Nemenčinė ( is a city in

Vilnius district municipality Vilnius District Municipality ( lt, Vilniaus rajono savivaldybė) is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital city of Vilnius on 3 sides, while the rest borders the Trakai District Municipality. At the 2011 Census, Poles a ...

, Lithuania, it is located only about north-east of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. Close to Nemenčinė forest was planted which forms a sentence ''Žalgiris 600'' (commemorating 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 ...

) visible from the air.

Names

''Nemenčinė'' is the original name of the city reflected in historical documents and still in use today. It derives from a Lithuanian word referring to the river Nemenčia.A. Vanagas. Lietuvos miestų vardai. p.151-152 Other versions of the name include ''Niemenczyn'' in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

, ''Неменчын'' in Belarusian, Неменчине (or Нямянчине) in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, ''Nementschine'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and ''Nementchin'' (נעמענטשין) in

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 ve ...

History

Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio

Lithuanian wooden castle and the mound stood in Nemenčinė in 10-14th centuries. The settlement started to grow around the castle. In 1387, following the

Christianization of Lithuania The Christianization of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos krikštas) occurred in 1387, initiated by King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło and his cousin Vytautas the Great. It signified the official adoption of Christianity b ...

, Jogaila established the first Christian

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in Nemenčinė and built a church there. In a 1434 document Andrius Sakaitis, one of the most influential Lithuanian nobleman families during the reign of

Grand Duke of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Kingdom of Lithuania, Lithuania, which was established as an Absolute monarchy, absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three Duke, ducal D ...

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the m ...

, listed Nemenčinė as his domain. In 1554, Nemenčinė after the

Volok Reform Volok may refer to: * Volok (unit), a unit of land measurement * Volok Reform, land reform in the 16th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania People with the surname * Bill Volok (1910–1991), American football player * Ilia Volok (born 1965), Russian ...

got the rights of the town. In 1613, the town was marked on the map of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

– ''Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae, et Regionum Adiacentium exacta Descriptio'' printed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and financed by the Lithuanian magnate Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila Našlaitėlis. On 20 September 1941, 403 Jews from the town were massacred in a mass execution. 128 men, 186 women and 99 children were shot by an Einsatzgruppen of local Nazi collaborators. In 1971, a monument was erected on the execution site.

Ethnic composition

The ethnic composition of Nemenčinė is as follows: Total population in 2011 – 5054 *

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...

56,5% (2858) * Lithuanians 27,1% (1368) *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

9,2% (463) * Belarusians 3,6% (183) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

0,9% (43) * Others 2,4% (120) Total population in 2021 – 4831 *

55,7% (2690) * Lithuanians 29,1% (1407) *

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

8,1% (391) * Belarusians 2,9% (138) *

0,8% (38) * Others 3,3% (160)

International partnership

Nemenčinė is twinned with three towns in Poland:

Węgorzewo Węgorzewo (until 1946 pl, Węgobork; german: Angerburg, lt, Ungura) is a tourist town on the Angrapa River in northeastern Poland, within the historical region of Masuria. It is the seat of Węgorzewo County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodes ...

(Ungura),

Ełk Ełk (; former pl, Łek; german: Lyck; Old Prussian: ''Luks''; lt, Lukas), also spelled Elk in English, is a small city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It was assigned to Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in 1999, ...

(Lukas) and

Suwałki Suwałki ( lt, Suvalkai; yi, סואוואַלק) is a city in northeastern Poland with a population of 69,206 (2021). It is the capital of Suwałki County and one of the most important centers of commerce in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Suwałki ...

(Suvalkai). It also has a partnership agreement with Poland's

West Pomeranian Voivodeship The West Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as the West Pomerania Province, is a voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals 22 892.48 km² (8,838.84 sq mi), and in 2021, it was ...

, signed in

on 19 June 2009.

Sports

In 14 of September 2017 Nemenčinė Biathlon Stadium was opened and become a second operating Biathlon course in Lithuania (first being Ignalina Winter Sports Centre).Atidaryta biatlono šaudykla ir rekonstruotas Nemenčinės stadionas
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People

* Zdzisław Balicki, Polish

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

deputy * Miroslava Ritskiavitchius, Lithuanian handball player that represented Germany at 1996 Olympics

References

External links

Virtual Tour of Nemenčinė
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemencine Cities in Lithuania Cities in Vilnius County Vilensky Uyezd Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939) Holocaust locations in Lithuania Vilnius District Municipality