Šilute
Encyclopedia
Šilutė is a city
in the south of the Klaipėda County
, Lithuania
. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region
and ethnographic Lithuania Minor
. Šilutė was the interwar
capital of Šilutė County and is currently the capital of Šilutė district municipality
.
and Tilsit
. The German name of Heydekrug referred to a Krug (an archaic word for inn) in the Heide (heathland). The inn was known in for the most inhabitants of the region speaking the Memelland-Samogitian dialect Šilokarčema.
and Curonian and Prussian fishermen from Rusnė
, Karklė, Nida
, and Lesnoye. Next to the inn a church of Werden (Verdainė) was built in 1550. Heydekrug often sought city rights
, but was opposed by Memel and Tilsit in 1721 and 1725. In 1722 Heydekrug became a district center and in 1818 the capital of Landkreis Heydekrug. The settlement was amalgamated with the villages of Werden (Verdainė), Szibben (Žibai), and Cynthionischken (Cintjoniškiai) in 1910, although it still did not receive city rights. Following World War I
, the town became part of Lithuania when it acquired the Klaipėda region
in 1923.
The town was reclaimed by Nazi Germany
in 1939 when it reacquired the Memel Territory. In 1941 the town finally received city rights. During World War II
, the Stalag Luft VI
prisoner-of-war camp
was located near Heydekrug; it was the northernmost POW camp within the confines of the German Reich
.
There remain many old buildings in Šilutė: an old post office (1905), a fire station (1911), a court building and prison (1848), a bridge across the Sziesze (Šyša) (1914), an estate of H. Scheu (1818), an old market square, a harbor, railway station and a bridge (1875), and the Vydūnas
gymnasium
.
. Newly founded enterprises are also prospering: Šilutės Girnos (combined fodder); Žibai; Grabupėliai (meat processing); and EKSA, a subsidiary of the alcohol producer Stumbras
. In order to speed up capital investments, the region council has established land tax bonuses for investors.
Ljungby
, Sweden
Nakskov
, Denmark
Emmerich, Germany
Ostróda
, Poland
Slavsk
, Russia
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the south of the Klaipėda County
Klaipeda County
Klaipėda County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It lies in the west of the country and is the only county to have a coastline. Its capital is Klaipėda...
, 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...
. The city was part of the Klaipėda Region
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
and ethnographic Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai lived. Lithuania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial...
. Šilutė was the interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
capital of Šilutė County and is currently the capital of Šilutė district municipality
Šilute district municipality
Šilutė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is known for spring floods when ice on Neman River starts melting. This is the only municipality in Lithuania that gets flooded on regular basis....
.
Name
Šilutė's origin dates to an inn (Krug) catering for travelers and their horses which was located halfway between MemelKlaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
and Tilsit
Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
Sovetsk , known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: -History of Tilsit:...
. The German name of Heydekrug referred to a Krug (an archaic word for inn) in the Heide (heathland). The inn was known in for the most inhabitants of the region speaking the Memelland-Samogitian dialect Šilokarčema.
History
A famous fish market was opened in Šilutė almost 500 years ago, when Georg Tallat purchased the inn together with the land and fishing rights in 1511. The town was a gathering place for peasants from nearby SamogitiaSamogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. It is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai/Šiaulē. The region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect...
and Curonian and Prussian fishermen from Rusnė
Rusne
Rusnė is a town in Šilutė district, Lithuania, located on the Rusnė Island in the Nemunas Delta, 9 km south-west from Šilutė.Rusnė was first mentioned in historical sources in 14th century. In 1419 the first church was built in Rusnė, and in 1553 a Lithuanian parish school was established...
, Karklė, Nida
Nida (town)
Nida is a resort town in Lithuania, located on the Curonian Spit. It has 1,650 residents and is the administrative center of the Neringa municipality. Nida Airport is located in the town...
, and Lesnoye. Next to the inn a church of Werden (Verdainė) was built in 1550. Heydekrug often sought 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 :...
, but was opposed by Memel and Tilsit in 1721 and 1725. In 1722 Heydekrug became a district center and in 1818 the capital of Landkreis Heydekrug. The settlement was amalgamated with the villages of Werden (Verdainė), Szibben (Žibai), and Cynthionischken (Cintjoniškiai) in 1910, although it still did not receive city rights. Following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the town became part of Lithuania when it acquired the Klaipėda region
Klaipeda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
in 1923.
