Neman, Russia

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.

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

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

External links

• Neman — Ragnit (Russian)