Pravdinsk
Encyclopedia
Pravdinsk is a town and the administrative center of Pravdinsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast
, Russia
, located on the Lava River, approximately 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) east of Bagrationovsk
. Population:
, the Teutonic Knights
in 1312 founded the settlement at a ford across the Lava, it received city rights
in 1335 under Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig
. The town was devastated during the Thirteen Years' War 1454-66 between the Order and the Prussian Confederation
. Known then by its German name Friedland ("peaceful land"), the town became part of the Duchy of Prussia after the secularization of the Order-State in 1525. Under the ruling Hohenzollern
dynasty, Friedland became part of Brandenburg-Prussia
in 1618 and was again ravaged by Swedish
troops in the course of the Second Northern War
1655-60.
Friedland belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia
from 1701; on June 14, 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte
won the nearby Battle of Friedland
against a combined Russian
-Prussian
army. The town became part of the German Empire
in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of Germany
.
Conquered by the Red Army
during World War II
, the town was transferred from Germany
to the Soviet Union
according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement
and the German population was expelled
. The town was renamed from Friedland to Pravdinsk (Pravda meaning "truth" in Russian). The Late Gothic
church of St. George in the town centre is well preserved and today used by the Moscow Patriarchate
.
Pravdinsk is identified in some historical accounts with Romuva
, said to be the centre of Baltic paganism. The Lithuanian name for Pravdinsk is 'Romuva', and this was most likely its name in Old Prussian as well. Whether Romuva was in fact associated with Baltic paganism is disputed, however. Some have suggested that this belief started when early Christian chroniclers were confused by the similarity between 'Romuva' and 'Rome', and by their own unwarranted assumption that Baltic paganism should resemble Roman paganism in being focused around a particular geographical center.
, Germany Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Friedland, Lower Saxony
, Germany Korfantów
(Friedland in Oberschlesien), Poland Mieroszów
(Friedland in Niederschlesien), 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 on the Lava River, approximately 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) east of Bagrationovsk
Bagrationovsk
Bagrationovsk is a town and the administrative center of Bagrationovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located south of Kaliningrad. Population: -History:...
. Population:
History
After they subdued the local Natangian tribe in PrussiaPrussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
, the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
in 1312 founded the settlement at a ford across the Lava, it received city rights
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 1335 under Grand Master Luther von Braunschweig
Luther von Braunschweig
Luther von Braunschweig was the 18th Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1331-35....
. The town was devastated during the Thirteen Years' War 1454-66 between the Order and the Prussian Confederation
Prussian Confederation
The Prussian Confederation was an organization formed in 1440 by a group of 53 gentry and clergy and 19 cities in Prussia to oppose the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. It was based on the basis of an earlier similar organization, the Lizard Union...
. Known then by its German name Friedland ("peaceful land"), the town became part of the Duchy of Prussia after the secularization of the Order-State in 1525. Under the ruling 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...
dynasty, Friedland became part of Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...
in 1618 and was again ravaged by Swedish
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721 . During this time, Sweden was one of the great European powers. In Swedish, the period is called Stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power Era"...
troops in the course of the Second Northern War
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Habsburg Monarchy and Denmark–Norway...
1655-60.
Friedland belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia
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...
from 1701; on June 14, 1807, Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
won the nearby Battle of Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
against a combined Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
-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...
army. The town 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...
in 1871 during the Prussian-led 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...
.
Conquered by 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...
during 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...
, the town was transferred from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to 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....
according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement
Potsdam Agreement
The Potsdam Agreement was the Allied plan of tripartite military occupation and reconstruction of Germany—referring to the German Reich with its pre-war 1937 borders including the former eastern territories—and the entire European Theatre of War territory...
and the German population was expelled
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
. The town was renamed from Friedland to Pravdinsk (Pravda meaning "truth" in Russian). The Late Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
church of St. George in the town centre is well preserved and today used by the Moscow Patriarchate
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
.
Pravdinsk is identified in some historical accounts with Romuva
Romuva (temple)
Romuva or Romowe was a pagan worship place in western part of Sambia, one of the regions of the pagan Prussia. In contemporary sources the temple was mentioned only once by Peter von Dusburg in 1326...
, said to be the centre of Baltic paganism. The Lithuanian name for Pravdinsk is 'Romuva', and this was most likely its name in Old Prussian as well. Whether Romuva was in fact associated with Baltic paganism is disputed, however. Some have suggested that this belief started when early Christian chroniclers were confused by the similarity between 'Romuva' and 'Rome', and by their own unwarranted assumption that Baltic paganism should resemble Roman paganism in being focused around a particular geographical center.
International relations
Pravdinsk is part of the Friedliches Land (Peaceful Land) municipal association with: Frýdlant v Čechách, Czech Republic Frýdlant nad Ostravicí, Czech Republic Friedland, BrandenburgFriedland, Brandenburg
Friedland is a town in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 8 km south of Beeskow, and 39 km north of Cottbus....
, Germany Friedland, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Friedland, Lower Saxony
Friedland, Lower Saxony
Friedland is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Leine, approx. 13 km south of Göttingen. Its seat is in the village Groß Schneen.-References:...
, Germany Korfantów
Korfantów
Korfantów is a town in the Opole Voivodeship of Poland. It has a population of approximately 1,860 inhabitants. It is named after Wojciech Korfanty....
(Friedland in Oberschlesien), Poland Mieroszów
Mieroszów
Mieroszów is a town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Mieroszów. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany...
(Friedland in Niederschlesien), Poland