1890, costing 3,400 roubles, of which 2,000 roubles were donated by Behrens. Behrens also donated 3,000 roubles to the congregation, the annual interest of which was allocated to support a girls’ school affiliated with the Smiltene congregation.
• A tragic story surrounds the circumstances of Behrens’s death. 1892. On the night of 18 August 1892, robbers broke into Bānūži Manor and murdered the 73-year-old widowed Behrens. The thieves gained little, as they were unable to access the iron safe built into the wall of his room. Moreover, Behrens had already dedicated much of his wealth to charity, including the construction of a congregation shelter and the cemetery chapel (1895), as well as the chapel built above his own burial site.