Ariogala
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Ariogala () is a town in central
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. It is located on the
Dubysa River Dubysa, at 131 km, is the 15th longest river solely in Lithuania. It originates just a few kilometers from Lake Rėkyva near Šiauliai city. At first it flows south, but at Lyduvėnai turns southeast and near Ariogala - southwest. Dubysa ...
, which flows through the town.


Population

ImageSize = width:700 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 right:40 top:20 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify Colors = id:gray1 value:gray(0.9) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:4200 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:200 start:0 gridcolor:gray1 PlotData = bar:1667 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:697 width:15 text:697 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1832 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:91 width:15 text:91 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1841 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:344 width:15 text:344 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1888 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1907 width:15 text:1907 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1897 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2378 width:15 text:2378 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1923 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:1197 width:15 text:1197 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1959 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2375 width:15 text:2375 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1970 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2979 width:15 text:2979 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1979 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3846 width:15 text:3846 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1989 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4033 width:15 text:4033 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:1999 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4150 width:15 text:4150 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2000 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4136 width:15 text:4136 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2001 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3897 width:15 text:4136 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2002 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:4200 width:15 text:4200 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2003 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3700 width:15 text:3700 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2004 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3685 width:15 text:3685 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2005 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3627 width:15 text:3627 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2006 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3550 width:15 text:3550 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2007 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3503 width:15 text:3503 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2008 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3458 width:15 text:3458 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2009 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3474 width:15 text:3474 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2010 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3331 width:15 text:3331 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2015 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:3036 width:15 text:3036 textcolor:red fontsize:8px bar:2018 color:gray1 width:1 from:0 till:2883 width:15 text:2883 textcolor:red fontsize:8px


Name

Ariogala is the Lithuanian name of the town. Versions of the name in other languages include Samogitian: ''Ariuogala'',
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
: ''Ejragoła'', Russian: Эйрагола ''Eiragola'', Belarusian: Эйрагола ''Eirahola'',
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
: אייראַגאָלע ''Eyragole''.


History

Ariogala is one of the oldest settlements in Lithuania, known from 1252 or 1253 (when the land of Eregalle is mentioned), multiple times devastated by the
Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
. Ariogala is mentioned in
Mindaugas Mindaugas (german: Myndowen, la, Mindowe, orv, Мендог, be, Міндоўг, pl, Mendog, c. 1203–1263) is the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only crowned King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or r ...
' papers, in which he dedicated one half of the lands of Ariogala to the newly established Lithuanian diocese, which later in 1257 were handed over to the Bishop Christian of Livonia. In the 14th century there stood a wooden castle of Ariogala, which was burned down by the
crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in 1382. During the times of
Vytautas Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian: ', be, Вітаўт, ''Vitaŭt'', pl, Witold Kiejstutowicz, ''Witold Aleksander'' or ''Witold Wielki'' Ruthenian: ''Vitovt'', Latin: ''Alexander Vitoldus'', O ...
there stood Ariogala Manor. After the
Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...
better growth opportunities opened for Ariogala, so around 1416 first Christian church was built in Ariogala. In 16th century it was believed that Ariogala was a birthplace of
Vytenis Vytenis ( be, Віцень, Vicień; pl, Witenes) was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from c. 1295 to c. 1316. He became the first of the Gediminids, Gediminid dynasty to rule for a considerable amount of time. In the early 14th century his reputa ...
. From 1529 or 1592 Ariogala received a town status, and in the 17th century Ariogala's market and trading privileges are mentioned, Ariogala County established. On 12 April 1792, by king Stanislaw August's decree Ariogala was given the status of a free city based on
Magdeburg Law Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within c ...
, and
Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
(City Emblem) for Ariogala was assigned; although in the summer of the same year due to changes in the political situation self-governing autonomy weakened, and in 1795 Ariogala's city rights were suspended by
Imperial Russian The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...
government. In 1842 Ariogala's public primary school was established, and in 1852 the Christian parish school was established that operated up until 1863. In 1847 Ariogala's Evangelical Lutheran Church was built, it was demolished in 1944. In 1880 post office was set up in Ariogala, that was burned down during the
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. At the beginning of 20th century Ariogala's Hospital was established. In 1907 separate schools for boys and girls were established in Ariogala. During the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Ariogala, as the entire Lithuania, was occupied by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. In 1941 all the
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
from Ariogala and some nearby villages were gathered in a
ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
. At the end of August/beginning of September 1941, around 700 Jewish men, women and children were shot in a field near the village. On 3 August 1944, the town of Ariogala was burned down and occupied by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
army. After the war up until 1948 the United Kestutis partisan congregation – Vaidotas team of
Anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...
resistance was active in Ariogala area, the newspaper "Freedom Bell" was published. On 28 December 1956 city rights were reinstated. During the Soviet times a few industries were established in Ariogala: reinforced concrete factory, "" sewing factory subsidiary, and office of the Raseiniai irrigation construction factory.


References


Notes

* Gyventojų skaičius metų pradžioje (Population statistics). Lithuanian Department of Statistics.
Geographical data. administrative territorial division
Lithuanian Department of Statistics. {{Authority control Cities in Kaunas County Cities in Lithuania Duchy of Samogitia Kovensky Uyezd Articles which contain graphical timelines Holocaust locations in Lithuania