Rybachy (, from ''Рыба́к'', "Fisherman", , ) is a

rural settlement The definition of a rural settlement depends on the country, in some countries, a rural settlement is any settlement in the areas defined as rural by a governmental office, e.g., by the national census bureau. This may include even rural towns. ...

Zelenogradsky District Zelenogradsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the fifteen in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the town of Zelenogradsk.Resol ...

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

Curonian Spit The Curonian Spit, sometimes called Courish Split (; ), is a long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Lithuania and Russia. Its southern portion lies w ...

. As of 2010 it has about 839 residents. It was formerly known for the

Rossitten Bird Observatory The Rossitten Bird Observatory (''Vogelwarte Rossitten'' in German) was the world's first ornithological observatory. It was sited at Rossitten, East Prussia (now Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), on the Curonian Spit on the south-eastern ...

and the Rossitten gliding school.

Geography

Rybachy is the largest settlement on the Russian side of the Curonian Spit between the

Curonian Lagoon The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; Prussian: ''Kursjanmari'', , ) is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is . The Neman River () supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, close to the border with

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is the administrative seat of the Kurschskaja Kossa (Curonian Spit) municipality. It lies approximately north-east of

Zelenogradsk Zelenogradsk (; ; ; Lithuanian and Old Prussian: ''Krantas'') is a town and the administrative center of Zelenogradsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located north of Kaliningrad, on the Sambian coastline near the Curonian Spit on ...

History

A Teutonic ''

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 ...

'' castle on the road from

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 ...

to Memel (

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

) was first mentioned in 1372. It had been the site of a Curonian fishing village, named after

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 ...

''rosit'' ("dew", cf. ). Constantly threatened by coastal

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 ...

s the settlement had to be relocated several times until their migration was stopped by large-scale

afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: natural Regeneration (biology), regeneration, agroforestry and Tree plantation, tree plan ...

in the 19th century. From 1701 on it was 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 ...

, and since 1871 it belonged to

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 ...

, within which it was administratively located in the 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 ...

until the end of

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 ...

. In the late 19th century, the village had a population of 369, mostly employed in

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, but also in agriculture. In the 1920s, the dunes near the village with their

updraft In meteorology, an updraft (British English: ''up-draught'') is a small-scale air current, current of rising air, often within a cloud. Overview Vertical drafts, known as updrafts or downdrafts, are localized regions of warm or cool air that mov ...

was a popular venue for glider pilots like

Julius Hatry Julius Hatry (30 December 1906 – 7 November 2000) was a German aircraft designer and builder. He is remembered for his contributions to sailplane development in the early twentieth century and for building the world's first purpose-built roc ...

. In 1924 the local gliding school became part of the ''Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft'', predecessor of the ''

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug The , or DFS , was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Walter Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) at Darmstadt.Reitsch, H., 1955, ...

'' (German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight). The area was also known as an

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

habitat. In the 1930s it developed to a

resort town A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

. It was transferred, along with the northern portion of the former province of East Prussia, 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 ...

in the aftermath of World War II. Rybachy translates as "Fishers' (settlement)", and appropriately employment centers on the fishing boats which dock at the pier on the Curonian Lagoon. The former Rossitten Bird Observatory (1901-1944) is today the site of the Rybachy Biological Station, founded in 1956 by Lev Belopolsky, which continues research on

bird migration Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Animal migration, Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and ...

. In 2006, Rybachy's classification was downgraded from an

urban-type settlement Urban-type settlement, abbreviated: ; , abbreviated: ; ; ; ; . is an official designation for lesser urbanized settlements, used in several Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern European countries. The term was primarily used in the So ...

to a rural settlement.

Politics

Sister cities

Brachttal Brachttal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Frankfurt Rhine-Main in Hesse, Germany. Districts The Bracht, a tributary of the Kinzig, flows through the ''Tal'' (valley) so the municipality got the name ''Brachttal.'' Brachttal ...

, Germany – since March 2015

Sights

Church

The red brick former

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

was built in 1873 when the village was part of

. It is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Rybachy. After the Second World War it was used for wheat storage. Only in 1992 was the church handed to the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

to be renovated. It is named after St

Sergius of Radonezh Sergius of Radonezh (; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392) was a Russian spiritual leader and monastic reformer. He was the founder of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius near Moscow, what is now the most venerated monastic house in Russia. He exer ...

and is in use once more as a church, now catering to the Orthodox community. In front of the church is a metal cross cast in 1992 by Eduardas Jonusas, an artist from the neighbouring Lithuanian town of Nida. This cross was erected in memory of the former German citizens of Rossitten.

Old cemetery

Amidst the forest about 500 m south of the village you can find the old cemetery which has existed since the Middle Ages. The

Second World War 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 ...

left it heavily damaged and it was not properly looked after for a long time. Some restoration work has been carried and it is possible to visit the newly restored gravestones of two famous locals:

Johannes Thienemann Johannes Wilhelm Thienemann (12 November 1863 – 12 April 1938) was a German ornithology, ornithologist and pastor who established the Rossitten Bird Observatory, the world's first dedicated bird ringing station where he conducted research and po ...

(1863-1938), the German ornithologist who founded the

; and Franz Epha, the legendary dune inspector who was able to stop the huge sand dunes from moving by stabilising them with plants. His pioneering work saved many villages from being buried under the shifting sands.

References

External links

Rybachy Biological Station, Russian Academy of Sciences
{{Authority control Rural localities in Kaliningrad Oblast Zelenogradsky District