Skirsnemunė is a village in
Jurbarkas district municipality,
Tauragė County
Tauragė County (Lithuanian: ''Tauragės apskritis'') is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Tauragė
Tauragė (; see other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of ...
,
Lithuania. It is situated on the
Neman River
The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ; ...
about 9 km from
Jurbarkas
Jurbarkas (; Samogitian: ''Jorbarks'', known also by several alternative names) is a city in Tauragė County, in Samogitia, Lithuania. Jurbarkas is located in the historic land of Karšuva. It is on the right-hand shore of the Nemunas at its ...
. According to the 2011 census, it had 772 residents.
The village traces it history to
Christmemel Christmemel (Latin: ''Christi Memela'', ''Kyrsmemel'', ''Kirsmomela'') was a frontier fortress (''Ordensburg'') of the Teutonic Knights on the banks of the Neman River. It was constructed of wood and earth between April 8 and 22, 1313, by Grand Mas ...
, a fortress built 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 ...
on a nearby
hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post- ...
in 1313. The fortress was abandoned in 1328. The town church was funded by the last will of Mykolas, son of
Jonas Kęsgaila Jonas Kęsgaila or Kęsgailaitis ( pl, Jan Kieżgajło, la, Johannes Kyensgalowicz, died 1485) was a Lithuanian nobleman, son of Mykolas Kęsgaila of the Kęsgaila family. He fathered two sons (Stanislovas Kęsgaila and Mykolas Kęsgaila) and two ...
, in 1523. Skirsnemunė received
Magdeburg rights
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 ...
in 1792.
Gallery
File:Skirsnemunė coats of arms in 1792.jpg, Coat of arms (1792)
File:Skirsnemunės bažnyčia.JPG, St. George's Church
File:Zvyriai.jpg, Skirsnemunė Evangelical Lutheran Church
References
* Borchert, Friedrich. ''Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen e.V.'' (26 May 2001).
Kampf im Osten – Diplomatie im Westen. Retrieved 11 April 2006.
* Urban, William. ''The Teutonic Knights: A Military History''. Greenhill Books. London, 2003, pp. 133, 162, 167, 168.
Villages in Tauragė County
{{TauragėCounty-geo-stub