Kaltinenai
Encyclopedia
Kaltinėnai is a little town on the west side of Lithuania
, near Žemaičių highroad, Šilalė district municipality.
In Kaltinėnai live about 1000 inhabitants. The town is in a hollow. People say that in the end of Ice age
here was a big lake. There are many breathtaking views around Kaltinėnai. The landscape is beautiful for its many famous mounds: Skuburkalnis, Švedkalnis, Kepaluškalnis
, Medvėgalis. Near Kaltinėnai run two rivers: Akmena and Ižnė.
Today Kaltinėnai is well known town in whole Lithuania. There are administration buildings, Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Gymnasium
, entertainment house, hospital, dispensary, 2 chemists’ shops, post office
, a few shops and department store
s, and café. Here are many interesting places, like the church, an old wooden synagogue, cross-hill, the home for elderly people
, and the Reabilitation Centre.
. Historians think that the town belonged to Karšuva country but later it split and Kaltinėnai became a separate region.
Kaltinėnai was first mentioned in Germans’ chronicle as terram Kalctene in 1371. Crusaders tried to conquer Kaltinėnai castle many times (in 1375, 1377 and 1389, also planned in 1386 - 1394) but local inhabitants protected it.
In the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century Kaltinėnai was one of 6 – 7 most important centres in Žemaitija. Noblemen from Kaltinėnai signed important documents. The town was so important that Vytautas the Great
ordered to build one of the first Catholic churches in Žemaitija (region was heathen until 1413) and it was complete by 1421. The see of Žemaitija was founded in 1417 and it ruled the town more than 400 years.
Kaltinėnai is known as a town since 1524. It was mapped in a Polish map two years later, what was much earlier than many towns around.
There were over 70 farms in the town in 1638, but 30 years later only 50 of them were left. After the Great Northern War
the town beggared even more, in 1773 there were only 15 and in 1778 – 19 farms which could pay tax.
In 1842, Russian tsar
authorities took the ecclesiastical lands under their control and made Kaltinėnai the volost
centre in 1861. In 1901 a local teacher O.Skobinas published the book called Kaltinėnai town where he described the town life in those days. He wrote that a post-office started working in 1861, a paramedic centre – in 1882, a savings bank
– in 1897, a chemist – in 1898. Small markets took place every Wednesday, large ones – 6 times a year. 10 shops, tearoom-canteen and 17 craftsmen (7 tailors, 5 shoemakers, 2 blacksmiths, 2 glaziers and a woodworker) also worked in the town. 430 people lived in Kaltinėnai: 263 Catholics, 140 Jews, 15 Orthodoxies and 12 Evangelic Lutherans. It is also mentioned that a lot of people had gone to America
to look for a better life.
Kaltinėnai inhabitants were very active in the revolutionary events of 1905 and the town also remained volost centre after the declaration of Lithuania Independence Act
in 1918. The town grew from 660 inhabitants to 800 from 1923 till 1939. Various shops worked in the town; its cultural life was also very active.
During the German Occupation Kaltinėnai lost its Jews’ community. All Jewish people who lived in the town were herded into a temporary ghetto
at first. Later, in 1941 autumn, they were all fired in Tūbinės forest.
A Lithuanian Underground Representatives’ Congress gathered in Kaltinėnai in 1944, 5 September. Its destination was to unite all patriotic organisations into one resistance centre. Although 7 representatives were caught in an accident caused by soviet reconnaissance, and German occupation authorities sent their representative to the congress, it was very important because after it the Lithuanian Army for Freedom became the main organisator of resistance.
In 1944, 7 October, Kaltinėnai was occupied by soviet army
and the second Soviet Occupation started. Although its beginning was one of the most difficult times in Lithuanian history, Kaltinėnai remained considerable – it was the centre of precinct
, kolkhoz
and parish
. The number of inhabitants decreased violently after the World War II
, but it started increasing again some years later.
After Lithuania
retrieved its Independence in 1990, Kaltinėnai did not lose its traditions – the town is still the centre of eldership
which contains 74 settlements and can really be proud of its rich history.
