Sovetsk lies in the historic region of Lithuania Minor[8] at the confluence of the Tilse 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 (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification) using the −3°C or 26.6°F boundary, or a humid continental climate (Dfb) using the 0°C or 32°F boundary.
Tilsit, which received civic rights from Albert, Duke of Prussia in 1552,[9] 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 upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation.[10] After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the settlement was a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights,[11] and thus was located within the Polish–Lithuanian union, later elevated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the winter of 1678–1679, during the Scanian War, the town was occupied by Sweden.[9] From the 18th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. During the Seven Years' War, in 1757–1762, the town was under Russian control.[9] Afterwards it fell back to Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part of Germany.
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, completed Napoleon's humiliation of the Kingdom of Prussia, 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.
Until 1945, a marble tablet marked the house in which King Frederick William III of Prussia 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.
During the 19th century when the Lithuanian language in Latin characters was banned within the Russian Empire, Tilsit was an important centre for printing Lithuanian books which then were smuggled by Knygnešiai to the Russian-controlled part of Lithuania. 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.[8] The local Lithuanian population was subjected to Germanisation, which resulted in a decrease in the share of Lithuanians in the town's population. In 1884, Lithuanians formed 13% of the town's population.[8] By 1900 it had electric tramways and 34,500 inhabitants; a direct railway line linked it to Königsberg (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 and 4% were Lithuanians.[12] 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. The Act of Tilsit was signed here by leaders of the Lietuvininks in 1918.
Hitler visited the town just before World War II, and a photo was taken of him on the famous bridge over the Neman River. During the war, expelled Poles from German-occupied Poland were enslaved by the Germans as forced labour in the town's vicinity.[13] Tilsit was occupied by the Red Army on January20, 1945, and was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945. The remaining Germans 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 rule.
Modern Sovetsk has sought to take advantage of Tilsit's tradition of cheese production (Tilsit cheese), but the new name ("Sovetsky cheese") has not inherited its predecessor's reputation.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there has been some discussion about the possibility of restoring the town's original name.[14] 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.[15] 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[16]
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.[17] 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.
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.[3] As a municipal division, the town of oblast significance of Sovetsk is incorporated as Sovetsky Urban Okrug.[4]
Architecture
Queen Louise bridge
Theater
Old townhouses
Old townhouses
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 Lithuania, 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.
In February and March 2022 respectively, the Polish city of Bełchatów suspended while the Polish Iława County terminated their partnership with Sovetsk as a reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[21][22]
Notable people
Daniel Klein (1609–1666), Lithuanian pastor and grammarian
Victor Ivrii (born 1949) a Soviet, Canadian mathematician
Andrei Sosnitskiy (born 1962) a Belarusian professional football coach and a former player
Gallery
Coat of arms of Tilsit (1905)
Market square of Tilsit with the town hall and the Schenkendorf statue, 1930
Old view of Tilsit, circa 1910
Gymnasium
The birthplace of Armin Mueller-Stahl, which has been a listed building since 2010
Popular culture
The town is the location of a scene in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace (Book Two Part Two Chapter 21).[24]
Tilsit is the setting for part of the 1939 film "The Journey to Tilsit".
References
Notes
Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том1[2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol.1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010года [2010 All-Russia Population Census] (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service.
Wardzyńska, Maria (2017). Wysiedlenia ludności polskiej z okupowanych ziem polskich włączonych do III Rzeszy w latach 1939-1945 (in Polish). Warszawa: IPN. pp.395, 405, 410, 416, 423. ISBN978-83-8098-174-4.
Karabeshkin, Leonid; Wellmann, Christian (2004). The Russian Domestic Debate on Kaliningrad: Integrity, Identity and Economy. Münster: LIT Verlag. p.35. ISBN9783825879525.
Tolstoy, Leo (1949). War and Peace. Garden City: International Collectors Library. pp.204, 235.
Sources
Правительство Калининградской области.Постановление№640от30 августа 2011 г. «Об утверждении реестра объектов административно-территориального деления Калининградской области», в ред. Постановления №877 от21 ноября 2011 г«О внесении изменения в Постановление Правительства Калининградской области от 30августа 2011г. №640». Вступил в силусо дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Калининградская правда" (вкладыш "Официально"), №170, 15 сентября 2011 г. (Government of Kaliningrad Oblast.Resolution#640ofAugust30, 2011 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Objects of the Administrative-Territorial Divisions of Kaliningrad Oblast, as amended by the Resolution#877 ofNovember21, 2011 On Amending the Resolution of the Government of Kaliningrad Oblast #640 of August30, 2011. Effective as ofthe day of the official publication.).
Калининградская областная Дума.Закон№376от31 марта 2004 г. «О наделении муниципального образования "Город Советск" статусом городского округа», в ред. Закона №370 от1 июля 2009 г«О составе территорий муниципальных образований Калининградской области». Вступил в силус момента официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская газета" ("Запад России"), №88, 27 апреля 2004 г. (Kaliningrad Oblast Duma.Law#376ofMarch31, 2004 On Granting the Urban Okrug Status to the Municipal Formation of the "Town of Sovetsk", as amended by the Law#370 ofJuly1, 2009 On the Composition of the Territories of the Municipal Formations of Kaliningrad Oblast. Effective as ofthe moment of the official publication.).
Northern Germany by Karl Baedeker, 14th revised edition, London, 1904, p.178.
This articleincorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tilsit". Encyclopædia Britannica (11thed.). Cambridge University Press.
Другой контент может иметь иную лицензию. Перед использованием материалов сайта WikiSort.org внимательно изучите правила лицензирования конкретных элементов наполнения сайта.
2019-2024 WikiSort.org - проект по пересортировке и дополнению контента Википедии