Neman, Russia

For other uses, see Neman (disambiguation).

Neman (English) Неман (Russian)
-  Town[citation needed]  -
Ordensburg ruins
Location of Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia
Neman Location of Neman in Kaliningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 55°2′N 22°2′E / 55.033°N 22.033°E / 55.033; 22.033Coordinates: 55°2′N 22°2′E / 55.033°N 22.033°E / 55.033; 22.033
Administrative status
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Kaliningrad Oblast
Administrative district	Nemansky District[citation needed]
Municipal status
Head[citation needed]	Valeri Klenovsky[citation needed]
Statistics
Area	14 km2 (5.4 sq mi)[citation needed]
Population (2010 Census, preliminary)	11,794 inhabitants[1]
Population (2002 Census)	12,714 inhabitants[2]
Density	842 /km2 (2,180 /sq mi)[3]
Time zone	USZ1 (UTC+03:00)[4]
Founded	1220[citation needed]
Previous names	Ragnit (until 1946)[citation needed]
Postal code(s)	238710–238711[citation needed]
Dialing code(s)	+7 +7 40162[citation needed]

Neman (Russian: Неман; formerly known as German: Ragnit; Lithuanian: Ragainė; Polish: Ragneta) is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the historic Prussia region, 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) east of the town of Sovetsk, on the steep southern bank of the Neman River, where it currently forms the border with the Klaipėda Region in Lithuania.

Population: 11,794 (2010 Census preliminary results);^[1] 12,714 (2002 Census);^[2] 13,821 (1989 Census).^[5]

History

Initially Ragnita (from Old Prussian: ragas, "spur") was a settlement of the Baltic (Old Prussian) tribe of Scalovians. It was contested by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since its creation in the 13th century, and on April 23, 1289, it was conquered by the Teutonic Knights, who built a Gothic castle there, which later became the seat of a Komtur. The stronghold was called Landeshut, but the name did not become popular and the name Ragnit after the local river, a tributary of the Memel (outside of Prussia called Neman), continued to be used.

Although the settlement had an important castle not only guarding the Prussian lands of the State of the Teutonic Order from the north, but also serving as a military base for the Knights' campaigns into adjacent Samogitia, it was living in the shadow of the nearby city of Tilsit (present-day Sovetsk). After the dissolution of the Order's State under its last Grand Master Albrecht von Hohenzollern, Ragnit on 10 April 1525 became part of the Duchy of Prussia, ruled by the House of Hohenzollern as a fief of the Polish Crown. The duchy was inherited by the Hohenzollern margraves of Brandenburg in 1618, becoming an integral part of Brandenburg-Prussia, whereby remote Ragnit retained its status as a regional capital.

Ragnit Castle and settlement, 1684

It was devastated by Tatars during the Second Northern War in 1656 and again by Swedish forces during the Scanian War in 1678, while the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg had achieved full sovereignty over his Prussian lands by the 1657 Treaty of Wehlau. His son and successor Elector Frederick III elevated himself to a King in Prussia in 1701. He granted Ragnit city rights on April 6, 1722. It was again destroyed during the Seven Years' War, this time by Russian forces in 1757.

Incorporated into the East Prussia Province from 1815, the town became part of the German Empire upon the Prussian-led unification of Germany in 1871. On November 1, 1892, a railroad line linking the town with Tilsit was opened. It was built to develop the wood industry in the area, but the development did not actually start and the area's economy remained dominated by food production. When Germany had to cede the Klaipėda Region (Memelland) north of the Neman River to the Council of Ambassadors according to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Ragnit became a border town. In 1922 it lost its status as an administrative capital in favour of Tilsit.

During World War II, on January 19, 1945, the town was captured without a fight by the 3rd Belorussian Front of the Red Army in the course of the East Prussian Offensive. According to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement, the town became a part of the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian SFSR and was renamed to Neman. Most of the local inhabitants who had not fled during the Evacuation of East Prussia were subsequently expelled to the western parts of Germany. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the town is part of Russia.

Lithuanian minority

Despite being a part of German-speaking states, for centuries the town remained an important centre of Lithuanian culture. From 1549 to 1563 famous Lithuanian writer and translator (He wrote first book in Lithuanian language "Catechismusa Prasty Szadei" ("The Simple Words of Catechism")) Martynas Mažvydas was priest and Archdiacon of Ragainė. While living in Ragainė he wrote "The Song of St. Ambrosy" ( with a dedication in Lithuanian), translated "The Form of Baptism" from German into Lithuanian, published "The Prussian Agenda" into the prayer "Paraphrasis". One of his major Works was "The Christian Songs" (Gesmes Chriksczoniskas, Gedomas Baszniczosu Per Aduenta ir Kaledas ik Gramniczu). In the 19th century, after the January Uprising when the Lithuanian language was banned from the office in all of Russian-ruled Lithuania, books in that language were printed in Ragnit and then smuggled to Russia by the knygnešiai.

Notable inhabitants

• Julius Bacher (1810–1889), novelist
• Erwin Bodky (1896-1958), pianist
• Walter Bruno Henning (1908-1967) scholar
• Gustav Laukant (1869-1938), politician
• Martynas Mažvydas (1510-1563), priest, writer, translator
• Johann Friedrich Reiffenstein (1719-1793), painter, antiquarian

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Russia

Twin towns/sister cities

Neman is twinned with:

• Jurbarkas, Lithuania
• Lida, Belarus
• Ostróda, Poland
• Preetz, Germany

See also

• East Prussia
• Evacuation of East Prussia

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2011). "Предварительные итоги Всероссийской переписи населения 2010 года (Preliminary results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2010). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis-2010.ru/results_of_the_census/results-inform.php. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек (Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000)" (in Russian). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002). Federal State Statistics Service. http://www.perepis2002.ru/ct/doc/1_TOM_01_04.xls. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
3. ^ The value of density was calculated automatically by dividing the 2010 Census population by the area specified in the infobox. Please note that this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox does not necessarily correspond to the area of the entity proper or is reported for the same year as the population.
4. ^ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации». Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication).
5. ^ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность наличного населения союзных и автономных республик, автономных областей и округов, краёв, областей, районов, городских поселений и сёл-райцентров. (All Union Population Census of 1989. Present population of union and autonomous republics, autonomous oblasts and okrugs, krais, oblasts, districts, urban settlements, and villages serving as district administrative centers.)" (in Russian). Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года (All-Union Population Census of 1989). Demoscope Weekly (website of the Institute of Demographics of the State University—Higher School of Economics. 1989. http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus89_reg.php. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 

External links

• Neman — Ragnit (Russian)