Gusev
Encyclopedia
Gusev is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast
, Russia
, located at the confluence
of the Pissa and Krasnaya River
s, near the border with Poland
and Lithuania
, east of Chernyakhovsk
. Population:
) in the Duchy of Prussia was first mentioned in a 1580 deed. The village had been laid out at the behest of the Hohenzollern
duke Albert of Prussia in 1545. In 1709-11, the area was devastated by the plague and had to be redeveloped under the rule of King Frederick William I of Prussia
. He granted Gumbinnen town privileges
in 1724 and from 1732 resettled the area with Protestant
expellees from the Archbishopric of Salzburg
, who had been exiled by Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. A first church of the Salzburg Protetants was erected in 1752, rebuilt according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel
in 1840.
From 1815, the town was the capital of Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen
in the Province of East Prussia
during Prussian
rule. Gumbinnen became part of the German Empire
during the unification of Germany
in 1871. The Battle of Gumbinnen
, a major battle on the Eastern Front
of World War I, took place nearby in August 1914 in the opening days of the war.
After Adolf Hitler
and the Nazis
came to power, the German government designated Gumbinnen as a military sub-region of the Königsberg
military area. It was the headquarters of the 206th Depot-Abteilung.
On 21 January 1945, the Red Army
occupied Gumbinnen and the Soviet Union
kept control afterward. The following year, on 7 September 1946, the Soviet Union renamed it Gusev, after the Soviet Captain, Sergei Ivanovich Gusev, born in 1918 and killed in action in the battle for the town in January 1945. Gusev posthumously was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
on 19 April 1945.
. Some of the zone's projects are located in Gusev, e.g. NPO CTS
.
with: Pabianice
, Poland
Gołdap, Poland
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, located at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Pissa and Krasnaya River
Krasnaya River
The Krasnaya is a river in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Poland's Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.The Krasnaya flows through Romincka Forest and ends at the Pissa River at Gusev. Krasnolesye, Russia is one of the many villages and towns located on the river....
s, near the border with Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, east of Chernyakhovsk
Chernyakhovsk
Chernyakhovsk is a town and the administrative center of Chernyakhovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Instruch and the Angrapa Rivers, forming the Pregolya...
. Population:
History
The settlement of Gumbinnen (from : tuberTuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
) in the Duchy of Prussia was first mentioned in a 1580 deed. The village had been laid out at the behest of the Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
duke Albert of Prussia in 1545. In 1709-11, the area was devastated by the plague and had to be redeveloped under the rule of King Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia
Frederick William I of the House of Hohenzollern, was the King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg from 1713 until his death...
. He granted Gumbinnen town privileges
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
in 1724 and from 1732 resettled the area with Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
expellees from the Archbishopric of Salzburg
Archbishopric of Salzburg
The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire, its territory roughly congruent with the present-day Austrian state of Salzburg....
, who had been exiled by Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. A first church of the Salzburg Protetants was erected in 1752, rebuilt according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel
Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.-Biography:Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of...
in 1840.
From 1815, the town was the capital of Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen
Gumbinnen (region)
Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen was a Regierungsbezirk, or government region, of the Prussian province of East Prussia from 1815 until 1945. The regional capital was Gumbinnen .-History:...
in the Province of East Prussia
Province of East Prussia
The Province of East Prussia was a province of Prussia from 1773–1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg ....
during Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
rule. Gumbinnen became part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
during the unification of Germany
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
in 1871. The Battle of Gumbinnen
Battle of Gumbinnen
The Battle of Gumbinnen, initiated by forces of the German Empire on August 20, 1914, was the first major German offensive on the Eastern Front during the First World War...
, a major battle on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
of World War I, took place nearby in August 1914 in the opening days of the war.
After Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
came to power, the German government designated Gumbinnen as a military sub-region of the Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
military area. It was the headquarters of the 206th Depot-Abteilung.
On 21 January 1945, the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
occupied Gumbinnen and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
kept control afterward. The following year, on 7 September 1946, the Soviet Union renamed it Gusev, after the Soviet Captain, Sergei Ivanovich Gusev, born in 1918 and killed in action in the battle for the town in January 1945. Gusev posthumously was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
on 19 April 1945.
The Yantar Special Economic Zone
In the 1990s in Kaliningrad Oblast was established The Yantar Special Economic ZoneYantar, Kaliningrad
The Yantar Special Economic Zone has been established in 1996 in the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation."Yantar" means amber in Russian. Amber has been collected along the Baltic coasts of present day Kaliningrad Oblast since ancient times, and some sites are still worked today although...
. Some of the zone's projects are located in Gusev, e.g. NPO CTS
NPO “Digital Television Systems”
Public company “NPO “Digital Television Systems” is an enterprise for various equipment and devices assembling for a wide range of purposes...
.
Notable residents
- Bruno BielerBruno BielerBruno Bieler was a German general who commanded the LII Corps during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...
(1888–1966), general - Gotthard HeinriciGotthard HeinriciGotthard Heinrici was a general in the German Army during World War II.-Personal life:Heinrici's was born in Gumbinnen , East Prussia, on Christmas Day, 1886, to Paul Heinrici, a local Lutheran minister of the Prussian Church, and his wife Gisela, née von Rauchhaupt, who was of recent Jewish descent...
(1886–1971), general - Karin Burneleit (born 1943), athlete
- Konrad Grallert von CebrówKonrad Grallert von CebrówKonrad Grallert von Cebrów was a divisional commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army.- Life :Feldmarschall-Leutnant Konrad Grallert von Cebrów was born as Konrad Karl August Grallert in Gumbinnen to Joachim Grallert and Berthe Hoefler.His family moved to Arad in the Transylvanian...
(1865–1942), divisional commander in the Austro-Hungarian Army - Oleg GazmanovOleg GazmanovOleg Mikhaylovich Gazmanov is a Russian pop singer, composer and poet, specializing in patriotic songs that glorify Russia and Russian history. Gazmanov is leader of rock-group "Эскадрон"...
(born 1951), pop-singer, composer and poet - Otto von CorvinOtto von CorvinOtto Julius Bernhard von Corvin-Wiersbitzki was a German author.-Biography:Corvin was born in Gumbinnen to the Rittmeister, and later director of the postal administration, of Gumbinnen Friedrich August Heinrich von Corvin-Wiersbitzki...
(1812–1886), writer - Vladimir VdovichenkovVladimir VdovichenkovVladimir Vdovichenkov is a Russian actor.-Early life and education:He was born Vladimir Vladimirovich Vdovichenkov in Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian RSFSR, Soviet Union....
(born 1971), actor - Werner DankwortWerner DankwortDr. Carl Werner Dankwort born in Gumbinnen, Germany, was a German diplomat who served a major role in bringing Germany into the League of Nations in 1926 prior to representing the German contingent in the Organization for European Economic Cooperation, the post-World War II effort known as the...
(1895–1986), diplomat
Twin towns/sister cities
Gusev is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Pabianice
Pabianice
Pabianice is a town in central Poland with 69 648 inhabitants . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Gołdap, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...