Arnold Baron von Maydell

Arnold Konstantin Herman Baron von Maydell (latvian: Arnolds Konstantīns Hermans fon Maidels) (1884 - 1946) was a Baltic German architect and urban planner. He was a main author of the construction plan of Madona town in Latvia. For his valor in Latvian War of Independence he was awarded Order of Lāčplēsis - highest military order in Latvia.
==Biography==
===Early life and military career===
He is born on July 15, 1884 in the Kawershof Manor near Poltsamaa in modern Estonia. His family was member of Baltic German nobility. In 1905, he graduated from the realschule at the Reformed Church of St. Petersburg and entered the Riga Polytechnic Institute, which he graduated in May 1913 as a certified engineer - architect. During his studies he became member of a Baltic German student fraternity Fraternitas BalticaAlbum der Landsleute der Fraternitas Baltica 1865-1910, Riga, 1910, S. 31, 39. 
After graduation he worked in Paul Mandelstam's architectural office. He established his own office already in 1914.
After the start of First World War, in 1914, Maydell was mobilized in the army of the Russian Empire. He was the commander of the Cavalry squadron. In 1915 he was promoted to cornet of the 16th Irkutsk Hussar Regiment. Later he led the construction works of fortifications in various frontline positions. After the February Revolution in 1917, he was demobilized from the army. During the Latvian freedom struggle, Maiydell voluntarily joined the Baltische Landeswehr on November 28, 1918, participated in both the Battle of Inčukalns and the Battle of Cēsis. After the Landeswehr was disbanded, Corporal Maydell continued his service in Latvian army in the 13th Tukums Infantry Regiment. Since the fall of 1919 he participated in the battles for the liberation of Latgale, for which he was awarded the Lāčplēsis Order in 1922.http://www.lkok.com/detail1.asp?ID=992https://latgalesdati.du.lv/persona/6028
===Life in the Republic of Latvia===
On March 11, 1920, Maydell started to work in the Surveying Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia. In May 1921, the Investigative Commission of the Latvian Constituent Assembly in cases of high treason were examining his connection with the pro german Liepāja coup in 1919. During investigation he was dismissed from his post but later resumed his work in Ministry of Agriculture.
In March 1922, Arnold Maydell opened his own architect's office in Riga. In 1923, he participated in the creation of Madona town building plans, supervised the small repairs to the roof, windows and doors of the Rundāle Palace organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, and also prepared the Sigulda building plan. In 1925 he was involved in the creation of construction plans of Dagda, Dobele, Krāslava, Kuldīga and other towns in Latvia. 
On May 12, 1934, Maydell was fired from his job and less than half a year later he was sentenced to 5 months in prison for his ties with "Baltic Brotherhood" (Baltische Bruderschaft) organization with political goal to restore the old Baltic rule of life in Latvia. On appeal, Maydell was given a suspended prison sentence.https://ortus.rtu.lv/science/en/publications/13159 ;I.Zvirgzdiņš Arnold von Maydell, Graduate of Riga Polytechnical Institute, 1913, and the Planning of Latvian Towns 2012
===Later life===
In December 1939, he traveled to the German-occupied part of Poland together with majority of Baltic Germans. After the Operation Barbarossa started in 1941, he returned to Latvia and worked in the Ostland agricultural reorganization institutions in the Pärnu district and later in Belarus. In the fall of 1944, he returned to his family. In February 1945 he settled in Erfurt, where after the end of the war, on December 4, he was arrested by the occupation authorities of the USSR.
On February 27, 1946, Maydell was tried by the Berlin Garrison War Tribunal, accusing him of anti-Soviet sentiment, fleeing from Riga in 1939, exploiting Polish agricultural workers and supplying products to the German army, operating in Estonia and Belarus, including men serving in Vlasov's army. Maydel was sentenced to death, he died in Lichtenberg prison before his execution on April 26, 1946. His burial place remains unknown.https://ortus.rtu.lv/science/en/publications/13159 ;I.Zvirgzdiņš Arnold von Maydell, Graduate of Riga Polytechnical Institute, 1913, and the Planning of Latvian Towns 2012
Category:People from the Governorate of Livonia
Category:1884 births
Category:1946 deaths
Category:Baltic-German people
Category:Latvian architects