Since 1777 a parish school began to work in Kaltinėnai. Later there were four departments of primary school
. In 1944 a pro-gymnasium was found and after 5 years it was reorganized into seven forms school. In 1951 autumn the school became secondary school
. A new school building was built in 1969.
Since 1992 the school exchanges students’ delegations with the German Hankensbüttel
Gymnasium.
In 1999, on the 20th of December the title of Aleksandras Stulginskis Secondary School was given the school.
In 2009, on January 29 the school became gymnasium.
Now the school comprises two parts: primary and secondary. Some departments in near villages belong to the school, too.
The primary school is found in the building that was a hostel. The length of studies is 4 years. There is a kindergarten in this building, too.
The secondary school is double-decker. Students have to learn 6 years there and if they want they can learn 2 years more for secondary grade. There are also school management, canteen, library, 2 gyms, and a museum for A. Stulginskis in the main school building.
The school has got a few traditions: First and Last Bells, Hundred-Day, School Day, European Day of Languages, Earth’s Day, EU Day and others.
Over 500 students learn and over 50 teachers work here.
In 2006 the school was the winner of the project “The Increase of Effective Use of Energy in Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Secondary School” and was repaired.
built the first wooden church in 1416, there were about 6 wooden churches in the town. Some churches were burnt; others simply fell down and were rearranged.
Penultimate church was built in 1896. It was burnt in 1988. Just a traditional masonry fence of stones with gate and wooden belfry are left. After the belfry was rearranged into a temporary chapel it lost the original form to a degree.
Current church was built in 1995. It is a modern sacral architecture building with two triangular 40 m (131.23 ft) high towers. The title of St. John the Baptist was given to the church. Its keynote is 4.5 m (14.76 ft) high The Risen Christ sculpture, built of white marble and bronze by A. Vaura. V. Švanys created beautiful and impressive stations of colourful glass for the windows of the basement chambers of the church
There are a lot of very old, historical and artistic graves around the chapel. They are stamped with metallic crosses and other gravestones.
A high stone obelisk for Dionizas Poška stands near the chapel. D. Poška was a great poet and the founder of the Baubliai museum, the first history museum in Lithuania. D. Poška’s wife U. Poškienė and her mother R. Sasnauskienė are buried in the same place.
Marijona Stulginskienė (Aleksandras Stulginskis
mother) is buried in the south east side of the graveyard hillock.
Its hillsides are precipitous, to 20 m (65.62 ft) high. There is a ground which is about 2250 m² (2,690.98 sq yd) in the upper part of the mound. Its sides were surrounded by defence ramparts that are flattened now. But you can still find two ramparts and three defence ditches.
According to the size of the mound, the dimension of its defence fortifications, we can affirm that during the war with Crusaders there was one of the strongest castles in Žemaitija on the Pilės Mound.
Various finds, even shells of stone were found on the mound
There are a perfect swimming pool
, baths of salt and herbs, underwater massage, a comfortable training-hall where people can come to improve their own figure and other attractions.
There is also an elderly-house next to the Reabilitation Centre.
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...
, near Žemaičių highroad, Šilalė district municipality.
In Kaltinėnai live about 1000 inhabitants. The town is in a hollow. People say that in the end of Ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
here was a big lake. There are many breathtaking views around Kaltinėnai. The landscape is beautiful for its many famous mounds: Skuburkalnis, Švedkalnis, Kepaluškalnis
Kepaluškalnis
Kepaluškalins is a mound located in Šilalė district, close to Kaltinėnai town, in Pilės village. It is thought to be founded in the beginning of 2nd millennium AD...
, Medvėgalis. Near Kaltinėnai run two rivers: Akmena and Ižnė.
Today Kaltinėnai is well known town in whole Lithuania. There are administration buildings, Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Gymnasium
Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Gymnasium
Šilalė district Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Gymnasium is a day, public, co-educational school. It is located at 22 Varnių Str., Kaltinėnai, Šilalė district. It offers primary, basic, secondary and optional education programmes...
, entertainment house, hospital, dispensary, 2 chemists’ shops, post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, a few shops and department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s, and café. Here are many interesting places, like the church, an old wooden synagogue, cross-hill, the home for elderly people
Old age
Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle...
