Narmeln (, ), alternatively known as Polski,Georg Mielcarczyk, ''Narmeln-Neukrug-Vöglers. Ein Kirchspiel auf der Frischen Nehrung'', Bremerhaven, 1971. is an abandoned village in

Baltiysky District Baltiysky District is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia. Districts of the federal subjects *Baltiysky District, Kaliningrad Oblast, an administrative and municipal district of Kaliningrad Oblast Historical cit ...

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 ...

. It is located on the

Vistula Spit The Vistula Spit (; ; ; ) is an aeolian sand spit, or peninsular stretch of land, separating Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea, with its tip separated from the mainland by the Strait of Baltiysk. The border between Poland (Pom ...

, on the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, the westernmost point of Russia. Narmeln is distinct as it is one of the few places in Kaliningrad Oblast whose

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

name was not officially changed when the territory was annexed to 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 ...

following

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 ...

, and is also the only part of historic

Gdańsk Pomerania Gdańsk Pomerania (; ; ) is the main geographical region within Pomerelia (also known as Vistula Pomerania, Eastern Pomerania, and previously Polish Pomerania) in northern Poland, covering the bulk of Pomeranian Voivodeship. In contrast to ''Pome ...

to be annexed by the Soviet Union by the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

. Narmeln was depopulated after the war, and the Soviet side of the Vistula Spit was made into an

exclusion zone An exclusion zone is a geographic area in which specific activities are prohibited by an authority. The United States Department of Defense defines an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific g ...

, which remains in effect today.

Geographical location

Narmeln is located about south-west of

Baltiysk Baltiysk ( ); ; Old Prussian: ''Pillawa''; ; ; is a seaport town and the administrative center of Baltiysky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the northern part of the Vistula Spit, on the shore of the Strait of Baltiysk separ ...

. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Poland–Russia border nearby. ()

History

Coaching inn and border station

In 1466, following the Thirteen Years' War, the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

renounced any claims to the area and recognized it as part of 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 ...

. The southern part of the Vistula Spit had been given by 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 ...

to the city of Danzig (Gdańsk). In 1489 the innkeeper Hans Voyte got the permission to open a

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of t ...

in a place called ''Ermelen''. The settlement was a possession of the city of Gdańsk, located in the

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...

in the province of Royal or Polish Prussia in the Greater Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1525 it became a border station between the territories of Gdańsk in Poland and 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 duchy of Poland. Narmeln was annexed by 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 1793, in the

Second Partition of Poland The 1793 Second Partition of Poland was the second of partitions of Poland, three partitions (or partial annexations) that ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The second partition (politics), partition occurred i ...

. During the era of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

the village was a border settlement of the Free City of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the period extending from 1807 to 1814. In 1815 it was reannexed by Prussia, and became part of the province of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

, and from 1871 it was also part of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, after the creation of the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

in accordance with the terms of the

Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactl ...

Narmeln was joined with the area around Elbing (Elbląg) to the German 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 ...

World War II

Following Germany's

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 ...

at the start of

, the village was included in the newly formed province of

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia () was an Reichsgau, administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor), and the Marienwerder (regi ...

, the bulk of which was German-occupied Polish Pomerania. In 1945 the spit was the last holdout of the remaining German soldiers in East and West Prussia. After the occupation of Tolkemit (Tolkmicko) on January 26, the German refugees fled over the ice of the

Vistula Lagoon The Vistula Lagoon is a brackish water lagoon on the Baltic Sea roughly 56 miles (90 km) long, 6 to 15 miles (10 to 19 km) wide, and up to 17 feet (5 m) deep, separated from the Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. Geography The lag ...

from Passarge (Nowa Pasłęka) to Narmeln. The village was eventually captured by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on April 30, 1945.

Post-war changes

After the war, the settlement passed to the Soviet Union and the German inhabitants were expelled in accordance with the

. Narmeln was the only settlement of historic Gdańsk (Eastern) Pomerania, which had been transferred to the Soviets. Located almost on the border to

the village became a deserted place. Border crossings are not allowed on the spit, the Russian part is an

Historical names

''Ermelen'' (1489), ''Narmeln'' (after 1489), ''Narmeln'', ''Polski'' (1660), ''Narmeln'', ''Polski'', ''Polsk'' (until 1945).

Nature

Narmeln had been famous for the largest moving

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

with a height between 26 and 45 meters on the Vistula spit. In 1926 a youth hostel had been opened.

References

Notes

Sources

* Josef Nikodemus Pawlowski, ''Populäre Geschichte und Beschreibung des Danziger Landkreises'', Danzig, 1885. * Georg Mielcarczyk, ''Narmeln-Neukrug-Vöglers. Ein Kirchspiel auf der Frischen Nehrung'', Bremerhaven, 1971. (''Ostdeutsche Landgemeinden und Kirchspiele'', Band 7)

External links

''Der Landkreis Elbing: Narmeln''
{{Authority control 1945 disestablishments in Germany Former populated places in Kaliningrad Oblast Pomerania