Aizkraukle, formerly known by its German name of Ascheraden, lies on the right bank of the Daugava River in Latvia. The site was used by the German knights for the building of a castle in the Middle Ages, of which some ruins still remain. The present city of Aizkraukle was built in the 1960s as a village for the builders of the nearby hydroelectric power plant of Pļaviņas. It became a city in 1967. It was initially named Stučka (after a Latvian communist) during the Soviet… (More on Aizkraukle)