The architecture style developed in Germany, where it is called Jugendstil, and left its mark on cities from Paris to St. Petersburg. Riga had the good fortune to have a building boom at the turn of the last century, when the style was fashionable. Its Baltic Sea port was one of the most important in the Russian empire. The style developed in Germany, where it is called Jugendstil. Since regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has struggled to restore its architectural treasures to their former glory.
Foreign businessmen are the target market.
Buildings have been converted into restaurants and shops, apartments and condominiums. Their owners can't afford the badly needed renovations. To a lot of people, buildings are not just bricks, glass and steel. They are memories, passed down from an older generation. The jewel in Alberta Street's crown is one fully renovated apartment house in the middle of a long row of dilapidated buildings.