In 1984, the Liepāja Museum received a valuable donation – the family album of sea-captain Rudolfs Heils, which he brought to Liepāja from Shanghai in the 1920s. This unique gift was presented to the Museum by Velta Inge, daughter of the famous Liepāja watchmaker Jānis Inge.

The album, acquired in Shanghai, has beautifully painted and varnished wooden covers. Its pages are finished with painted silk, which adds to the album's artistic appeal.

The album contains 15 photographs of Captain Rudolfs Heils and his family and friends. For example, the album contains pictures of the wedding day of Captain Rudolfs Heils and his wife Jūlija in 1917 in Vladivostok and the Golden Wedding Anniversary fifty years later in Liepāja.

The album also contains photographs of the Rainberg and Captain Veide families in Shanghai. Sea-captain Rudolfs Heils (1890–1972) is one of Liepāja's best-known sailors of the 20th century. He studied and graduated from the Liepāja Maritime College and sailed on local sailing ships for several years before becoming a captain. Shortly before the First World War, he accepted an offer from the Chinese merchant navy and, with his wife, moved to the Eastern land, so far away from Latvia, where he spent several years as a captain on Chinese merchant navy ships.

It is known that Rūdolfs Heils also graduated from a local maritime school in China, as evidenced by a Chinese captain's certificate. He and his wife returned home in 1934. From his years in the East, he took with him various artistic and historically valuable souvenirs, which, together with the album mentioned above, later became part of the Liepāja Museum's collection.

Photo: from the Liepaja Museum archives – Captain Rūdolfs Heils family album, LM 32 487