Znamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast

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For other uses, see Znamensk.

Znamensk (Russian: Зна́менск (help·info); German: Wehlau (help·info); Lithuanian: Vėluva; Polish: Welawa) is a settlement in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located on the right bank of the Pregolya River at its confluence with the Lava River some 50 km east of Kaliningrad. Population: 4,100 (2004 est.); 4,302 (2002 Census).

The site of today's Znamensk was originally an Old Prussian fort, with a settlement named Velowe nearby. The Teutonic Order fortified the area and began to colonize the region with Germans, giving the settlement the name Wehlau. It received its civic charter in 1339 and became a center for horse stables.

In the Treaty of Wehlau signed in the town in 1657, the Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia received sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia. In 1818 it became the seat of Landkreis Wehlau in East Prussia within the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871 Wehlau joined the German Empire.

In early 1945 the town was overrun by the Soviet Red Army. The old town center was almost completely destroyed, and the German population was removed during the evacuation of East Prussia or expelled. It became part of the Kaliningrad Oblast and was renamed Znamensk, losing its civic rights in the process. It was demoted to a rural settlement in 2006.

The mathematician David Hilbert was born in Wehlau in 1862.