, and the Reabilitation Centre.
History
A stone axe found in the town tells that people already lived in this area in the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
. Historians think that the town belonged to Karšuva country but later it split and Kaltinėnai became a separate region.
Kaltinėnai was first mentioned in Germans’ chronicle as terram Kalctene in 1371. Crusaders tried to conquer Kaltinėnai castle many times (in 1375, 1377 and 1389, also planned in 1386 - 1394) but local inhabitants protected it.
In the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century Kaltinėnai was one of 6 – 7 most important centres in Žemaitija. Noblemen from Kaltinėnai signed important documents. The town was so important that Vytautas the Great
Vytautas the Great
Vytautas ; styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians...
ordered to build one of the first Catholic churches in Žemaitija (region was heathen until 1413) and it was complete by 1421. The see of Žemaitija was founded in 1417 and it ruled the town more than 400 years.
Kaltinėnai is known as a town since 1524. It was mapped in a Polish map two years later, what was much earlier than many towns around.
There were over 70 farms in the town in 1638, but 30 years later only 50 of them were left. After the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
the town beggared even more, in 1773 there were only 15 and in 1778 – 19 farms which could pay tax.
In 1842, Russian tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
authorities took the ecclesiastical lands under their control and made Kaltinėnai the volost
Volost
Volost was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.In earlier East Slavic history, volost was a name for the territory ruled by the knyaz, a principality; either as an absolute ruler or with varying degree of autonomy from the Velikiy Knyaz...
centre in 1861. In 1901 a local teacher O.Skobinas published the book called Kaltinėnai town where he described the town life in those days. He wrote that a post-office started working in 1861, a paramedic centre – in 1882, a savings bank
Savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits. It may also perform some other functions.In Europe, savings banks originated in the 19th or sometimes even the 18th century. Their original objective was to provide easily accessible savings products to...
– in 1897, a chemist – in 1898. Small markets took place every Wednesday, large ones – 6 times a year. 10 shops, tearoom-canteen and 17 craftsmen (7 tailors, 5 shoemakers, 2 blacksmiths, 2 glaziers and a woodworker) also worked in the town. 430 people lived in Kaltinėnai: 263 Catholics, 140 Jews, 15 Orthodoxies and 12 Evangelic Lutherans. It is also mentioned that a lot of people had gone to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to look for a better life.
Kaltinėnai inhabitants were very active in the revolutionary events of 1905 and the town also remained volost centre after the declaration of Lithuania Independence Act
Act of Independence of Lithuania
The Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty...
in 1918. The town grew from 660 inhabitants to 800 from 1923 till 1939. Various shops worked in the town; its cultural life was also very active.
During the German Occupation Kaltinėnai lost its Jews’ community. All Jewish people who lived in the town were herded into a temporary ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
at first. Later, in 1941 autumn, they were all fired in Tūbinės forest.
A Lithuanian Underground Representatives’ Congress gathered in Kaltinėnai in 1944, 5 September. Its destination was to unite all patriotic organisations into one resistance centre. Although 7 representatives were caught in an accident caused by soviet reconnaissance, and German occupation authorities sent their representative to the congress, it was very important because after it the Lithuanian Army for Freedom became the main organisator of resistance.
In 1944, 7 October, Kaltinėnai was occupied by soviet 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...
and the second Soviet Occupation started. Although its beginning was one of the most difficult times in Lithuanian history, Kaltinėnai remained considerable – it was the centre of precinct
Precinct
A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...
, kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
and parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
. The number of inhabitants decreased violently after the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but it started increasing again some years later.
After 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...
retrieved its Independence in 1990, Kaltinėnai did not lose its traditions – the town is still the centre of eldership
Eldership
Eldership may refer to:* Eldership , the governance of a local congregation by elders* Elderships of Lithuania, the smallest Lithuanian administrative divisions* Starostwo , a medieval Polish office granted by the king...
which contains 74 settlements and can really be proud of its rich history.
Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Gymnasium
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
. In 1944 a pro-gymnasium was found and after 5 years it was reorganized into seven forms school. In 1951 autumn the school became secondary school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
. A new school building was built in 1969.
