The Ernests Brastiņš memorial is located in Kronvalda park in Riga. Ernests Brastiņš (March 19, 1892 – January 28, 1942) was a Latvian artist, publicist, art theorist, researcher of settlements, and founder and leader of the Dievturība movement.
Together with Kārlis Marovskis-Bregžis, Ernests Brastiņš published the manifesto “The restoration of Latvian Religion”. Later, in 1926, they founded the organisation Latvju Dievtur u Draudze and thus were instrumental in the revival of the Latvian national religion.
When the Soviet Union occupied Latvia in 1940 they quickly suppressed all religious activity they deemed to be dangerous. Needless to say, the communists considered the Dievturība movement to be a great risk, as they saw it as chauvinistic, and at odds with communist thought.
In 1941, Ernests Brastiņš was deported to a Soviet gulag and paid the ultimate price for his beliefs when he was executed in 1942.
