| Gvardeysk (English) Гвардейск (Russian) |
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Gvardeysk and the Pregolya river |
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Location of Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia |
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Gvardeysk
Location of Gvardeysk in Kaliningrad Oblast
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Kaliningrad Oblast |
| Statistics | |
| Population (2010 Census, preliminary) |
13,888 inhabitants[1] |
| Population (2002 Census) | 14,572 inhabitants[2] |
| Time zone | USZ1 (UTC+03:00)[3] |
Gvardeysk (; ; Lithuanian: Tepliava/Tepliuva; Polish: Tapiawa/Tapiewo) is a town and the administrative center of Gvardeysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River 38 kilometers (24 mi) east of Kaliningrad. Population: 13,888 (2010 Census preliminary results);[1] 14,572 (2002 Census);[2] 11,904 (1989 Census).[4]
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Peter of Dusburg wrote of a settlement known as Tapiow, first documented in 1254, and the neighboring fort Surgurbi built by 1265.[5] The Old Prussian names were derived from tape, teplu, toplu, tapi, meaning "warm", and sur garbis, meaning "around the mountain". During the 13th century Prussian Crusade, the area was conquered by the Teutonic Knights. To protect Samland from the Nadrovians and Scalovians, the crusaders built a wooden fort between the Deime and Pregel rivers from 1283–90. This was replaced by Tapiau Castle, a stone Ordensburg, in 1351.
The settlement gradually became known by the German crusaders as Tapiau. Vytautas, the later Grand Duke of Lithuania, was baptized in Tapiau in 1385. After the transfer of the Grand Master's seat from Marienburg to Königsberg, Tapiau became the site of the Order's archives and library from 1469–1722.
Tapiau became part of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525. Tapiau Castle was often used as a second residences of the Prussian dukes; Albert of Prussia died there in 1568. The town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701, receiving town rights from King Frederick William I of Prussia in 1722. It was part of the Prussian Province of East Prussia and was administered in Landkreis Wehlau (1818–1945). Tapiau became part of the German Empire during the unification of Germany in 1871.
Unlike most other towns in northern East Prussia, Tapiau was largely undamaged during World War II. Following the war's end in 1945, it was annexed by the Soviet Union and renamed Gvardeysk ("guard town") in 1946. The German population evacuated or was expelled westward and replaced by Russians.
Tapiau's most famous resident was the painter Lovis Corinth (1858–1925), who donated the painting Golgatha for the altar of the town's church in 1910; the painting disappeared near the end of World War II. The house where Corinth was born still stands in Gvardeysk.
The coat of arms of Gvardeysk depicts a bare hand holding a sword amongst clouds, beneath a golden sun. When the town was known as Tapiau before 1945, the golden sun also included the Tetragrammaton (Jehova-Sonne).[6]
Sights of Gvardeysk include a church from 1502 and the ruined Castle Tapiau, reconstructed into an orphanage in 1879. It has been used as a prison since 1945.
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