Sovetsk (; ) 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 ...

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 south bank of the Neman River which forms 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 ...

History

Early history

Tilsit, which received civic rights from Albert, Duke of Prussia in 1552,''Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XII'', p. 703 developed around a castle of the Teutonic Knights, known as the Schalauer Haus, founded in 1288. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region 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 ...

upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the settlement was a 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, and thus was located within the Polish–Lithuanian union, later elevated to the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. In the winter of 1678–1679, during the Scanian War, the town was occupied by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. From the 18th century, 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 ...

. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, in 1757–1762, the town was under Russian control. Afterwards it fell back to Prussia.

Late modern period

The Treaties of Tilsit were signed here in July 1807, the preliminaries of which were settled by the emperors Alexander I of Russia and Napoleon I of France on a raft moored in the Neman River. This treaty, which created the Kingdom of Westphalia and the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

, completed Napoleon's humiliation of the

, when it was deprived of one half of its dominions. Three days before its signing, the Prussian queen Louise (1776–1810) tried to persuade Napoleon in a private conversation to ease his hard conditions on Prussia; though unsuccessful, Louise's effort endeared her to the Prussian people. In 1811, a new ship-of-the-line of the French navy was named '' Tilsitt'', to commemorate this treaty. This ship of 80 guns of the ''Bucentaure'' class was built in Antwerp. After the fall of the French empire, the ship was transferred to the new Dutch navy and named ''Neptunus''. Until 1945, a marble tablet marked the house in which King

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, when the empire was dissolved ...

and Queen Louise resided. Also, in the former Schenkendorf Platz was a monument to the poet Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817), a native of Tilsit; a statue of Lenin was erected in its place in 1967. Following the unsuccessful Polish

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

, hundreds of Polish insurgents, including professors and students of the Wilno University, were interned in the town in 1832. ID007219-Tilsit-Litauische Kirche

During the 19th century when the Lithuanian language in Latin characters was banned within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, Tilsit was an important centre for printing Lithuanian books which then were smuggled by Knygnešiai to the Russian-controlled part of

. The Lithuanian Literary Society with a library and an archaeological collection was active in the town. In the 19th century, there were four churches in the town: two Lutheran (one Lithuanian and one German), one Calvinist, and one Catholic, as well as a synagogue. In general, Tilsit thrived and was an important Prussian town. The '' Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland'' from 1892 referred to the town as the capital of Lithuania Minor. The local Lithuanian population was subjected to Germanisation policies, intensified after the city became 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 ...

in 1871, which resulted in a decrease in the share of Lithuanians in the town's population. In 1877, weekly German-language services were introduced in the Lithuanian church, alongside the Lithuanian services. In 1884,

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

formed 13% of the town's population. By 1900 it had electric tramways and 34,500 inhabitants; a direct railway line linked it 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 ...

( Kaliningrad) and Labiau ( Polessk) and steamers docked there daily. According to the Prussian census of 1905, the city of Tilsit had a population of 37,148, of which 96% were

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and 4% were

. The bridge was built in 1907 and rebuilt in 1946. The town was occupied by Russian troops between 26 August 1914 and 12 September 1914 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The Act of Tilsit was signed here by leaders of the Lietuvininks in 1918. Tilsit Act

World War II and post-war period

Hitler visited the town just before

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 a photo was taken of him on the famous bridge over the Neman River. During the war, the Germans operated a forced labour subcamp of the Stalag I-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 Allied POWs in the town, and expelled Poles from German-occupied Poland were also enslaved as forced labour in the town's vicinity. Tilsit was occupied by the Red Army on January 20, 1945 (during the East Prussian offensive), and 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 ...

in 1945. The remaining

who had not evacuated were subsequently expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement and replaced with Soviet citizens. The town was renamed Sovetsk in honor of

Soviet 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 ...

rule. Modern Sovetsk has sought to take advantage of Tilsit's tradition of

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

production ( Tilsit cheese), but the new name ("Sovetsky cheese") has not inherited its predecessor's reputation. Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, there has been some discussion about the possibility of restoring the town's original name. In 2010, the Kaliningrad Oblast's then-governor Georgy Boos of the ruling United Russia Party proposed restoring the original name and combining the town with the Neman and Slavsk Districts to form a new Tilsit District. Boos emphasized that this move would stimulate development and economic growth, but that it could happen only through a referendum. The idea was opposed by the Communist Party of Russia; in particular, Igor Revin, the Kaliningrad Secretary of the Communist Party, accused Boos and United Russia of Germanophilia. In April 2007, government restrictions on visits to border areas were tightened, and for foreigners, and Russians living outside the border zone, travel to the Sovetsk and Bagrationovsk areas required advance permission from the Border Guard Service (in some cases up to 30 days beforehand). It was alleged that this procedure slowed the development of these potentially thriving border towns. In June 2012, these restrictions were lifted (the only restricted area is the Neman river shoreline), which gave a boost to local and international tourism.

Geography

Sovetsk lies in the historic region of Lithuania Minor at the confluence of the Tylzha and Neman rivers. Panemunė in Lithuania was formerly a suburb of the town; after Germany's defeat in World War I, the trans-Neman suburb was detached from Tilsit (with the rest of the Klaipėda Region) in 1920.