Since 1992 the school exchanges students’ delegations with the German Hankensbüttel
Hankensbüttel
Hankensbüttel is a municipality in the Samtgemeinde Hankensbüttel in the district of Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 25 km south of Uelzen, and 30 km north of Gifhorn.-History:...
Gymnasium.
In 1999, on the 20th of December the title of Aleksandras Stulginskis Secondary School was given the school.
In 2009, on January 29 the school became gymnasium.
Now the school comprises two parts: primary and secondary. Some departments in near villages belong to the school, too.
The primary school is found in the building that was a hostel. The length of studies is 4 years. There is a kindergarten in this building, too.
The secondary school is double-decker. Students have to learn 6 years there and if they want they can learn 2 years more for secondary grade. There are also school management, canteen, library, 2 gyms, and a museum for A. Stulginskis in the main school building.
The school has got a few traditions: First and Last Bells, Hundred-Day, School Day, European Day of Languages, Earth’s Day, EU Day and others.
Over 500 students learn and over 50 teachers work here.
In 2006 the school was the winner of the project “The Increase of Effective Use of Energy in Kaltinėnai Aleksandras Stulginskis Secondary School” and was repaired.
The Church
Since Vytautas the GreatVytautas the Great
Vytautas ; styled "the Great" from the 15th century onwards; c. 1350 October 27, 1430) was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania. Vytautas was the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania which chiefly encompassed the Lithuanians and Ruthenians...
built the first wooden church in 1416, there were about 6 wooden churches in the town. Some churches were burnt; others simply fell down and were rearranged.
Penultimate church was built in 1896. It was burnt in 1988. Just a traditional masonry fence of stones with gate and wooden belfry are left. After the belfry was rearranged into a temporary chapel it lost the original form to a degree.
Current church was built in 1995. It is a modern sacral architecture building with two triangular 40 m (131.23 ft) high towers. The title of St. John the Baptist was given to the church. Its keynote is 4.5 m (14.76 ft) high The Risen Christ sculpture, built of white marble and bronze by A. Vaura. V. Švanys created beautiful and impressive stations of colourful glass for the windows of the basement chambers of the church
The Graveyard
The parish graveyard is on the west side of the town. There is an octagonal wooden folk architecture chapel on the hillock. It was built in 1798 and restored in 1989. There are also a lot of saints’ sculptures on this hillock.There are a lot of very old, historical and artistic graves around the chapel. They are stamped with metallic crosses and other gravestones.
A high stone obelisk for Dionizas Poška stands near the chapel. D. Poška was a great poet and the founder of the Baubliai museum, the first history museum in Lithuania. D. Poška’s wife U. Poškienė and her mother R. Sasnauskienė are buried in the same place.
Marijona Stulginskienė (Aleksandras Stulginskis
Aleksandras Stulginskis
Aleksandras Stulginskis Aleksandras Stulginskis Aleksandras Stulginskis (born (February 26, 1885 in Kutaliai, in Šilalė district municipality near Tauragė, Lithuania, Russian Empire; died September 22, 1969 in Kaunas) was the second President of Lithuania (1920–1926)...
mother) is buried in the south east side of the graveyard hillock.
The Pilės mound (Kepaluškalnis)
The Pilės mound (or Kepaluškalnis) is one of the most valuable cultural monuments in Šilalė region.Its hillsides are precipitous, to 20 m (65.62 ft) high. There is a ground which is about 2250 m² (2,690.98 sq yd) in the upper part of the mound. Its sides were surrounded by defence ramparts that are flattened now. But you can still find two ramparts and three defence ditches.
According to the size of the mound, the dimension of its defence fortifications, we can affirm that during the war with Crusaders there was one of the strongest castles in Žemaitija on the Pilės Mound.
Various finds, even shells of stone were found on the mound
The Reabilitation Centre
The Reabilitation Centre of Kaltinėnai is found not far from the church. It was built by local priest Petras Linkevičius.There are a perfect swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, baths of salt and herbs, underwater massage, a comfortable training-hall where people can come to improve their own figure and other attractions.
There is also an elderly-house next to the Reabilitation Centre.