OPEN ARCHIVES OF KAUNAS

*Gintaras: *In Vilniaus Street, next to the underground passage, there is a building with niches, in which three little sculptures were placed. Unfortunately, they did not stand and entertain the passers-by for a long time. They were vandalized one night. It was around 1988, I don't remember for sure. But a place is never empty, and these three beauties occupy this place right now :) (2014)

*Saulė: *After high school, I got into Kaunas Stepas Žukas Technical School of Applied Arts. It was still called like this in 1996. We, students, would simply call it Stepžukė. My years of studies were probably the happiest of my youth. In high school, I felt different and I couldn't wait until I graduate, and in Stepžukė I felt like myself. This place on a hill with a fenced territory was like a protected area where I felt very well. A group of us working with glass was a small one, so this communication was very warm, we would usually spend our time together and go to concerts.

*Roberto: *When ice hockey was the most popular winter sport in Kaunas, the teams of Kauno Jachtclubas, LFLS and Makabi had their own ice-rinks. The largest, best installed, illuminated and most popular among the residents of Kaunas was the Ice-Rink of Kaunas Yacht Club (next to the Nemunas Island, somewhere between Maironio and I. Kanto Street), where the main matches between the teams of the highest league of Lithuanian ice hockey as well as figure and speed skating competitions took place. LFLS ice rink was a bit smaller. It was established at the corner of A. Mickevičiaus and Kalnų (now V. Putvinskio) streets. Not many people have memories about this ice rink in Kaunas, and even fewer of them have original photos. These three old photos from the personal album of the famous pre-war Lithuanian sportsman Vladas Dzindziliauskas captures the ice rink of Lithuanian Physical Education Union club c. 1933–1937. *Maybe some residents of Kaunas have more photos or memories about these ice-rinks of the Temporary Capital?* It would be very interesting to see them on this website. (2014)

**Solveiga Lukminaitė: **My brightest memories are related to my favourite places in Kaunas, especially Kaunas yacht club. In my childhood, I used to go there for a walk with my parents. I would love watching the yachts... Each time, I would admire the yacht I shared the name with. Even though currently I don't visit this place as often as I used to, whenever we stop by the yacht club, I still remember it and feel nostalgic. (2014)

*A.K.*: Russian Aesthetic Education Centre later received the name of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. It is still operating in V. Krėvės prospect, not far from the shopping centre used to be called Pasimatymas. I guess most of its visitors back then were children from the neighboring Russian school No. 20, even though later I attended the Lithuanian Pilėnai school. Probably it was my father’s initiative for me to attend all these extracurricular activities and have someone to practice my native language with, yet for me it has been (and I hope that it still remains) an exceptional place of artistic education, even though when I look back at this building, sad thoughts come to my mind. This place is like an island among the gray multi-storey buildings of Dainava, where people would create things, while we talked with teachers and fellow students in Russian.

The first building of Garrison Officers' club during the Interwar period was in a two-storey building designed by an unknown architect at the corner of Laisvės Alėja and A. Mickevičiaus Street (currently the premises of the Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees). When Kaunas became the temporary capital, it required new representative spaces that would allow the development of cultural conversations, so at the officer's initiative, the decision was made to build a new building for the Garrison Officers' Club. Exclusive people participated in the events that took place in the Building of Kaunas Garrison Officers' Club, and it reminded gatherings of bohemians, as they communicated as a separate community with its unique ideology and habits.

*Justė:* Miesto Sodas always stirs a little rebel in me.

*Alvydas: *Some time ago, before the monument for Darius and Girėnas, there was a “singing fountain”. Everyone really liked it... (2014)

*Alma: *It is very nice to remember how people would gather in the Oakwood Park. In summer, it was full of people. Even though there were no normal paths in there back then. Some would play the harmonica or guitar. Everyone would gather in groups or families to spend some time in nature. It is also very pleasant to remember Song Festivals. The songs used to fly all around the Oakwood Park. 

*Arūnas*: “I spent my childhood and youth in Kaunas. I managed to find a few photos. It makes me happy that people captured in them are still alive and well. So are the lions. The first photo was taken in 1956. From the left: me, my cousin Vytautas, my cousin Laimutė and sister Rūta. The second one was taken in the spring of 1969. While studying in Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI), we had a big beat band Meteorai and before a trip abroad, we decided to shoot our promo photos in the garden of the Museum of War which was dear and interesting for us. From the left: me, keyboard, drummer Antanas Mačys, guitar players and vocals Gerardas Balaišis and Jonas Toleikis. Some of them have not parted with music to this day. We all wanted to be the Beatles in those times. We were restless. So, I am sending you another photo, without lions, capturing the attempt to fire at the central office of KPI with one of the museum's cannons...” (2018)

Music club Senas Stalčius (Laisvės ave. 46a) was open for several years since 1995. The club was established in the building of cinema Laisvė (called Forum during the Inter-War period). It is a great example of a certain type of architecture in Laisvės Alėja: a public building designed in the internal yard.

*Fruma: *"My first childhood memories connected to Kaunas are very warm. My grandparents lived in the heart of Kaunas, near Town Hall Square. At the time, buses did not run during holidays, so we used to get from Šančiai district to the Old Town on a carriage (at least we called it so) or on a bričkelė* with a roof you could lift. I remember exactly where the bričkelė stood with harnessed horses. Many years after there was a taxi stop at the same place in the Old Town". * One-horse holiday cart