Primorsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
Encyclopedia
Primorsk prior to 1945 known by its German
name Fischhausen, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement
) in Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast
, Russia
, located on the Vistula Lagoon
. Population:
Primorsk is one of the oldest settlements in the region. As Fischhausen it has been associated with the name of St. Adalbert of Prague
, supposedly beheaded nearby in 997 by the pagan Sambians
after he destroyed their sacred oak grove
. It became the seat of the Bishops of Sambia
in 1243. In 1818, Fischhausen became the district seat of Kreis Fischhausen in East Prussia
in the Kingdom of Prussia
. The town's richly endowed church was one of the oldest in the province.
During World War II
the Soviet
Red Army
advanced towards Fischhausen after the capture of Königsberg
. The town was captured after a battle lasting from April 21–April 24, 1945; during the fighting it was almost completely destroyed.
After the war the town was transferred to Soviet control, and in 1946 it was renamed to Primorsk ("maritime" in Russian). In 2006, it was demoted to urban-type settlement.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
name Fischhausen, is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlement ; , selyshche mis'koho typu ) is an official designation for a type of locality used in some of the countries of the former Soviet Union...
) in Baltiysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast
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 Vistula Lagoon
Vistula Lagoon
The Vistula Lagoon is a fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea separated from Gdańsk Bay by the Vistula Spit. It is sometimes known as the Vistula Bay or Vistula Gulf. The modern German name, Frisches Haff, is derived from an earlier form, Friesisches Haff. Both this term and the earlier Polish...
. Population:
Primorsk is one of the oldest settlements in the region. As Fischhausen it has been associated with the name of St. Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
, supposedly beheaded nearby in 997 by the pagan Sambians
Sambians
The Sambians were one of the Prussian tribes. They inhabited the peninsula of Sambia, north of the city of Königsberg . Sambians were located in a coastal territory rich in amber and engaged in trade early on . Therefore, they established contacts with foreign nations before any other Prussians...
after he destroyed their sacred oak grove
Sacred grove
A sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world...
. It became the seat of the Bishops of Sambia
Sambia
Sambia or Samland is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The Curonian Lagoon and the Vistula Lagoon demarcate the peninsula. Prior to 1945 it formed an important part of East Prussia.-Names:Sambia is named after the Sambians, an extinct...
in 1243. In 1818, Fischhausen became the district seat of Kreis Fischhausen in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
in 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...
. The town's richly endowed church was one of the oldest in the province.
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 Soviet
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....
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...
advanced towards Fischhausen after the capture of 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...
. The town was captured after a battle lasting from April 21–April 24, 1945; during the fighting it was almost completely destroyed.
After the war the town was transferred to Soviet control, and in 1946 it was renamed to Primorsk ("maritime" in Russian). In 2006, it was demoted to urban-type settlement.
People
- Albert Frederick, Duke of PrussiaAlbert Frederick, Duke of PrussiaAlbert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
died in 1618 in Fischhausen - Arthur von HippelArthur von Hippel (physician)Arthur von Hippel was a German ophthalmologist who was a native of Fischhausen, East Prussia. He was the father of ophthalmologist Eugen von Hippel ....
was born in 1841 in Fischhausen - Wilhelm WienWilhelm WienWilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien was a German physicist who, in 1893, used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbody at any temperature from the emission at any one reference temperature.He also formulated an...
was born in 1864 in Fischhausen - Dietrich von SauckenDietrich von SauckenFriedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken was a general in the German army, the Wehrmacht Heer, during World War II...
was born in 1892 in Fischhausen - Marie JonasMarie JonasMarie Anna Jonas, née Levinsohn , was a doctor and a Holocaust victim.-Early life:Jonas was born in Fischhausen, East Prussia in 1893, and moved to Königsberg in 1895, where she attended the höhere Mädchenschule, qualifying as a teacher. She then worked for a year as an au pair in England, and then...
was born in 1893 in Fischhausen