Gvardeysk ( rus, Гвардейск, p=ɡvɐrˈdʲejsk, a=Ru-Гвардейск.oga; known prior to 1946 by its
German name Tapiau ; ; ), is a
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
and the
administrative center
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located.
In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...
of
Gvardeysky District in
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, located on the right bank of the
Pregolya River east of
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
. Population figures: It is located within the historic region of
Sambia.
History
Peter of Dusburg Peter of Dusburg (; ; died after 1326), also known as Peter of Duisburg, was a Priest-Brother and chronicler of the Teutonic Knights. He is known for writing the ''Chronicon terrae Prussiae'', which described the 13th and early 14th century Teutonic ...
wrote of a settlement known as Tapiow, first documented in 1254, and the neighboring fort ''Surgurbi'' built by 1265.
[Oesterley, p. 676] The
Old Prussian
Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...
names were derived from the words , , , , meaning 'warm', and , meaning 'around the mountain'. During the 13th century
Prussian Crusade
The Prussian Crusade was a series of 13th-century campaigns of Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Crusades, crusaders, primarily led by the Teutonic Knights, to Christianization, Christianize Forced conversion, under duress the Prussian mythol ...
, the area was conquered by the
Teutonic Knights
The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...
. To protect
Samland from the
Nadruvians and
Scalvians
The Scalovians (; ), also known as the Skalvians, ''Schalwen'' and ''Schalmen'', were a Balts, Baltic tribe related to the Old Prussians, Prussians. According to the ''Chronicon terrae Prussiae'' of Peter of Dusburg, the now extinct Scalovians in ...
, the crusaders built a wooden fort between the
Deime and
Pregel Rivers in 1283–1290. This was replaced by
Tapiau Castle, a stone
Ordensburg
''Ordensburg'' (plural ''Ordensburgen'') is a German language, German term meaning a "castle of a (military) order". It is used specifically for the fortified structures built by Crusades, crusading German Military order (religious society), m ...
, in 1351.
The settlement gradually became known by the
German crusaders as Tapiau.
Vytautas
Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites.
In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...
, the later
Grand Duke of Lithuania
This is a list of Lithuanian monarchs who ruled Lithuania from its inception until the fall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1795. The Lithuanian monarch bore the title of Grand duke, Grand Duke, with the exception of Mindaugas, who was crown ...
, was baptized in Tapiau in 1385. Upon the request of the anti-Teutonic
Prussian Confederation in 1454 Polish King
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...
incorporated the region and town to the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Background
The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
and the
Thirteen Years' War broke out. After the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the war, in 1466, the town became part of Poland as a
fief
A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...
held by the Teutonic Knights. After the transfer of the
Grand Master's seat from
Malbork
Malbork (German: ''Marienburg'') is a town in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of Malbork County and has a population of 36,709 people as of 2024. The town is located on the Nogat river, in the historical region of Pomerelia.
Fo ...
to
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
, Tapiau became the site of the Order's archives and library from 1469 to 1722.

Tapiau became a part of the
Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...
, a vassal state of Poland, in 1525. The Tapiau Castle was often used as a second residence of the Prussian dukes;
Albert of Prussia died there in 1568. It became a part of the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...
in 1701, receiving
town privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...
from King
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I (; 14 August 1688 – 31 May 1740), known as the Soldier King (), was King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death in 1740, as well as Prince of Neuchâtel.
Born in Berlin, he was raised by the Hugu ...
in 1722. It became a part of the newly established Prussian Province of
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
in 1773 and was administered in
Landkreis Wehlau (1818–1945). Tapiau became a part of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
during the
unification of Germany
The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...
in 1871.
In August 1939, the Germans imprisoned the principal, teachers, other staff and 162 students of the Polish
gymnasium in
Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn (; ; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River. With a population of 36,731, it is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Geography
Kwidzyn is located on the L ...
in the town. They were held in the former
psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
. In September 1939, during the German
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
, which started
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, it was converted into a
prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...
for Polish POWs, and Polish teachers and youth were deported elsewhere. A Nazi prison for women was operated in the town.
Unlike most other towns in northern East Prussia, Tapiau was largely undamaged during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Following the war's end in 1945, it was annexed by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and renamed Gvardeysk ('guard town') in 1946.
The town's German population of more than 9,000 either fled or were killed during the war, and those remaining after the war were
expelled and gradually replaced by Soviet residents.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the
framework of administrative divisions, Gvardeysk serves as the
administrative center
An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located.
In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...
of
Gvardeysky District.
[Law #463] As an administrative division, it is, together with one
rural locality (the settlement of
Prigorodnoye), incorporated within Gvardeysky District as the
town of district significance
Town of district significance is an administrative division of a district in a federal subject of Russia. It is equal in status to a selsoviet or an urban-type settlement of district significance, but is organized around a town (as opposed to a ...
of Gvardeysk.
[Resolution #640]
Within the
framework of municipal divisions, since June 11, 2014, the territories of the town of district significance of Gvardeysk and of four
rural okrugs of Gvardeysky District are incorporated as Gvardeysky Urban Okrug.
[Law #319] Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Gvardeysky Municipal District as Gvardeyskoye Urban Settlement.
Coat of arms
The
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 last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
of Gvardeysk depicts a bare hand holding a sword amongst clouds, beneath a golden sun. When the town was known as Tapiau before 1946, the golden sun also included the
Tetragrammaton
The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...
(''Jehova-Sonne'').
[Hupp, p. 36]
Sights
Sights of Gvardeysk include a church from 1502 and the ruined
Tapiau Castle, reconstructed into an orphanage in 1879. It has been used as a prison since 1945.
People
Tapiau's most famous resident was the German Impressionist painter
Lovis Corinth (1858–1925), who donated the painting ''Golgatha'' for the altar of the town's church in 1910; the painting disappeared near the end of World War II. The house where Corinth was born still stands in Gvardeysk. Other notable people associated with the town include
Albert, Duke of Prussia
Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...
(1490–1568), who died in Tapiau.
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official website of Gvardeysk Gvardeysk Business Directory
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast
Castles in Russia
Gvardeysky District