Bērzaine Village

Area: 55,4 m²

Population: 550 (Data of Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs as of 01.07.2017.)

Bērzaine Parish is located in Tālava lowland, on the Burtnieka plain. There is Lake Zilūžu, Lake Saules, the overgrown Devil’s Lake, and the rivers - Briede, Ežupīte and Budze in the parish.

Name Bērzaine first mentioned in historical records in 1927 when the first Guardhouse in Latvia was built near the new manor of Burtnieki. The name Bērzaine was given to the house, as the old birch alley lead to the manor. Later this name was obtained by the parish. The historical name of the parish is Jaunburtnieki, an old territorial unit belonging to the Burtnieki district. The name Jaunburtnieki kept present primary school of Bērzaine Parish. Volunteer firefighters actively work in the parish; they received as a donation a firefighting vehicle from partners in the Gutersloh district in Germany and a new depot was built with municipality support in 2011.

Jaunburtnieki Elementary School operates in the parish. It was built in 1939 for the donations of the parish’s farmers and it was one of the best in the country at that time. Now it can also be proud of a new roof covering, new windows and a freshly painted facade. Teachers and technical staff is working at the school. Children have the opportunity to study in small class groups, participate in various cultural and sport activities.

In the 19th century, there was a prayer house in the Jaunburtnieki Manor Park, which was one of the remote estates of the Burtnieki congregation. In 1912, the building built in the log building was moved to Jaunburtnieki Cemetery. The restored Bērzaine Meeting House was opened during the first Christmas Eve of 2009. While in summer 2011, a new interior of the house in the baroque style was consecrated with the participation of Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Republic of Latvia Janis Vanags (Jānis Vanags), the authors of this interior were the students of the teacher Arvids Verza (Arvīds Verza) of Riga Handicraft Secondary School. Regular commemorative events, public worships, local congregation events and sacred music concerts take place in the Bērzaine meetinghouse.