Climate

Sovetsk has a borderline

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

) using the boundary, or a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'') using the boundary.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, it is incorporated as the town of oblast significance of Sovetsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Resolution #639 As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Sovetsk is incorporated as Sovetsky Urban Okrug.Law #376

Architecture

Many of the town's buildings were destroyed during World War II. However, the old town centre still includes several German buildings, including those of Jugendstil design. The Queen Louise Bridge, now connecting the town to Panemunė in

, retains an arch – all that is left of a more complex pre-war bridge structure built in 1907. The carved relief portrait of Queen Louise above the arch still exists; however, the German inscription "KÖNIGIN LUISE-BRÜCKE" was removed after the Soviets took over the town. File:Tilsit Queen Louise-Bridge.jpg, Queen Louise bridge File:Замок в тильзите.jpg, Tilsit castle File:Дома на улице победы.jpg, Old townhouses File:Старинные дома на улице Победы.jpg, Old townhouses File:Масонская «Ложа трех патриархов» - сейчас дворец творчества.jpg, New Loge, built 1925-26 by Erich Mendelsohn

Historical population

*1816: 10,548 *1821: 11,248 *1880: 21,400 *1891: 24,126 *1900: 34,539 *1910: 39,013 *1925: 50,834 *1933: 57,286 *1939: 59,105 *1946: 6,500 *1959: 31,941 * 1989: 41,881 * 2002: 43,224 *2004: 43,300 *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: 41,705 Ethnic composition in 2010: *

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

: 86.7% *

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

: 3.5% *

: 3.3% * Belarusians: 2.7%

Twin towns – sister cities

Sovetsk is twinned with: *

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, Germany * Považská Bystrica, Slovakia

Notable people

* Daniel Klein (1609–1666), Lithuanian pastor and grammarian * Johann Christian Jacobi (1719–1784), German oboist * Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817), German poet and author * Franz Meyen (1804–1840), German botanist * Hans Victor von Unruh (1806–1886), German politician and technician * Louis Kolitz (1845-1912), German artist * Wilhelm Voigt (1849–1922), the inspiration for '' The Captain of Köpenick'' * Margarete Poehlmann (1856–1923), German educator and politician, first woman to speak in a Prussian parliament * Gustaf Kossinna or Kossina (1858–1931), archaeologist * Johanna Wolff (1858–1943), German author * Oscar Friedheim (1858–1928), British businessman of German-Jewish descent * Max Scherwinsky (1859–1909) German-born architect working mainly in Riga, Latvia * Emil Wiechert (1861–1928), German geophysicist * Raphael Friedeberg (1863–1940), German physician and politician * Max Gülstorff (1882–1947), German actor * Carl Brinkmann (1885–1954), German sociologist and economist * Franz Scheidies (1890–1942) general in the Wehrmacht during WWII * Walter Weiß (1890–1967), German general during WWII. * Friedrich Schröder Sonnenstern (1892–1982), Illustrator * Dick Shikat (1897–1968) German professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion * Frank Wisbar (1899–1967) German director * Karl Hermann Martell (1906–1966), German actor * Franz Abromeit (1907–1964), SS officer, Reichssicherheitshauptamt ('' Judenreferent'') * Joachim Sadrozinski (1907–1944), officer and resistance fighter * Erna Dorn (1911–1953) victim of injustice in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

* Siegfried Graetschus (1916–1943), SS- Oberscharführer, killed during revolt in Sobibor extermination camp * Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965), German writer * Werner Abrolat (1924–1997), German actor * Gunter Wyszecki (1925–1985), German-Canadian physicist *

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German actor who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''Shine (1996 film), Sh ...

(born 1930), German actor, honorary citizen since 8 December 2011Armin Mueller-Stahl Ehrenbürger seiner Heimatstadt
Berliner Zeitung, 8 December 2011 * Sabine Bethmann (1931–2021), German actress * Jürgen Kurbjuhn (1940–2014), football player * Klaus-Dieter Sieloff (1942–2011), football player * John Kay (born 1944), lead singer of the late 1960s rock band Steppenwolf *

Edgar Froese Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 – 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the gro ...

(1944–2015), German founder and leader of the electronic music group Tangerine Dream * Victor Ivrii (born 1949) a Soviet, Canadian mathematician * Andrei Sosnitskiy (born 1962) a Belarusian professional football coach and a former player

Popular culture

The town is the location of a scene in

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

's '' War and Peace'' (Book Two Part Two Chapter 21). Tilsit is the setting for part of the 1939 film " The Journey to Tilsit", which is based on a 1917 novella of the same name written by Hermann Sudermann.

Gallery

Wappen von Tilsit.gif, Coat of arms of Tilsit (1905) Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-P001239,_Tilsit.jpg, Market square of Tilsit with the town hall and the Schenkendorf statue, 1930 Tilsit_an_der_Memel.JPG, Old view of Tilsit, Советск - Школьная 13.jpg, Gymnasium Дом,где Мюллер-Шталь.jpg, The birthplace of

, which has been a listed building since 2010

References

Notes

Sources

* * *''Northern Germany'' by Karl Baedeker, 14th revised edition, London, 1904, p. 178. * {{Authority control Cities and towns in Kaliningrad Oblast Lithuania–Russia border crossings 1552 establishments in Europe