The historical building on 9/1 Astrīda Briāna street, now officially Šarlotes street 18a (and the home of Double9 Co-working) was built in 1854 as a brewery on what was then Nikolaev Street. In 1868 Charles Kristof fon Stritsky, a Baltic-German businessman, bought the brewery and renamed it Stritsky Brewery. The official name of the brewery was Bier und Porterbrauerei und Malzfabrik C. Stritsky (Beer and porter brewery and C. Stritsky malt factory) as the factory produced beer, porter, and other malt drinks. The new owner built several new buildings and significantly expanded the property so that at the end of the 19th century it was one of the largest and most profitable companies in Latvia.
A two-storied apartment house was constructed in 1871, and towards the end of the 19th century the brewery was expanded. And in 1883 Stritsky commissioned architect K. Felsko to build a new administration building replacing a small wooden house that was on the property. The new administration building was a two-story stone construction with a tin roof that still stands on the property. Then in 1889 Karl Kristof for Stritsky again commissioned Felsko to build a luxurious stone apartment house on the property. In 1891, along “Nikolaev” (Now - A. Briāna) a stone fence was constructed with arched gates decorated with the image of Mercury, the brewer’s protector. He also built an elegant garden with a fountain in the middle of the property.
Property development continued into the 20th century with a wooden canopy being added to the largest of the industrial buildings, and two years later a porch was added to the Stritsky's residence. And prior to the 1st World War a fence along Šarlotes street was constructed. Then in 1915 a beer tank sediment bowl was built, again designed by architect Felsko. This was the last construction under the ownership of Stritsky.
The brewery was successful, mostly due to favorable economic conditions in the country in the 19th and early 20th centuries when the Stritsky beer was exported from the Baltic provinces throughout the largest cities and provinces of the Russian empire. This large market that existed at the end of the 19th century was especially favorable to many of the big industrial companies of the Empire.
By 1901 the brewery was producing some 12 types of beers and malt brinks, employing 150. The beginning of the 20th century saw many workers protests against large companies, however Stritsky’s brewery did not appear to suffer from the revolts; perhaps because it would be wise to disrupt the supply of beer.
During World War I the brewery suffered heavy losses and all of the equipment was evacuated to Russia. In an October 1918 message written for the manufacturers’ society of Riga, it was noted the cost of the evacuation was about 165,000 rubles. The equipment was taken to Moscow, after which where they ended up is unknown.
In 1939, Stritsky’s son sold the property to the bank ‘’Latvijas Kredītbanka’’ for an unknown amount, but some unverified certificates show the property value at 300,000 lats. Latvijas Kreditbanka was created to oversee so called “problem” companies, especially those which were not owned by Latvians. The official reasoning giving at the time for Latvijas Kredītbanka to take over companies was a necessity to improve their economy, however in reality it only gathered powerful and profitable companies. The agreements to acquire usually occurred privately between owners of the given companies and the director of the Latvijas Kredītbanka, and none of the negotiations were never recorded. Considering Stritsky's factory no longer existed as a company, the reasoning behind Latvijas Kredītbanka paying such a great sum for it is somewhat perplexing, though it should be taken into account that the properties did have value occupying a quite extensive area bounded by three streets.
References:
1. Ilze Doble. http://www.valdemarapasaza.lv/en/history
2. Zudusī Latvija. http://www.zudusilatvija.lv/objects/object/23401/
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