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...
in 1939 when it reacquired the Memel Territory. In 1941 the town finally received city rights. 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 Stalag Luft VI
Stalag Luft VI
Stalag Luft VI was a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II located near the town of Heydekrug, Memelland . It was the northernmost POW camp within the confines of the German Reich.-Camp history:...
prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
was located near Heydekrug; it was the northernmost POW camp within the confines of the German Reich
Deutsches Reich
Deutsches Reich was the official name for Germany from 1871 to 1945 in the German language.As the literal English translation "German Empire" denotes a monarchy, the term is used only in reference to Germany prior to the fall of the monarchies at the end of World War I in 1918...
.
There remain many old buildings in Šilutė: an old post office (1905), a fire station (1911), a court building and prison (1848), a bridge across the Sziesze (Šyša) (1914), an estate of H. Scheu (1818), an old market square, a harbor, railway station and a bridge (1875), and the Vydūnas
Vydunas
Wilhelm Storost, artistic name Vilius Storostas-Vydūnas , mostly known as Vydūnas, was a Prussian-Lithuania teacher, poet, humanist, philosopher and Lithuanian...
gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
.
Economy
The town, which is a region center, has a well-developed infrastructure. There is an amateur theatre, a museum, three churches, a few hotels, and many cafes, restaurants, and bars. There are large industrial enterprises in Šilutė as well: Šilutės Rambynas (1842), producing butter and cheese, is one of the oldest factories in the area; Šilutės Baldai (1890); and Šilutės Durpės (1882) which exports approximately 50,000 m3 of peatPeat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
. Newly founded enterprises are also prospering: Šilutės Girnos (combined fodder); Žibai; Grabupėliai (meat processing); and EKSA, a subsidiary of the alcohol producer Stumbras
Stumbras
AB Stumbras is the oldest and largest producer of strong alcoholic drinks in Kaunas, Lithuania. Company began its operations in 1906. "Stumbras" is also the largest exporter of strong alcoholic beverages and one of the biggest taxpayers in Lithuania...
. In order to speed up capital investments, the region council has established land tax bonuses for investors.
Twin towns
Šilutė maintains sister city relationships with the following cities:Ljungby
Ljungby, Sweden
Ljungby is a locality and the seat of Ljungby Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden, with 14,810 inhabitants in 2005.Ljungby was originally a köping , which did not become a municipality of its own when the first local government acts took effect in 1863, but retained part of the surrounding rural...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Nakskov
Nakskov
Nakskov is a town in south Denmark. It is in Lolland municipality in Region Sjælland on the western coast of the island of Lolland. The town has a population of 13,560 . To the west is Nakskov Fjord, an inlet from the Langeland Belt that runs between the islands of Lolland and Langeland...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Emmerich, 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...
Ostróda
Ostróda
Ostróda is a town in Ostróda County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with 33,603 inhabitants as of January 1, 2005. It lies in the Masurian Lake District and is a growing tourist site owing to its relaxing natural surroundings.-History:...
, 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...
Slavsk
Slavsk
Slavsk, prior to 1945 known by its German name Heinrichswalde, is a town and the administrative center of Slavsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located to the west of Sovetsk. The town has a railway station on the Sovetsk-Kaliningrad railroad. Population:...
, 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...
Famous people
- Hermann SudermannHermann SudermannHermann Sudermann was a German dramatist and novelist.- Early career :He was born at Matzicken, a village just to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia , close to the Russian frontier...
(1857–1928), dramatist and novelist - Katharina Szelinski-SingerKatharina Szelinski-SingerKatharina Szelinski-Singer, born as Katharina Singer was a German sculptress. She has lived in Berlin since 1945....
(born 1918), sculptress - Cornell BorchersCornell BorchersCornell Borchers is a German actress, active in the late 1940s and 1950s, who starred along with Errol Flynn and Nat King Cole in the film Istanbul .-Biography:...
(born 1925), actress - Doris Treitz (1942–1969), singer under the stage name "Alexandra"
- Raimondas RumšasRaimondas Rumšas-External links:...
(born 1972), cyclist, 3rd place in 2002 Tour de France - Mindaugas TiminskasMindaugas TiminskasMindaugas Timinskas is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Lithuanian national basketball team....
(born 1974), basketball player